Hidden Houses of Prayer, Coventry Cathedral, 23 May 2015
Quotations from Philip Roderick’s introduction and presentation
Opening quote and prayer: ‘Fire is kindled when God’s self-emptying in Christ meets our
self-emptying in prayer’. St Isaac the Syrian, 7th century.
Holy Spirit, fire of love, heal, transform and purify me,
And change me from the inside
Holy Spirit, Comforter, melt all that is cold in me,
And soothe my hurts in your warmth.
Holy Spirit, transforming power, light up my heart and take possession of me,
So that I may become flame.
Chant: Angels of the city
Angels of the city,
angels of the coast,
angels of the universe
O, you heavenly host.
Stand guard over us,
stand guard over us,
stand guard o’er the ones we love,
guide us into light.
Guide us into light.
© Phi l ip D Roderick
Philip’s presentation:
To Pray is to Love - The Vision for Hidden Houses of Prayer
‘God is love’. Jesus invites us to ‘love one another’ and to ‘abide in my love’ John 15: 9. The
disciples asked Jesus: ‘teach us to pray’ and he shared with them the Lord’s Prayer. Paul, the
Apostle, encourages all followers of the Way of Christ to ‘pray without ceasing’ 1 Thess 5:17.
We shall explore a household spirituality of contemplative intercession, solidarity in silence
and song, and prayer in the night hours.
Rilke poem
Where you are,
however unchosen,
is the place of blessing.
How you are,
however broken,
is the place of grace.
Who you are,
in your becoming,
is your place in the kingdom.
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Words given: I have been trying to tell my children for some time that they must come
before me in adoration and silent prayer but they will not listen…Believe me when I say that
it is in silence and adoration that I send my Holy Spirit to you so that you can absorb my
Holy Spirit into yourselves. You then become like blotting paper or a sponge soaking up my
Spirit so that it permeates every part of your being and I am able to guide you in all your
actions, thoughts and words…You have to humble yourselves and bow down before me in
adoration and silence. For it is in this very silence that you will absorb me into yourselves.
This is especially important for those of my children who intercede for others as the more
they absorb me in their silent prayer the more I can give myself to others through them I
give my love, peace, healing, my joy. I transform bitterness, resentment and hate and all
the negative attributes into my love, always my love, through them…Those who are actually
doing the interceding will not usually be aware of anything happening but I tell you truly
that I am using them in a very powerful way to give my love to others. So never think that
you are wasting time when you come before me in this way. It is here that the work of
transforming and transfiguring my world with love takes place. If you desire my mercy to
flow forth afresh you must ask for it to do so. You must claim it for it is already there…So
remember to ask for my divine power and my mercy and it will be given to you. Believe me,
O believe me.’
(D’s) words: ‘…I have been/am struggling with a diagnosis in a psychiatric nightmare. Been
in four different hospitals; fairly shortly to be discharged but still under section…Not funny
getting older…nor being on the wrong side of the law.
Hence the enclosed by Alfred Lord Tennyson’:
If thou shouldst never see my face again,
Pray for my soul.
More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of.
Wherefore let thy voice
Rise like a fountain for me
Night and day…
Psalm 6, v1-4, 6-9 – prayer for recovery from grave illness
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O LORD , do not rebuke me in your anger,
or discipline me in your wrath.
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Be gracious to me, O LORD , for I am languishing;
O LORD , heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.
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My soul also is struck with terror,
while you, O LORD —how long?
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Turn, O LORD , save my life;
deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.
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I am weary with my moaning;
every night I flood my bed with tears;
I drench my couch with my weeping.
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My eyes waste away because of grief;
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they grow weak because of all my foes.
Depart from me, all you workers of evil,
for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.
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The LORD has heard my supplication;
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the LORD accepts my prayer.
Creation groaning: Romans 8: 19, 22, 23, 26-28 9For the creation waits with eager longing for
the revealing of the children of God; 22We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour
pains until now; 23 and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the fi rst fruits of the Spirit,
groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we
ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27And God, who
searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for
the saints according to the will of God. 28 We know that all things work together for
good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. 35Who will separate
us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword? 38For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height, nor depth, nor
anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus
our Lord.
Symeon the New Theologian poem ‘We awaken in Christ’s body’
We awaken in Christ’s body
as Christ awakens our bodies,
and my poor hand is Christ. He enters
my foot, and is infinitely me.
I move my hand, and wonderfully
my hand becomes Christ, becomes all of Him
(for God is indivisibly
whole, seamless in His Godhood).
I move my foot, and at once
He appears like a flash of lightening.
Do my words seem blasphemous? – Then
open your heart to Him
and let yourself receive the one
who is opening to you so deeply.
For if we genuinely love Him,
we wake up inside Christ’s body
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where all our body, all over
every most hidden part of it,
is realised in joy as Him,
and He makes us utterly real,
and everything that is hurt, everything
that seemed to us dark, harsh, shameful,
maimed, ugly, irreparably
damaged, is in Him transformed
and recognised as whole, as lovely
and radiant in His light.
We awaken as the Beloved
in every part of our body
Symeon the New Theologian (949–1022), “We awaken i n Christ’s body” i n The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred
Poetry, ed Stephen Mitchell p38
1 Corinthians 3, v16: ‘Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit
dwells in you?’ And 1 Corinthians 6, 19-20: ‘Or do you not know that your body is a
temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your
own? 20For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.’
Annemarie’s scarf and Lord’s Prayer intercession: ‘Dear Jill…In support of a good outcome
on every level I have knitted you a ‘personalised’ scarf for comfort. This is a kind of
intercession I have started to do last year, first for my own family, now widening the circle
for others around me. I have come to love singing the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic and it just
developed that I sing it at length while I knit. And eventually I noticed that I can sing the
person’s name into it. So I have sung your name into the line ‘give us this day our daily
bread’. Meaning ‘give Jill all the support and wisdom she needs today’. Maybe you can still
hear the vibes when you wrap the scarf around yourself. With all my love, Annemarie.
The Bond with the Beloved
As we silently work upon ourselves, the energy of our devotion becomes a point of light
within the world. At the present time a map is being unfolded made of the lights of the
lovers of God. The purpose of this map is to change the inner energy structure of the planet.
In previous ages this energy structure was held by sacred places, stone circles, temples and
cathedrals.
In the next stage of our evolution it is the hearts of individuals that will hold the cosmic note
of the planet. This note can be recognised as a song being infused into the hearts of seekers.
It is a quality of joy that is being infused into the world. It is the heartbeat of the world and
needs to be heard in our cities and towns.
Ll ewellyn Vaughan-Lee, The Bond with the Beloved, p26
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Resources and quotations from Sister Julia’s presentation
Centering into the heart and opening to God:
Sit with the back upright but not tense, and the feet flat on the floor if sitting on a chair.
Review of the day so far – bringing ourselves here. Going over anything we haven’t let go
of, choosing to lay it down and to come into this space now. Releasing our expectations of
what this day will bring to us. Relax them into God who knows what we need and cherishes
us.
Stand up and brush unwanted energies off our bodies – head to feet. Releasing old, nolonger-needed energy from our selves – all that is heavy and not lifegiving. This is prayer, an
honouring of our physical and non-physical bodies.
If it helps, imagine the energy that is brushed off flowing away into the earth. Or imagine it
flowing away to the feet of Christ to be transformed by his love.
Feel all these no-longer-needed energies being totally released and the body being
completely freed from them.
Shake out arms and legs.
Sit down again. Welcoming and relaxing into the space. We welcome all of ourselves here
– body, mind, emotions, heart, psyche, consciousness. We experience what we’re feeling
right now – tension, relief, peace, anxiety, boredom, … We welcome it just as it is.
Body welcoming, feet to head. Breathing into the body, welcoming each part of it. Releasing
tension in each part, accepting ourselves as we are right now. Being present within our
body.
Breathing into the heart on the inbreath, deepening into the heart on the outbreath. (The
spiritual heart in the centre of the chest.)
Use a word on the inbreath if you like – love, heart, God, Jesus…
Open to the space at the centre of the heart, the space in the cave of the heart that contains
the whole universe. Receive and abide in the love and light that is here, that embraces
everything we are, that loves and welcomes us…
Breathe into the heart of this love, into the heart of God in the centre of our hearts…
Breathe this divine love in and out …
Staying in this sanctuary of love in the heart, now we expand our awareness to include the
space around us. From our hearts, we are open to the divine love flowing in the room. Carry
on breathing in and out the divine love, and come into communion with one another…
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Abba Poemen: (Poemen means ‘shepherd’ – of an early Egyptian desert monastic community):
“Do not give your heart to that which does not satisfy your heart.”
From Silence and Honey Cakes by Rowan Williams, p. 42-3:
A certain brother came to see Abba Arsenius at Scetis. He arrived at the church and asked
the clergy if he could go and visit Abba Arsenius. ‘Have a bite to eat,’ they said, ‘before you
go to see him.’ ‘No,’ he replied, ‘I shan’t eat anything until I have met him.’
Arsenius’s cell was a long way off, so they sent a brother along with him. They knocked on
the door, went in and greeted the old man, then sat down; nothing was said. The brother
from the church said, ‘I’ll leave you now; pray for me.’ But the visitor didn’t feel at ease with
the old man and said, ‘I’m coming with you.’ So off they went together.
Then the visitor said, ‘Will you take me to see Abba Moses, the one who used to be a
highwayman?’ When they arrived, Abba Moses welcomed them happily and enjoyed
himself thoroughly with them until they left.
The brother who had escorted the visitor said to him, ‘Well, I’ve taken you to see the
foreigner [Arsenius] and the Egyptian [Moses]; which do you like better?’ ‘The Egyptian for
me!’ he said.
One of the fathers overheard this and prayed to God saying, ‘Lord, explain this to me. For
your sake one of these men runs from human company and for your sake the other receives
them with open arms.’ Then two large boats floating on the river were shown to him. In one
of them sat Abba Arsenius and the Holy Spirit of God in complete silence. And in the other
boat was Abba Moses, with the angels of God; they were all eating honey cakes.’
From a meditation by Richard Rohr (daily meditations sent by email – you can subscribe on
the Center for Action and Contemplation website):
“Solitude is a courageous encounter with our naked, most raw and real self, in the presence
of pure love.”
Two very good books that explain the purification of the unconscious:
Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening – Cynthia Bourgeault
Emotional Clearing: How to practise emotional intelligence – Releasing negative feelings and
awakening unconditional happiness – John Ruskan
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Bishop John Stroyan’s Reflection on Hidden Houses of Prayer
I was outside myself, you were within… you were with me but I was not with
you. Augustine: Confessions
God longs to give us the gift of his very self, but our hands are too full to receive
this gift.
Becoming present to God, leave the past to God, trust the future to God, give yourself to
God… this time, this place, this moment. … that we may know ourselves ‘to be found in him’
Phil.3.9, He in us and we in Him. May they be one in us, as I am in you and you are in me,
may they be one in us, Jesus prays to the Father. John 17.20
Icon: Hospitality of God. Inspired by hospitality of Abram and Sara. We are
invited to share in the movement of love, the dance of love where love in
the Holy Trinity is always being given and received. We are invited- love
cannot compel - we are beckoned to come and share in this love, in the very
life and love of God. To be partakers in the divine nature.2 Peter 1.4.
Icon: Abram and Sara. God among us, God within us, God in our hearts, God in
our hospitality. Gen.18. We welcome Christ in the stranger, in the other. We
welcome Christ himself in our guest. Benedict (Rule 53.1)
Icon: Orans. Mary said yes, unconditionally: Let it me to me according to your
word. Christ in Mary, Christ praying in and through Mary, Mary- the Mother of
God, Theotokos. Mary, the type of the Church. The Church is she in whom
Christ lives, and through whom, he prays. Each one of us, a child of God,
utterly beloved, in whom Christ lives and through whom Christ prays. A temple
of the Holy Spirit.
So there is hiddenness in all this. God comes to Abram and Sara, hidden in the guise of three
strangers. Our lives are hidden in the heart of Christ. ‘For you have died and your life is
hidden with Christ’ writes Paul. Col.3.3.
‘Make your home in me as I make my home in you’ says Jesus John 15.4. Let us be still and
rejoice in this.
Silence
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I want to reflect on the places out there – physically, geographically – and then again the
place in here, in our hearts – and begin to make some connections. Take off your shoes, for
the land on which you stand is Holy ground, God says to Moses. Exodus 3.5. Moses icon. The
whole earth is alive with the glory of God.
All things made by Him, through Him and for Him. Col.1.16, Rom.11.36,Heb. The whole
earth is alive with the glory of God.
Christ is the Pantocrator, (Pantocrator icon) the first and the las t, the Creator
and ruler of all. Christ is ho on, words we see on every icon of Christ, the one
who is, the one who is and was and is and is to come Rev.1.4 The Alpha and
Omega, the Almighty ho pantocrator. All things have been created in him,
through him and for him. Col.1.16. All things will be gathered up into Christ.
Eph.1.10.
So what about places? What is the place of place in the economy of God?
There is the Bethlehem out there where Christ was born and there is the Bethlehem in here
(our hearts) where Christ longs to be born. As Meister Eckhardt put it ‘what is the point of
going on pilgrimage to Bethlehem, if Christ be not born in you?’
But there are places out there, sanctified by people of prayer, by epiphany, by theophany,
places we are drawn to in pilgrimage. Places which can be ‘thin’ as George Macleod
described Iona. And it is interesting and encouraging to note the growth of pilgrimage,
people seeking God, many not members of any churches, and if by foot the journey often as
important as the destination.
And then there are the ordinary places in our midst, hidden from public knowledge, often in
the midst of wilderness where a little bit of the desert has become fertile, as Isaiah
prophesied.
I began my ordained ministry in Hillfields, an inner city parish very close which had a
reputation. When I was there, some 30 years ago, there were many very grey, gloomy and
bleak high rise blocks of flats. Drug dealing and violence was endemic. Mabel Goodwin, an
elderly saint lived at the top of one of these blocks in a very small flat. She was housebound.
Mabel was full of grace and truth, a person of deep serenity. Whenever I brought her Holy
Communion I was deeply blessed by the presence of Christ in her. She would say ‘I can’t get
out but I can pray.’ And pray she did, Christ praying through her. She had a tiny balcony on
which she grew flowers. The flowers were beautiful. One day when I was with her I looked
out of her window and saw flowers alive and growing and beautiful. The only thing was, it
was winter. I spoke to others about this, and they confirmed such flowers could not be
growing. And, no they were not plastic or artificial. They were real flowers. Hidden from the
gaze of the world but a beautiful sign of the desert in which she lived becoming fertile as
Isaiah prophesied ch.41. The Lord will comfort the waste places of Zion and will make her
wilderness like Eden, her desert like a garden. Is.51.3. This was indeed a hidden house of
prayer. Christ in Mabel transforming the space around her. It reminds me of Seraphim of
Sarov, whom the Russian authorities tried to evict from his place of prayer in the forest by
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poisoning the waters around him. Every time they did so a new spring would emerge with
fresh water.
So what about us? What does Jesus have to say to us? He tells us that we need to find
hidden places or ‘desert’ places in the Greek to come apart to away from the noise and
demands and busyness of everyday life. Hidden places of prayer. Every Christian is called
into this desert /eremos place to be a hermit for at least some of each day.Mk.6.31, just as
Jesus himself did.Mk.1.35.
Jesus underlines this four times in his primary teaching on prayer. ‘When you pray, go into
your (1) hidden room, (2) close the door. Pray to your Father who is (3) in secret and your
Father who sees you (4) in secret will reward you.’ Mt.6.6.
It is here in the desert place of our homes or gardens that we meet with Lord in the hidden
chamber of our hearts. It is here where deep calls to deep that we may begin to sense, with
Augustine, that ‘God is deeper within me than my own inner self’. Confessions 3.6. It is here
in the silence that we may hear the whisper of God’s voice, as Elijah did in ‘the sound of
sheer silence’. It is here in the stillness, that we may detect the gentle movements of the
Spirit of God within us and around us. It is here in the solitude, that we may know we are
not alone, that He is with us always until the end of time.
Silence
But this prayer as we know is not easy. Easy to say perhaps but what a wrestle is prayer,
what a struggle. It will often evoke deep resistance in those of us on the nursery slopes such
as me. It demands ascesis, discipline and perseverance through times of resistance, through
the times when we feel far from God and He from us, through the times when we feel we
rather do anything else but prayer. As we often discern later, it is perseverance through
these times of aridity and apparent fruitlessness in prayer that God actually honours most of
all. This may be part of the meaning of Isaiah’s phrase ‘the treasures of darkness’.
And yet how badly is this needed. This coming apart to the desert place to be with God and
to welcome His presence with and within us, to love God and to receive his love. This is ‘one
thing necessary’. And yet the noise around us and within our heads always drawing our
attention from God. I have this Banksie picture which to me epitomises something of the
Zeitgeist of today’s western world. Here is a young couple embracing each other, but each
of them actually not focusing on the beloved but on the mobile phones they are holding
behind their lover’s head. We live in an age even more prone to the diffusion of attention,
the loss of focus or true attentiveness to the other. As Augustine confessed to God: ‘You
were within me and I was outside. You were with me but I was not with you.’ So how much
more important are these hidden places of prayer both around us and within us.
When we pray like this, the ecology within us around us is changed, as I could see with
Mabel. Never has the need for contemplative prayer been greater. The prayer of
attentiveness and focus, where that dart of longing love (The Cloud) from deep within us
rises up to the Living God. But those of us in the world do need to go through the
discomforting daily detox. Co-leading a retreat to the Sinai desert, with almost 8 days of
silence, we were warned of the snakes and the scorpions we could find in our sleeping bags
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or shoes before we got into them, but for many of us it was the snakes and scorpions of our
own demons that we would encounter in the desert that were the hardest of all to face.
Going through all this, praying through all this was at first deeply uncomfortable but it was a
necessary discomfort before a release into a deeper peace with God. This is part of the daily
ascesis too. It is about simplicity. It demands decluttering and sometimes detoxifying too.
But this time alone with God in the hidden place of prayer gives God space to change us, to
bring peace to us and to others through us.
I’ll finish with some words of Mother Maribel of Wantage:
If Christ lives in us, then He prays in us and our chief concern should be to provide Him a
place in which he can pray. We know the joy of slipping into a silent church out of the din
and roar of traffic. What joy for Christ to push open our swing doors and find in us a place in
which He can pray. How good if He can say of us: ‘This is my Body through whom I can pray,
through whom I can reach out to others, into whom and through whom I can pour out my
love… which I can even break –if need be for the salvation of the world.’
Amen. Let it be so for us. Let it be so in us. Let it be so through us. Amen.Amen.Amen.
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