Month: January 2014

Life Through Prayer

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#ServiceShirk

This Sunday was spent watching other people at prayer in the shape of Ulrich Seidl’s powerful film, “Jesus, You Know”.

Jesus, You Know

The film is largely framed in the personal prayer time of individual Austrian Catholics filmed in their local churches before the altar. It is an uncomfortable watch as the viewer seems to be intruding on a very private conversation where sin and hopes and disappointments are voiced in raw disclosures meant only for God. It is a picture of deep faith and the hardship of the devout life.

Hic et nunc

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#ServiceShirk

My weekly Sunday #ServiceShirk continues with another day focusing on Carthusian spirituality.

Today’s companions have been the monks of St Hugh’s Charterhouse, Parkminster, in the form of “In the Silence of the Word” a CD plainchant meditation recorded in 1998 which gives a rare glimpse into the closed liturgical world of the Charterhouse.

In the Silence of the Word

I also listened to the monks of the Grande Chartreuse chanting “In Principio” based on texts from the Gospel of John.

In Principio

My reading included more on Parkminster in the shape of Nancy Klein Maguire’s “An Infinity of Little Hours” plus “Hear our Silence” by John Skinner. Both books are vibrant pictures of lives of dedication and spiritual depth.

I loved this observation from Guigo II, the ninth Prior of the Grande Chartreuse (c.1150):

“Reading seeks,
meditation finds,
prayer asks,
contemplation feels.”

Guigo II Ladder