Silence and the Soul’s Rest Silence is a virtue. Silence is a prayer. Silence is misunderstood by many. There are cloistered souls who practice silence but are not silent because, interiorly, they are distracted, anxious, and chattering. Silence is your soul in communion with God. It is in silence that you come to hear the voice of God. It is in silence that you come to see the face of God. It is in silence that you come to feel the touch of God. Silence is the embrace of love between a soul and God. The Love Crucified Community. The Simple Path to Union with God (p. 276). Kindle Edition. ++++++++++ Even though I live a cloistered life, I still find it difficult to practice silence. After all these years, it remains a slow and sometimes elusive journey. As an introvert with a well-developed extroverted side—thanks to growing up in a large family with many brothers and sisters—I’ve come to realize that this duality hasn’t made me well-balanced. Much of my fatigue stems from a lack of discipline in how I relate to others. Silence, as a virtue, has grown slowly in my life. When I’m deeply fatigued, I tend to become silly—perhaps even overwhelming to those around me. In its own way, this silliness helps me cope with exhaustion, but not in a healthy or sustainable manner. I’ve discovered that silence can ease my fatigue by helping me feel less scattered. Being an “airhead” has its downfalls. As I age, prayer has become more important than ever. I sense the Lord patiently leading me deeper into communion with Him, even though I still wrestle with Him over this. Yet He remains faithful, loving, and endlessly encouraging. I’ve found that using prayer beads helps me in this journey. While some find them distracting, for me they are a lifeline—allowing my mind and body to relax and open to the Holy Spirit. My goofy self will likely always be with me, and I’m not sure I want it to go away entirely. But until the day I die, I will probably continue to struggle with the discipline of inner silence. Still, I live in hope._-BrMD
Saint Therese of Liseaux, although a Doctor of the Church was very poorly educated and had a very ,very short reading list indeed. In her later days she read only the Imitation of Christ and Scripture. Towards the end of her life she comments she read only scripture and scripture alone. I think this remark is a great side comment on the silence she enforced in her soul. From the very beginning of her religious life for instance she kind of avoided the company of her blood sisters in the convent. Quite something for a 15 year old child. I think it is true that there is a false silence and a real silence. I used to for instance live solitude as a child but this was a false silence in that I used it always to day dream with a smattering of prayer and meditation thrown in. Only in my later years did I understand that God wanted 100% and I turned to real silence. Real silence is like Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus to sit at the feet of Jesus and never to leave Him. This is constant hard work. It is like trying to control a particularly bad tempered stallion. St Teresa of Avila compares our thoughts to sheep which like a good shepherd we herd to the feet of Jesus. I think what really helps me in doing this is the fact that only at the feet of Jesus is true happiness found. This is true silence to sit like a servant at the feet of the master our eyes on His hands waiting for His bidding. Psalm 123:2 As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy.
Br. Mark, I believe the following is true: Silence is your soul in communion with God. It is in silence that you come to hear the voice of God. It is in silence that you come to see the face of God. It is in silence that you come to feel the touch of God. Silence is the embrace of love between a soul and God. I do treasure and appreciate silence, for instance: whenever I finish the Liturgy of the Hours, or the time at Holy Mass after receiving Holy Communion, or the peacefulness of my heart after praying the Rosary with Geralyn, or the quietude of Adoration, or the stillness of creation at dusk or early morn. Inspirations may or may not come. But I think the communion of soul which you mention, which is a gift of God, which is called contemplation, is a gift that the Lord in His goodness and love has yet to convey to me. May He yet, perhaps, but now that I'm in my 70's the years are numbered until the moment I shall behold Him face-to-face, God willing!
