Two talks recorded Live at Balally Parish Centre in Dublin, Ireland, with Fr Laurence Freeman OSB. In Matthew 6:6 Jesus invites us to pray as follows: 'When you pray, go to your private room and pray to your father in secret'. The 'private room' referred to in this passage, this inner room is a symbol of our own heart; it is pointing to the heart of every human being. In Jesus' time, the Greek word 'Tameion' would have been used to describe this inner chamber and the word 'Tameion' is derived from an older Greek word 'Tameion',meaning 'treasury'. Meditation, then, is a prayer of the heart. In these talks Laurence traces the development of contemplative Christian communities from the time of the Desert Fathers, noting that the growth and development of the Christian Church was paralleled by the growth of a contemplative, monastic, lay movement. In Ireland this is evidenced by the number of placenames - like Kildare, Kilkenny and KIllarney - that are based on the Irish word 'Cill' meaning 'Church' but which originally referred to small monastic communities or cells. The Church today is crying out for a renewal of this contemplative dimension, the fruit of which is contemplative action in the world. 

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