Quotes on Hermits' Prayer Practices

Fr. Raoul Plus, S.J. comments on the prayer of hermits in his book, How to Pray Always.

"In the well-known Vitae Patrum, it is related of a saintly recluse that he raised his heart to God a hundred and three times during one conversation; and it is noteworthy that the early hermits and monks were unused to making long prayers. St. Augustine in a letter to Proba writes, 'It is said of our brothers in Egypt that they prayed frequently, but that their prayers were very short, like darts shot heavenward, and the reason for this is interesting: it was for fear that the attention would end in becoming dulled and be extinguished finally if the prayer were prolonged.'"

This hermit is not sure that prayers are being offered other than in the silence and solitude of whatever is happening at the present moment. The thoughts are going on, sometimes consciously but mostly subconsciously and the bulk unconsciously. The hours and minutes pass, and soon dusk descends on Lake Immaculata, and the hermit wearies, and considers rest in bed for the night.

What have been the prayers offered to God today? Mass, of course, and Jesus is speaking and teaching these days on prayer. Today the Vicar General homilized on persistence in prayer, and that the Father will give us what we need, even if we only ask for what we want. And sometimes what we want is what we need.

Today the hermit has edited some in the little job given from the secular consumer world. It is good work, and so thoughts and prayers have been for the many people who are unjustly treated by companies and individuals in the companies. Then the hermit dealt with an error in shoes sent to Agnus Dei, for they were the wrong size, and the company seemed to think that this would slide by. Not so in shoes, for they must fit the foot. The company, it seems, has no shoes in the hermit's size, so an alternate was sent! The hermit prayed for this issue, and for the people all along the way who will return the shoes to the company in another state, and that the hermit will have another errand tomorrow and interactions with people involved in shipping. It is all prayer.

Then the hermit began to bake a cake, some brownies, and bran muffins. It seems best to do this baking at once, efficiently, and prayers were being offered but the hermit has no concious recollection. Some may have been, and surely so it seems, for the family coming to Agnus Dei for dinner tomorrrow evening, and to watch a DVD of St. Francis of Assisi. The hermit also prayed for adult children, their spouses, their children, and their work and lives. Surely the hermit's relatives came to mind, and a couple of friends who have had babies recently, and on it goes, into neighbors and books, and hermit life, and thoughts on prayer itself.

But mostly, there is a blank, a kind of vapid, vaporous chunk of timeless void gone, as being in the galaxy is like that for ether. The hermit was here with God, and through God, was and is in God.

Only pain and the timer bell for the oven brought the hermit back to the temporal realm. The hermit had forgotten how much pain comes from baking. The body cannot endure that effort, and the hermit considers that it is all right to have few guests. But it is a form of prayer to sacrifice, to suffer, while doing something that otherwise is fun! Used to be fun! Now, it is productive, and prayer is productive, perhaps at this stage, more than fun, or as much as it is fun.

Were the prayers like darts to heaven? Were they burning and shining like ether dissipating quickly, unseen to human eyes, unknown and unsensed by any but the Holy Trinity, Mary, the angels, the saints? Were they short? Or were they a continuum of communicating at various levels and dimensions with the One?

Probably some of all, like little spurts of sparks burning and shining, strung out like a jetstream or more like a shooting star. None require an answer, not really. God sees. God alone knows.