The Yadah Prayer Cycle

The Hebrew word, Yadah means, to throw, or shoot, and also to praise.  The root of the word, yad, means hand.  Yadah means to stretch forth the hand in praise.

Praying the Jesus Prayer

Behind the practice of repeating the Jesus Prayer is the conviction “The Living God is accessible to personal experience, because He shared His own life with humanity.”[i]  You, as an individual, can know God, and you personally are known by Him.  It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit that carries us into the presence of God.  St. Cyril of Jerusalem, in his Catechetical Lectures, teaches that,

All your life long will your guardian the Comforter abide with you; He will care for you, as for his own soldier; for your goings out, and your comings in, and your plotting foes. And He will give you gifts of grace of every kind, if you grieve Him not by sin; for it is written, And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, by Whom you were sealed unto the day of redemption. What then, beloved, is it to preserve grace? Be ready to receive grace, and when you have received it, cast it not away.[ii]

2.      In the Incarnation, the Living God comes to us in human form.  Without the willingness of the maiden Mary there would have been no Incarnation.  Of the Incarnation Charles Williams says,

At the beginning of life in the natural order is an act of substitution and co-inherence.  A man can have no child unless his seed is received and carried by a woman; a woman can have no child unless she receive and carries the seed of a man – literally bearing the burden.  It is not only a mutual act; it is a mutual act of substitution.  The child itself for nine months co-inheres in its mother; there is no human creature that has not sprung from such a period of an interior growth.[iii]

One of the implications of the Incarnation is that God chooses to work hand in hand with humankind, not instead of humankind.  We have a share in the grace of God by our active participation.  Like Mary we have the responsibility of saying “yes” to God, and also the responsibility of presenting ourselves, spirit, soul and body to Him in active participation with His work in our lives.  St. Paul says, 

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,  for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.[iv]

The tradition of praying the Jesus Prayer reemphasizes the essential unity between spirit  and body by the use of the prayer rope as a means of helping us focus on the Divine Presence in our prayers.

3.      “The Jesus Prayer also took the form of constant mental repetition of a brief sentence such as, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”[v]    It is not that the simple discipline of the repeated Jesus Prayer earns the presence of God.   The personal experience of God is a gift.  It is God who is reaching out to us.  In the light of that we remember the words of St. Paul, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”   

One ancient method was to use a prayer rope, repeating the prayer once for each knot, and focusing your attention on the presence of God as you pray.  The prayer, addressed to Jesus Christ, is a prayer of humility, and an acknowledgement of our own frailty.  Further it helps to understand that mercy extends well beyond simple forgiveness.  One of the two major Old Testament words for mercy actually means womb, and the other is more often translated steadfast love.  So you might say, “Hold me secure in your steadfast love even though I am a sinner.  The prayer leads us personally to Jesus and to the experience of His steadfast love.

4.      The Yadah Prayer Cycle:  There is a practical difficulty in the use of a prayer rope in our society.  It is most often too obtrusive to use in public settings other than worship.  Some people use a Rosary or Anglican Prayer Beads, but that presents the same problem.  Let me suggest to you an alternative method that is based on the same principle as the prayer rope.

Ø  Start with the closed hand or fist as though you had a grip on God.  With the closed hand start your prayer cycle with a declaration of the awareness of God who is always present with his people, such as, “Lord, I thank you that you are always with me and I praise you for your love.”

Ø  The next three short prayers are an acknowledgment of the Holy Trinity. With a prayer to God the Father stretch forth the thumb; with a prayer to God the Son stretch forth your index finger; and with an invocation to the Holy Spirit extend your second finger.  You might pray: “I thank you Father that you love and accept me.  I thank you Jesus that you died for my sins and rose from the dead.  I humbly ask you Holy Spirit to help me to focus in my prayers.”

Ø  Then close the hand again.  With the closed hand gripping God, bring before God the intercession that is closest to your heart and pray a brief informal prayer.

Ø  Stretch forth the thumb and pray, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”  Maintaining your focus on the Presence of God, stretch forth the index finger and repeat the Jesus Prayer, then do the same with the remaining fingers of the hand until the hand is fully extended. Note that the hand is now open as a symbol of your willingness to receive from God.

Ø  Close the hand and get a grip on the Presence of God, and make your next intercession.  Keep your prayer both informal and brief.  If you allow yourself to ramble you will lose focus.

Ø  Begin the next cycle extending the thumb, then each of the fingers in turn, and repeating the Jesus Prayer each time.  At the end, return again to the closed hand.

Ø  I find that doing five cycles of the Yadah Prayer is enough; more than that and one tends to lose focus.

Ø  At the end of fifth cycle, close the hand and briefly give God thanks that He is always willing to hear your prayers.

Ø  Then extend the thumb, and give thanks to the Holy Spirit for his help.  Next extend the forefinger and say a short prayer thanking Jesus for the power of His death and resurrection. Finally, extend the next finger and express your love and gratitude to God the Father who is always ready to hear you prayers.

Ø  Close the hand again with a grip on the Divine Presence.  You may conclude your Yadah Prayer cycle or begin again.

5.      The threefold benefit of this method is that you can pray this way any time and any place without being obtrusive.  Second, you don’t need to buy anything.  Prayer ropes tend to be expensive, and rosaries and prayer beads can break.  Third, many prayer ropes, prayer beads and rosaries have more beads in each section leading to a greater repetition of the Jesus Prayer, and also less places for intercession between each group of knots or beads.

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[i] Gregory Palamas, The Triads, ed. John Meyendorf, trans. Nicholas Gendle, (Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1983), p. 1 

[ii] St. Cyril of Jerusalem, The Catechetical Lectures, ed. in contemporary language by Robin P. Smith

[iii] Charles Williams, The Descent of the Dove, (Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 1939), p. 234

[iv] Philippians 2:12-13  

[v] Palamas. p. 4

CHIVALRY

CHIVALRY 

"Cast away, then, all cowardice out of thine heart,

and with knightly valour ride with me in the lists:

for it becomes not the squire to hesitate,

where his lord goes forward with gallantry and courage.

. . .

No vicarious atonement, then,

will satisfy the instinct of the true lover of reality.

He desires life with all its accidents and misfortunes:

the high heroic life of the chivalry of God."[1]

. . .

My Lord,

so often have I gone out with thee into the lists

not knowing wither I go,

sometimes armed and sometimes not,

sometimes consciously to do battle,

sometimes oblivious of the battle at hand.

Lord, I recognize the lists

as one of the themes of my life.

I praise Thee,

that has called me,

and kept me company.

. . .

Now my liege Lord

I place upon me the panoply of God:

I gird my loins with truth and integrity

and place upon my chest the breastplate

of Your righteousness.

My feet are shod with the Gospel of peace

and I stand ready to bear witness to You

in the midst of the fray.

I hold secure the shield of faith,

its colors the red of your shed blood

its white the purity you purchased for me,

its insignia the rampant Lion and the Lamb.

I fear not the fiery darts of the wicked one.

On my head I place the helm of salvation

its golden plume the sign of

Your victory over death and the grave.

In my hand I grasp the blade of the Spirit

which is the Word of God

sharper than any two-edged sword

piercing even to the division of soul and spirit,

joints and marrow.

My liege Lord

I stand by your side.

I hear the rumble of drums.

My ears ring with the trumpet call.

Lead me, My Lord.

I follow you to battle

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[1]John Cordelier, The Path of Eternal Wisdom, (London: John M. Watkins. 1922), p. 17.       Copyright © 2011  Robin P. Smith

Seeking the Ancient Paths

       I was considering my three favourite saints, Benedict, Anthony, and Teresa of Avila, when it occurred to me that each of them withdrew from the corruption in the World and in the Church.  St. Benedict and St. Anthony each withdrew to their caves and Teresa withdrew to one her little houses in the cities of Spain and shut the door.  Each sought and treasured solitude.  History testifies that when you do that, the lost children of the world begin to beat a path to your door.  All three had to provide for the challenge of providing hospitality for other seekers of God.    Benedict ended up as the founder of a major branch of monasticism.  Anthony found other hermits following him to the desert.  Teresa spent as much time founding little monasteries as she spent taking refuge in them.

Their societies, and ours, were Pagan; at times Pagan arrayed in the glorious robes of the Church.  A cloak of virginity is not the same thing as virginity.  Today when clergy fill out the forms of application for marriages they are apt to meet the question, “Bachelor” or “Maiden” with a wry smile.  The Church in America has difficulty accepting that this is not a Christian country, certainly not within the parameters set by the New Testament.  Perhaps it never has been except in certain remarkable cultural pockets that managed to withdraw from the larger whole.

In general, there are always exceptions, in general the response of the church echoes the words of God, “They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace.  Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush.” [i]  We are ashamed to blush.  When the Church has been less accommodating it has paid the price by being condemned as condemnatory, and therefore socially unacceptable. 

Many of today’s voters are wrestling over which of our candidates or political parties are more Christian than the other.  Be assured, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”[ii]  It is within the context of the Church within the World, and the World within the Church that Saints Benedict, Anthony, and Teresa each fled to a little cave.

This is not a counsel of despair, nor is it somehow peculiar.  It is the rhythm of the Church and the World.  The Lord himself counsels the faithful not to seek the answer within the Church itself, “Do not trust in these deceptive words: 'This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.”[iii]  Do not be trapped into worshipping the garments of holiness or the stones of ancient buildings, not that in America we have ancient buildings.  Even our Lord Jesus himself sought times of solitude where he could be alone with his Father on a lonely Galilean hilltop.

The answer is not to be found in the World or even in the Church.  “Thus says the LORD: ‘Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.’”[iv]  Rest is not to be found in the lost ideal of a Christian nation nor is it to be found in the beauty and diversity of the Church.  It will not be found in feverish attempts to cloak social morés in the garments of holiness.  That is like a gold ring in pig’s snout. Rest is to be found in the ancient paths where the good way is.  “Now . . .  we take the greatest care to hold that which has been believed everywhere, always and by all.[v] 

Rest is not to be found even in the ancient paths, but where the paths lead.  Rest is to be found in the God of love who is also a consuming fire where all of our pretensions are only dust and ashes.  One cannot in truth separate love and holiness, and it is precisely the demands of holiness that caused Saints Benedict, Anthony, and Teresa to flee from the Church within the World and the World within Church.  Were they wrong?  Many would tell us today that they were. 

For you and for me the practical answer is to be found in taking deliberate time for solitude like these ancient saints.  Pascal wrote, “I have often said that the sole cause of man’s unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room.”[vi]  As Oblates we are not called to live in endless solitude, but we are called to enfold times of solitude into the rhythm of our lives and our search for solitude needs to be supported by the simple round of psalms and lessons, the prayers of the Church, and corporate worship.

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[i] Jeremiah 6:14-15 

[ii] Romans 3:10-12 

[iii] Jeremiah 7:4  

[iv] Jeremiah 6:16 

[v] The Vincentian Canon: Vincent of Lerins ~ AD 434

[vi] Peter Kreeft, Christianity for Modern Pagans: Pascal’s Pensées, (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1993), p. 172

Copyright © 2012 Robin P. Smith

Thwarted

What happens when we are thwarted?  Most of our problems come because of a wrong view of ourselves. Life is simpler when we acknowledge our place in the universe: The Lord is God and I am not!  Along with that simple fact there is a corollary: He has many children and I am only one of them.

Peter Kreeft writing on Pascal tells us,

The essence of sin is selfishness, “me first”, self-love or pride.

            Pride is essentially competitive. “Me first” necessarily means “you second”.  Pascal would like Rodney Dangerfield’s line, “When you’re looking out for Number One, you’re going to step on some Number Two.”

            Self-love, or pride, is not the same as self-respect.  Self-respect means treating yourself, like all selves, as valuable. . .

            Self-love on the other hand, means making yourself your own God: that is your own end, good and goal; seeking your happiness and purpose and destiny and meaning in yourself rather than in God.[i]

There is a twist in human behaviour that needs to be noted.  Another more subtle form of self-love is seeking others as “your own end, good and goal.” Make no mistake; that is also another form of self-love, because in doing so you are not seeking others for their own sakes.  May God deliver us from people who want to put us in first place, for the first place belongs to God alone, and people who make a habit of doing that can be a tremendous nuisance to the people they love in this manner.

The only antidote is truth, and truth is not loved by those enmeshed in self-love.  Pascal says that the nature “of self-love is to love only self and consider only self, . . . The predicament in which it thus finds itself arouses in it the most unjust and criminal passion that could possibly be imagined, for it conceives a deadly hatred for the truth which rebukes it and convinces it of its faults.”[ii]

In Gaudy Night, Dorothy Sayers gets to the heart of her plot by uncovering a motive for an attempted murder.  Lord Peter Wimsey, in conversation with the teachers of a women’s college, holds forth,

My first task was obviously to find out whether Miss de Vine had actually ever murdered or injured anybody. In the course of a very interesting after-dinner conversation in this room, she informed me that, six years ago, she had been instrumental in depriving a man of his reputation and livelihood—and we decided, if you remember, that this was an action which any manly man or womanly woman might be disposed to resent . . .

Incidentally, I established for a certainty, what I was sure of in my own mind for a start, that there was not a woman in this Common Room, married or single, who would be ready to place personal loyalties above professional honor.  That was a point which it seemed necessary to make clear—not so much to me, as to yourselves.[iii]

            The point being that part of our acknowledgment of the Lord being God is an acknowledgment that it is the Lord who sets the rules and not we ourselves.  His rules are that Truth and Integrity must prevail, and that in so doing justice must be carried out.  Justice includes truth and integrity, and making your word your bond.

            Is Kreeft too glum when he says?

“We are all born into the world as selfish little pigs . . . our working philosophy is always “I want what I want when I want it”; and that even when we later learn to cover up and compromise this demand, it remains down at the bottom of our heart.”

This truth is easily uncovered by the experience of feeling thwarted, and being thwarted is a common every day experience when we human beings interact with each other.

            How easily we are annoyed, perhaps even angered, when some other equally self-centered person encroaches on what we consider to be our rightful territory, be that territory our time or our personal space.  When that happens what we really are saying is that “I am my own,” and “What’s mine is mine.”

            A good deal of the salvation history of the children of Israel was involved with the issue of territorial claims, one encroaching upon the other, and that conflict persists to the present day.  What was largely missing was the fundamental underlying question: Just whose land was it anyway?  Even Job, at the outset had a clear understanding, “The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away,”[iv]  And King David is his dedicatory prayer of the offerings for the temple confesses,

"But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.  For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding.[v]

There is an ancient Navajo understanding that we don’t “own” the land, we just inhabit it.  We are stewards not lords.  From a Benedictine viewpoint this governs St. Benedict’s general attitude towards material possessions.  St. Benedict in his rule tells his monks,

Let it not be allowed at all for a monk to give or to receive letters, tokens, or gifts of any kind, either from parents or any other person, nor from each other, without the permission of the Abbot. But even if anything is sent him by his parents, let him not presume to accept it before it hath been make known to the Abbot. And if he order it to be accepted, let it be in the Abbot's power to give it to whom he pleaseth. And let not the brother to whom perchance it was sent, become sad, that "no chance be given to the devil" (Eph 4:27; 1 Tm 5:14). But whosoever shall presume to act otherwise, let him fall under the discipline of the Rule.[vi]

This is not socialism in action but something quite different.  It has to do with the nature of original sin.  Benedict does not want his monks grasping at material possessions and shrieking, “Mine! Mine! Mine!”  Nor does he want his monks to consider time their own.  When the bell rings it’s time to worship and if you are so inconsiderate, not of others but of the Lord, that you are late there will be an act of discipline.  In this context discipline is a better word than punishment.  The monk has to learn that even time is not his own.  The Psalmist prays, “But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God." My times are in your hand.”[vii]

The experience of being thwarted may actually be a gift from God because it helps us understand that the real issue of spiritual life is a call to a deeper acceptance of our place in the universe and our place in the family of God.  Surrender is not an abstract quality so much as an action verb.  In all of this, with time, space, and material things, we are to live with open hands not with wicked closed fists.

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[i] Peter Kreeft, Christianity for Modern Pagans: Pascal’s Pensées, (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1993), p. 147

[ii] Ibid. p. 149

[iii] Dorothy Sayers, Gaudy Night, (New York: HarperCollins, 1995), p. 478

[iv] Job 1:21

[v] 1 Chronicles 29:14-15  

[vi] The Rule of St. Benedict by chapters (Boniface Verheyen OSB, Atchison, 1949) OSB Website

[vii] Psalm 31:14-15   

In for the Long Haul

In my youth a year sounded like a long time.  I had no idea at the beginning of my Christian walk that I was in for the long haul.  Now looking back, after having been a Christian for more than half a century, it seems like a short time.

What I didn’t understand at the beginning was that the waves of spiritual warfare that assaulted my youthful and emotional soul were just the leading edge of a lifelong battle.

St. Benedict says,

The labor of obedience will bring you back to him from whom you had drifted through the sloth of disobedience.  This message of mine is for you, then, if you are ready to give up your own will, once and for all, and armed with the strong and noble weapons of obedience to do battle for the true King, Christ the Lord.[i]

Do not be distressed by this warfare as though it were the specific lot of Christians.  The whole world is at war.  It has always been at war.  The Psalmist laments,

Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!  Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace.  I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war![ii]

 Only the dead do not have war, and some of the dead are still living.  They do not know that they have war, even though many of these dead are walking wounded.

Benedict asks us if we are ready to give up our own wills “once and for all.”  If you read The Rule carefully you will see that this “once and for all” is merely a starting point.  I remind you that Henry Suso said, “No matter how much one abandons oneself, one repeatedly finds more of oneself to abandon.”[iii]  Once and for all surrender is a way of life, not a momentary surrender once given and always possessed.  But always remember that there is a rhythm to spiritual life.  Even old Screwtape, looking at humankind, recognized that,

Their nearest approach to constancy, therefore, is undulation—the repeated return to a level from which they repeatedly fall back, a series of troughs and peaks.  If you had watched your patient carefully you would have seen this undulation in every department of his life—his interest in his work, his affection for his friends, his physical appetites, all go up and down.[iv]

St. Benedict in his Rule, calls us to both a surrender of our time and of the disorderly nature of our lives.  He does not call us to obsessive all-encompassing spiritual disciplines but to a life of balance.  He advises us that,

Prayer should be short and pure, unless perhaps it is prolonged under the inspiration of divine grace.  In community, however, prayer should always be brief; and when the superior gives the signal, all should rise together.[v]

For Benedictines there is a holy balance of work and prayer.  And we might also add, of holy leisure.  One saint said, “I could not pray because I had not worked.”[vi]  It may also be true that both prayer and work can be dulled by the fact that we have not played.  This balance is evident even in simple things,

For the daily meals, whether at noon or in the midafternoon, it is enough, we believe, to provide all tables with two kinds of cooked food because of individual weaknesses.   In this way the person who may not be able to eat one kind of food may partake of the other.  Two kinds of cooked food, therefore, should suffice for all the brothers, and if fresh fruit or vegetables are available, a third dish may also be added.  A generous pound of bread is enough for a day whether for only one meal or for both dinner and supper.[vii]

Given the living conditions of his day the allowance is generous and the sense of balance without compulsion is kept even in the matters of the table; not however without a warning about over-indulgence.

The insistence on maintaining balance in the ongoing warfare of our lives is a Benedictine distinctive and a mark of our lives as Oblates.  We are not monks and our call is different as is reflected in our Oblate Rule of Life.

The Oblate Rule of Life

The call to make an oblation of their lives in a specific Benedictine Monastery comes to those who by necessity live their lives in the midst of the world of family and business.  Oblates are conscious of the principle of St. Benedict that Prayer and Work must be balanced in their experience.  The Oblates Rule of Life is regarded more as aspiration rather than obligation, yet it provides a guide that calls us to gentle accountability. 

The Rule of Life

1.      To pray at least one Office a day.

2.      To attend Eucharist on Sundays and where possible on Feast Days.

3.      To pray daily for the Monastery, including our fellow Oblates.

4.      To spend some time daily, however short, in Lectio Divina.  Lectio Divina has four steps: Reading Scripture, Reflection, Response in Prayer, and Resting in the Presence of God.

5.      To read the daily reading from the Rule of St. Benedict.

6.      To wear the Medal of St. Benedict.

7.      To make, in so far as possible, an annual retreat at the Monastery.

8.      To support the work of the Monastery financially and in other tangible ways.

9.      To be flexible and governed by love and common sense in the carrying out of the Rule of Life.

Oblates make their oblation, or renew it, at an annual retreat at St. Scholastica Monastery, or at whatever Benedictine Monastery where they have made their Oblation, or at our Oblate Chapter Meeting by arrangement with Director of Oblates.  The oblation, although not a calling to be a monk or nun is nevertheless made in the context of The Rule of St. Benedict who said, “Let him who is to be received make before all, in the Oratory, a promise of STABILITY, CONVERSION OF LIFE, and OBEDIENCE, in the presence of God and of his saints.”[viii]  Our call as Oblates equips us to live a balanced life in the midst of our too often very busy and demanding schedules, rather than in retirement from the world.[ix]

It is important to recognize that we are in a state of warfare, but it is important to “take up the strong weapons of obedience” in the context of a balanced, non-compulsive, orderly, Benedictine way of living.

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[i] The Rule of St. Benedict in English, ed. Timothy Fry, (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1982), p. 15

[ii] Psalm 120:5-7  

[iii] Henry Suso, Sermon 4, The Exemplar, trans. Frank Tobin, (New York: Paulist Press, 1989), p. 372

[iv] C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996), p. 40

[v] The Rule, p. 48

[vi] John Cordelier, but where the reference is I do not know.

[vii] The Rule, p. 61

[viii] D. Oswald Hunter Blair, trans. The Rule of St. Benedict, (Fort Augustus: The Abbey Press, 1934), p. 155

[ix] The Oblate Rule of Life is unique to our Chapter, St. Anthony of the Desert.