This chapter,
Anonymous tells us, provides “three skills every contemplative beginner must
practice: reading, reflecting, and praying” (81-82), and it’s exceptionally
important advice for all who practice contemplative prayer. As Carmen Butcher makes evident in endnote 1
(251), Anonymous wants us to practice a rhythm of prayer leaning upon a
widespread and deep tradition rooted in centuries of Christian experience.
In the second
sentence of the chapter, Anonymous spells out “the certain exercises” that help
to take us into the fullness of prayer: “These are the lesson, the meditation,
and the orison, better known as reading, reflecting, and prayer” (also known as
in Latin as lectio, meditatio, and oratio).
Concerning these exercises, Anonymous says that he “won’t go into great
detail” in describing them what because we “can learn more about these three
activities in another book where the author explains them better than I can.”
As Butcher informs us, Anonymous may be referring either to Walter Hilton’s
Scale of Perfection (Chapter 15) or to Guigo II’s Ladder. Inasmuch as Hilton
and Guigo are not easily assessable to today’s readers of The Cloud, those who
wish to know more about these three activities that climax in contemplative
prayer are invited to visit one or more of the following:
- Guigo II - Lectio Divina (Bishop David Walker talks on the Guigo II method of Lectio Divina. Filmed at the Caroline Chisholm Centre, Pennant Hills, Sydney, Australia). Highly recommended!
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