Communal worship in the ancient Christian church seems to have been far more contemplative than mainstream Christianity today. We can learn a simple, yet compelling spiritual practice from the earliest Christian ascetics and their advocates within the Western contemplative tradition, John Cassian and Benedict of Nursia.

One of the most influential communities in early Christianity were the Desert Fathers and Mothers, whose theology and spiritual practices are preserved today in translations of the Sayings of the Desert Fathers. Essentially, these were small groups of what would now be considered Coptic monks, living in the Scetis desert, which is now Wadi El Natrun in Northern Egypt. Led by an Elder or “Abba”, these religious deprived themselves of the comforts of 3rd to 5th Century society (which wasn’t very comfortable as you can imagine) and lived in austere mud huts on little more than hard tack bread. Their contemplative practice involved repetitive manual labour, such as basket weaving, and prayer, which they referred to as Synaxis.

It’s hard to reconstruct from their writings a complete picture of their contemplative practice, but it does seem clear that saying the Psalter was a significant part of the Synaxis. In the writings of the Desert Fathers themselves and in the writings of John Cassian, who introduced the asceticism of the Desert Fathers to the Western mediaeval church, it seems that twelve psalms formed the basis of the Synaxis. Later, Benedict of Nursia, the father of Western monasticism, codified this practice in his Rule of St Benedict, and augmented it with scripture readings and lessons from ancient and influential Christian theologians. This structure evolved considerably, became more complex over a millennium and now forms the basis of the devotions in the Anglican Breviary, which I’ve posted about earlier, as well as the Roman Breviary upon which it was based.

If we want to peel back the layers of complexity and embellishment though, and dispense with more modern contemplative practices imported from non-Christian sources, simply saying the Psalter is probably as true-to-form a contemplative practice as one can get. The key is to do so prayerfully. That is to say, not matter which contemplative practice one uses, staying focussed on the prayer, not letting the mind wander, and staying in this moment is key. In saying psalms, I like to use regular pauses at the end of each verse, or “caesura” if they’re indicated within the verse of the particular text you’re using, to regularly refocus my attention on the psalm. I can safely say that I’ve never been successful in staying completely focused for the entire duration of whatever contemplative method I’m using, but another critical practices is to not be discouraged, and to simply keep trying. Regardless of how successful you are, the spiritual fruits are there and over time, the distractions will lessen.

So as a simple and fruitful contemplative practice, let me leave you with this Psalter, compiled by an English Orthodox, and divided into Kathisma, which just provides a more consistent division of the Psalms given that some Psalms are far longer than others. Maybe try setting aside 20 minutes either right when you wake, or just before you go to sleep, which are times we can usually afford, and say a Kathisma or two prayerfully. That’s all there is to it. Don’t expect to see a blinding revelation, or hear a booming voice from the Heavens, or anything spectacular. But if you do practice regularly and mindfully, I assure you that you will hear a quiet whisper when you need it most.