Who Has the Aptitude for Contemplative Work?
The one who experiences God working in the depths of his spirit has the aptitude for contemplation and no one else.
Who Should Take up Contemplation?
These people, even if they have at one time been habitual sinners, should devote themselves to nourishing the grace of contemplative prayer.
Why Contemplative Prayer Is Work and Toil
Then why is this work so toilsome? The labor, of course, is in the unrelenting struggle to banish the countless distracting thoughts that plague our minds
Cultivate Study, Reflection, and Prayer
Anyone who aspires to contemplation ought to cultivate Study, Reflection, and Prayer, or to put it differently, reading, thinking, and praying.
Without Reading or Hearing God’s Word
Without reading or hearing God’s word, a man who is spiritually blind on account of habitual sin is simply unable to see the foul stain on his conscience.
Bring Out Treasures Both New and Old
Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.