The silence

Silence and prayer

When words and thoughts stop, you praise God in silent wonder and admiration.

At Sinai, God spoke to Moses and the Israelites. The word of God was preceded by thunder and lightning and an ever-louder sound of a trumpet. Elijah went up the mountain of God. There he experienced storm, earthquake and fire, but the Lord was not in any of those phenomena. When all the noise was over, Elijah heard "a sound of a gentle breeze", and God spoke to him. The Elijah's experience shows that God chose "a sound of a gentle breeze" to talk. This is a paradox: God is silent and yet speaking.

The storm on Mount Sinai was splitting rocks, but the silent words of God are able to make inroads into the hearts of men stone. In the silence the word of God can come in the most hidden corners of our hearts. In the silence, the word of God "is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the intimate soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and the thoughts of the heart". (Eb.4,12). In the silence of the light of Christ you can reach heal and be transformed.

We need silence to welcome these words and put them into practice. When we are agitated and restless, sometimes we have reasons not to forgive and not to love. However, if we were able to make calm in our souls, these reasons seem insignificant. Inner peace is a risky thing: it makes us empty and poor, disintegrates bitterness and leads us to the gift of ourselves.

Prayer requires inner serenity. We must first make your mind quiet. "Above all things. This peace of mind is acquired not by retreating from the world; we must be free from the worries and above the mastery of the passions. The peace of mind flows naturally in silent prayer, or meditation.

Crush your will is the hardest thing that you could ever ask a man, it means doing violence to one's thoughts to the will of God. The freedom from the worries, the silence and the quiet meditation give birth purity. No need to empty words, you tend your hands to the Lord.

The size of the silence is closely linked to that of listening. The word and the silence are two sides of the same coin, to be able to keep quiet well, you must know how to speak, to have something to express. Silence and word can then exchange parts, be both rich in important meanings. The concept of silence must be seen as an inner orientation path of consciousness.

The fruits of silence are manifold. Silence gives the peace; generates chastity; It helps the wicked; It preserves the soul in peace; silence is humility; silence helps not to judge others, not to condemn anyone, it is a remedy against the evil speaking; It is a school of tolerance and goodwill towards all. This leading to silence requires great courage: "The first run, the second run, the third becomes a sword."
Poemen

As the silence swathed the land

By: David Maria Turoldo

As the silence swathed the land
and the night was in the middle of its course,
you are descended, oh Word of God,
in highest solitude and silence.

The creation cries to you in silence,
the prophecy has always announces you,
but the mystery now has a voice,
your cry is more bottom than the silence.

And yet we do silence,
more than words silence the songs,
listen to your heart this single Word
who now speaks with a man's voice.

To you, Jesus, wonder of the world,
God who live in the human heart,
God hidden in mortal flesh,
you love singing silently.