“Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord!”
Zechariah 2:13
The true treasure of Christian faith is the enjoyment of communion with God; an indescribable vision of his incontestable, unbounded beauty and majesty. Saint Irenaeus (d. c. 202) considered this vision to be the very life of human persons.[1] We may enjoy it rarely and diffusively in this life, but one small glimpse assures us of its reality and fullness in the life to come.
You do not have to be extraordinary to catch a vision of God. But you do have to avail yourself to him on ever-deepening levels of your being: in your thoughts, words, deeds, and in the secret bridal chamber of the heart. The most reliable way to accomplish this is by taking the time to pray intensively in a safe environment stripped of distraction. A silent retreat provides such a setting.
In the biblical tradition there is holy and unholy silence. Unholy silence includes the silence of complicity, failure to speak out against injustice and sin.[2] It may be the silence of those who have gone down into the pit, unable to offer praise to God.[3]
On the other hand, holy silence can consist of refraining from sinful, vain, or arrogant speech. “Set a watch O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.”[4] Of course, we always have to keep in mind the confounding silence of Jesus before his accusers, unwilling to argue as he placed his life in the hand of the Father with utter faith.[5]
John’s revelation depicts a most intriguing reference to holy silence. Jesus is the only one worthy to unlock, so to speak, the scriptures. All scriptures point to him. When he is handed the Torah scroll and the seventh and final seal is broken, we are told that there is silence in heaven for half an hour.[6]
The opening of the seventh seal signifies the revelation of the ultimate mystery to which scripture points. God, infinite and uncreated, is beyond all words, conceptions, images. We must eventually bow to him entirely, casting all before his throne, coming shriven and speechless into his presence.
Authentic encounter with God in his glory leaves us undone. When Isaiah the Prophet met him in the Temple he cried, “I am ruined!”[7] When Saint Paul encountered him on the road to Damascus he was knocked down and blinded; his companions were left speechless.[8] When Saint John encountered him he fell as if dead.[9]
Keeping in mind the liturgical setting of John’s revelation (as all responsible readers of the book must do), I am convinced that the half hour of silence in heaven was mirrored on earth in the Church’s early liturgy, which John was celebrating—“in the spirit on the Lord’s day”[10]—when he had his vision. Was a formal period of silence kept in the liturgy, perhaps before or after the reading of the Gospel? Certainly, formal periods of silence were a part of the Church’s life since ancient times.
Silence and stillness simplify our lives by limiting our choices. For a set time, we stop blathering our opinions or going on about lesser things. For a period, we stop running to and fro, like Satan runs to and fro.[11] We commit instead to staying put and dealing with whatever comes up, be it wonderful or terrifying. We put ourselves into God’s hands in the same way Jesus, silent before his accusers, did.
It is a serious matter to be a Christian and to call on the Lord. We need properly to prepare ourselves to come into his presence. Spending time in silence is a part of this preparation. I will never say that silent retreats are easy. But, silent retreats provide an environment at once caring and disciplined within which this most important Christian work—purifying the heart and directing it to God alone—can take place.
After all, the pure in heart shall see God,[12] and the vision of God is the life of man.[13]
[1] “The glory of God is the living man; the life of man is the vision of God.” Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, Book 4, Chapter 20, Section 7.
[2] See, for example, Proverbs 31:8-9; Isaiah 56:10; Ezekiel 3:18–19.
[3] i.e. Isaiah 38:18.
[4] Psalm 141:3.
[5] Isaiah 53:7; Matthew 27:12–14; Mark 15:3–5; Luke 23:8–9; 1 Peter 2:23.
[6] Revelation 8:1.
[7] Isaiah 6:5.
[8] Acts 9:4, 7.
[9] Revelation 1:17.
[10] Revelation 1:10.
[11] Job 1:7.
[12] Matthew 5:8.
[13] Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, Book 4, Chapter 20, Section 7.