21 May, Antonio, Cardinal Bacci: Meditations for Every Day

Contemplation and Our Lady

1. True contemplation has its origin in love, for when love is intense it gives a clear insight into that which is loved. It is never the result of mere learning, which can be cold and uninspiring and therefore unable to give us a vision of the truth. Many are learned without love, while there are others who have no learning but love God and contemplate Him with a spiritual joy which is a prelude to the happiness of Heaven. Contemplation is not, therefore, a gift of learning. Even an illiterate man can have it, while those who study a great deal may be without it. For the most part, it is the gift of divine grace. This is not to deny that the knowledge of sacred things, especially of theology, can promote contemplation. It can help, as long as it is not the kind of learning which makes a man proud but rather leads him nearer to God. This is what St. Paul meant when he said that “knowledge puffs up, but charity edifies.” (1 Cor. 8:1)

Contemplation, then, begins in the love which is based on humility and on prayer. The contemplative must always look for the help of divine grace without ever presuming on his own powers and without fooling himself that he has made any progress of his own accord. It does not matter whether he is an ignorant or a learned man as long as he sees the reflection of God in all things and comes to know and love Him. Then, under the influence of divine grace, contemplation flows from the loving knowledge of God. The Blessed Virgin was created and conceived full of grace and endowed with more supernatural privileges than any other creature. Therefore she knew and loved God in a higher way than any of the Cherubim or Seraphim. It is only to be expected, then, that she would have had the gift of contemplation. Her prayer was an intimate conversation with God. We have an example of this kind of contemplative prayer in the hymn which she composed when she became the Mother of the Word Incarnate. “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; Because he has regarded the lowliness of his handmaid; for, behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed...” (Luke 1:46-48) In Mary, however, the contemplative life was united to the active life. This was so whether she was in the house in Nazareth, or following Jesus on His apostolic journeys, or co-operating with the Apostles in their great mission during her last years on earth.

2. We must try and unite the active with the contemplative life as far as circumstances will allow. St. Thomas says that the perfection of the spiritual life consists precisely in this union of activity and contemplation. One without the other falls short of perfection. “It is greater to enlighten than simply to shine,” writes St. Thomas, “and greater to pass on the fruits of contemplation to others than merely to contemplate.” (St. Th., II-II, q.6, a.3)

Contemplation on its own can degenerate into useless day dreaming. It is necessary that it should produce a genuine interior transformation as a result of which the subject, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, becomes in his speech and in his conduct a man of God. Now, the man of God is not satisfied with enjoying spiritual consolations, but is moved by his zeal for the glory of God to try and extend His kingdom by every possible means. It is in this way that contemplation becomes apostolic action.

We must remember, on the other hand, that neither is action on its own sufficient. It can become barren when it is not nourished by the interior life of grace which is the source of prayer and contemplation. It cannot be held that this last is the exclusive gift of a few privileged souls. Anyone can have it as long as he allows himself to be penetrated by the love of God and as long as he succeeds in securing moments of silence and recollection at intervals during life. In these moments he will grow closer to God and will enjoy a foretaste of the happiness of Heaven.

3. O Mary, my most holy Mother, obtain for me a great love for God, which will lead me closer to Him in all my actions. Even if I have not got the extraordinary gift of contemplation, grant that this love may live so powerfully in me that it will pervade all my actions. Then I shall be able to live in constant union with God and act in perfect accordance with His holy will. Amen.