Light and Images Elements of Contemplation

One of Adrienne von Speyr's most cherished concerns was to rekindle Christians' desire for contemplation and thus to renew the Church's prayer. Light and Images stands next to The World of Prayer as the most important of her works on the subject. In this striking book, Adrienne sets forth the deepest theological foundations of contemplative prayer according to the reciprocal relationship between "light" and "images". The light of God's revelation is truth and love; it embraces both Christ's "objective" manifestation in Scripture and tradition, and the Spirit's "subjective" illumination in the believer's heart through faith, hope, and love. To contemplate is to dwell as intimately as possible in this light, which includes some share as well in the darkness of the Son's suffering of the Cross. This light in turn illuminates the concrete "images" that make up Christian existence: not only the words and figures of Scripture and the Church's sacraments, but also the apparently ordinary things of daily life. From within the realm of contemplation, there is nothing in the world that does not speak of heaven, nothing that does not offer a glimpse into God's inner life.