Date: 25 May to 23 November 2023, 4th Thursday of the month, 7.30-8.30pm
Location: Online via Zoom
The book
This theological gem is about the nature and practice of prayer. In it Mother Mary Clare SLG reflects on the challenges of living a spiritual life and the importance of developing a contemplative practice of prayer to do so. In the book’s Foreword the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey writes:
“I hope this little work will have many readers, as I am sure it will help them as it has helped me. Christian people are often shy of contemplation, thinking it be an exercise which is beyond them… or an escape from the practical needs of the world. Contemplation is none of these things. It is a liberation from our restless brain activity into the depth of the love of God in our souls.”
Overview
For those who had not joined a Slow Book Group before, I put together some thoughts and suggestions for slow reading, explaining that the Group’s purpose is not about getting through as many books as possible, but to gain from them a deeper understanding of our walk with God and through that to deepen our own prayer lives and relationships with God.
As usual, we notified the preceding group of the next book group a little in advance, and then publicised it to the wider Cathedral community via the monthly news and weekly sheet.
The co-leaders met briefly in advance of each session to go over the readings and plan the session content. Then we emailed the group members a week ahead with a reminder of the text, some questions to consider while reading, and the Zoom details.
The sessions lasted about an hour. They varied in structure, with discussion in the whole group and break-out groups of 3/4, followed by a guided meditation of about 15 minutes. We started each session with a poem or short prayer, and closed with any notices, another poem or prayer and the grace. On occasion we started with the meditation, in which case we shared 3 minutes of silence before closing.
We encouraged participants to continue to sit with the text for a few more days, allowing what had been shared in the group to sink in, before turning to the next month’s text. Then after one week, we followed up each session with an email reminder of some of what we shared and/or my further thoughts, and information about the next month.
May 2023
Read: Chapter 1 “The Search for a Relationship”
Suggestions to mull over while reading:
- Reflect on your own habit of prayer and how are you hoping this book will transform or change you. Come ready to share something about yourself and why this book. What have you already read or shared with others about your prayer life?
- Note three things that seem familiar, comforting, or reassuring that you knew beforehand and the chapter has affirmed.
- Note three ways that the chapter has unsettled you and shaken you out of your sense of familiarity.
Structure
Gathering prayer
Short introduction and a general go-round in large group, asking each participant to share one short sentence about what drew them to book. In the full group we then shared our responses to the second and third suggestions above.
Break-out groups for general discussion about how the reading struck each one of us. We suggested together mulling over our habits of prayer and what we might be called to carry forward into our prayer life.
In large group, 15-minute guided meditation on an excerpt from p8 of the book, based on the structure of Lectio Divina.
Closing prayer and Grace
Follow-up material
Gathering prayer – “Behold, Hold, Enfold”, a prayer of S. Clare of Assisi
I behold the Lord
I see His outstretched hands
I see the blood from His wounds.
I see the love in the eyes of Jesus.
I see His gracious acceptance of me.Jesus has come out of the tomb –
He still has the scars, but now they are glorious, with the glory of heaven.
Still looking at the Lord, I reach out and touch Him.
I hold the Lord – and I am held in His love.Love enfolds
It is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me.
I am secure in the Lord.
I can look out, now, through the Lord’s eyes.
I can see the world as He created it, in His mercy,
I can see my sisters and brothers with His love,
and I can worship the Father through the eyes of the Son
in the Love of the Holy Spirit.
Information about M Mary Clare and the Community of the Sisters of the Love of God:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Sampson
- Guardian obituary https://www.newspapers.com/article/95758519/mother-mary-clare-obit-the-guardian/
- Independent obituary https://www.newspapers.com/article/95757550/mother-mary-clare-obit-the/
- https://arlyb.org.uk/community/community-of-the-sisters-of-the-love-of-god-slg/
- https://slg.org.uk/
June
Read: Chapter 2 “The Dimension of Silence”
Suggestions to mull over while reading:
- In the paragraph at the bottom of p29 M Mary Clare writes “The contemplative Christian must live eucharistically…“ How would you unpack this paragraph? What might it mean to you?
- And on p22 she writes “silence is a submission of body and soul to the rhythm of the Spirit”. What are the rhythms of your silence during the day, week or year? Or alternatively… what are the dimensions of your silence?
Structure
Gathering prayer
Reflecting in the large group on “The contemplative Christian must live eucharistically…“
Break-out groups focusing on silence. We suggested pondering together on the questions above: What is the shape of your silence during the day? What are the dimensions? What is the rhythm of your silence during the day/week/year? And we also suggested thinking about: How might silence reflect/express your relationship with God? Other people?
A time of silence in the large group instead of the usual guided meditation
- [Centring repetition] Be still, and know that I am God / Be still, and know that I am / Be still, and know / Be still / Be . . .
- [XX mins of silence]
Lord’s Prayer and Grace to close
Follow-up material
Many books could be read as aids leading the reader into silence, rather than vehicles of information.
Encountering Silence podcast – https://podcasts.bcast.fm/encountering-silence
In Pursuit of Silence film – https://www.pursuitofsilence.com/
July
Read: Chapter 3 “The Path of Spiritual Progress”
Suggestions to mull over while reading:
- On pages 36-37, she writes “True listening obviously needs careful training” and then about the different types of listening and the flow between them. How do you notice yourself listening?
- Reflect on the image of the butterfly on page 39. How does it speak to you as an image of the unfurling of your life? Are there any other images or metaphors that you find helpful?
Structure
Gathering prayer
Guided meditation in the large group. Although the chapter is called “The Path of Spiritual Progress”, it is largely about listening, so I led the group through listening to our breathing, to exterior sounds, to our interior chatter.
Large group pondering over:
- Which sentence, or part of the chapter, would you like to hear others in the group reflect on? Because it spoke to your heart in eg a comforting or a challenging way
- What wisdom did you distil from the chapter to guide you on your own path?
- If time, the image of the butterfly and other images and metaphors.
Break-out groups to reflect on the different types of listening and the flow between them, and the question: How do you notice yourself listening?
Closing prayer, three minutes of silence and the Grace.
Follow-up material
Opening prayer-poem: Nada te turbe, by Teresa of Avila
The closing prayer was adapted from Angela Ashwin
Remain with us Lord we pray this night and always
Be present at the point beneath our words and actions
So that our hearts may be ever open to you
and drenched in your love.
Amen
Re exterior listening:
- Here is a short article about awareness walks and how they can awaken your senses and intuition as you pay attention to your surroundings. It includes a couple of leaflets that provide some guidance as you walk.
- I made a piece of sound art responding to Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring”, which provides space for the listener to become aware of and pay attention to their own ambient soundtrack.
- For those in Exeter, local musician and sound artist Emma Welton has made a series of Sound Walks around the city.
Re interior listening and being kind to ourself, here is a wonderful listener question, excerpted from the Turning to the Mystics podcast.
September
Read: Chapter 4 “The Apostolate of Prayer”
Suggestions to mull over as you are reading:
- I have been struck by a number of ‘one-liners’ or sentences in the chapter. Which are you particularly noticing? Is there a common theme to them? Please bring two or three with you next week.
- As you are being drawn or called to prayer, how is this chapter shaping your understanding of your vocation? With reference to eg end-p45 to top-p46.
Structure
Gathering prayer
Large group, focusing on the ‘one-liners’. First of all, we allowed a couple of minutes as we reminded ourselves of the phrases and sentences that we particularly noticed. Then we had a go-round, in which each person had the opportunity to share one of their one-liners… choosing one not already read if possible. After this, there was the option of sharing further, and reflecting from the heart on the one-liners and themes arising.
Break-out groups, considering the question: As you are being drawn to or called to prayer, how has this chapter helped to shape your understanding of your vocation? (Presupposing that anyone participating in the group was being drawn to prayer in some way.)
Guided meditation in the large group, a Lectio Divina reading of a paragraph on p55f.
Closing prayer and Grace
Follow-up material
Opening prayer, from St Benedict of Nursia:
Gracious and Holy God,
give us the wisdom to discover You,
the intelligence to understand You,
the diligence to seek after You,
the patience to wait for You,
eyes to behold You,
a heart to meditate upon You,
and a life to proclaim You,
through the power of the Spirit of Jesus, our Lord.Amen.
Closing prayer after Raymond Hockley:
Grant to us Lord, quietness of mind and spirit
and guide us so that we may hear you in the stillness
speaking to us through the sounds of eternity,
that we may dwell in your peace
and be at one with your love,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Isaiah 30.15 (NRSV)
For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
In returning and rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.
The October 2023 edition of the Cathedral magazine included a short piece I wrote on my understanding of Contemplative intercession. Mother Mary Clare’s writing helped me with some of my reflections on this.
We had a recommendation of the Amen app: “Amen is the free Catholic app that brings you beautiful prayers, faithful meditations and nourishing Scripture to draw your mind, body and soul to rest in God.”
There are a few other apps for daily prayer and Examen highlighted on the Resources page of Explore Prayer on the Cathedral website.
October
Read: Chapter 5 “The Common Mind”
Suggestions to mull over as you are reading:
- What is your response to the references to ‘full adult maturity’ encountered in the chapter? (see eg p75)
- Where would you say you are on an individual-corporate spectrum? How do you think this is affected by prevailing world views? (see eg paragraph on p79f)
Structure
Gathering prayer
Guided meditation in the large group, a Lectio Divina reading of Ephesians 4.11-15, on building up the body of Christ and growing up in every way into Christ.
Sharing in the large group: What is your response to the references to ‘full adult maturity’ encountered in the chapter? (see eg p75)
Discussion in break-out groups: Where would you say you are on an individual-corporate spectrum? How do you think this is affected by prevailing world views? (see eg paragraph on p79f)
Closing prayer, three minutes of silence and the Grace.
Follow-up material
Opening prayer, adapted from Eric Milner-White:
Enter our hearts, O Holy Spirit,
Come in thy blessed mercy and set us free.
Throw open, O Lord, the locked doors of our minds;
Light there the fires of thine own holy brightness in new understandings of thy truth.
O Holy Spirit, very God, whose presence is liberty
Grant us the perfect freedom
To know thee and to serve thee
Today, tomorrow and evermore.
Amen.
To close, the night prayer of St Augustine of Hippo:
Keep watch, dear Lord,
with those who wake, or watch, or weep this night,
and give your angels charge over those who sleep.
Tend the sick, give rest to the weary,
sustain the dying, calm the suffering,
and pity the distressed;
all for your love’s sake, O Christ our Redeemer.
Amen.
Author Anne Lamott often says or writes: Never compare someone else’s outside with your inside.
November
Looking back over the whole book
We suggested the group may like to re-read, either the whole book, a particular chapter, or a chapter of any meeting they missed, or to focus on particular excerpts that have helped them over the past months:
- In your re-visiting of the book, what has been especially meaningful for you in relation to your own contemplative practice? What would you wish to revisit and why? (Make a note of any excerpts you might like to share.)
- Chapter 5 prompted a question that we decided to hold over to this month: To what extent has this and previous book groups formed a (praying) community?
Structure
Gathering prayer
In the large group, a go-round sharing excerpts: What has been especially meaningful for you in relation to your own contemplative practice? What would you wish to revisit and why? Each person had the opportunity to share one or two chosen excerpts, then there was a general discussion in response, with segue into…
Still in the large group, discussion: To what extent has this and previous book groups formed a (praying) community?
(No break-out groups this month)
Imaginative guided meditation based on Julian of Norwich’s vision of the seabed in Revelations of Divine Love Chapter 10.
Closing prayer and Grace
And finally, we suggested these questions to continue to ponder as this edition of the group ends:
- How has this time together inspired you as your continue on your own spiritual path?
- What next for the group?
Follow-up material
Open prayer from Psalm 139.1-3,7-10,23-24:
O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Closing prayer from the Conclusion to the service of Night Prayer (Compline), as set for the day on the CofE Daily Prayer app:
In peace we will lie down and sleep;
All: for you alone, Lord, make us dwell in safety.Abide with us, Lord Jesus,
All: for the night is at hand and the day is now past.As the night watch looks for the morning,
All: so do we look for you, O Christ.May the light of Christ, the King of all,
shine ever brighter in our hearts,
that with all the saints in light
we may shine forth as lights in the world.
Amen.
On the subject of our wandering butterfly minds in prayer, Bruce Duncan (former Chaplain at Exeter University) in “Pray Your Way” writes within the context of Jungian and Myers Briggs personality typology, considering thinking, feeling, sensing prayer. Here is an extract re intuitive prayer…
Freewheeling Prayer
This prayer is sunny, stimulating, provocative, vigorous and hopeful. It is like wandering along the beach, waiting to see what the sea washes up. Much of it is useless flotsam and jetsam. Ideas float around, images come and go, and now and again in this loose and relaxed freewheeling way of communing with God (and this prayer must always be ‘with God’, not ego-centred daydreaming) significant perceptions occur. ‘Sometimes I’m blessed with wonderful brief flashes of insight’, someone said to me, describing this intuitive musing prayer. People come to mind. Things to be done come to mind. It is prayer of intuitive association guided by the Holy Spirit.
When you are using your intuitive perception, you will often experience similar imaginative leaps from the springboard of everyday events. In this prayer God uses your intuitive ability to show, teach, remind, encourage and inspire you.
Butterfly Prayer
If you have a butterfly mind that flits from one thought to another, this kind of prayer will be familiar to you. As a dominant intuitive, I find it a happy way of prayer, invigorating and wonderfully energising. However, I recognise my own type bias and I know that many Christians can be quite alarmed or even threatened by this kind of prayer. They find it disturbing and distracting.
It is a way of perceiving and praying that is widely admired but for practical purposes not preferred by most people.
Those who are intuitives will naturally and easily follow their way along the significant thoughts and discard the rest. Perhaps many of the so-called distractions in prayer are in fact shafts of intuitive prayer trying to break through. If they can be welcomed and drawn into prayer, rather than resisted, they may open up an entirely new dimension of prayer.