What do you think?
Rate this book
The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise
Now with a new afterword by Pope emeritus Benedict XVI!
In a time when technology penetrates our lives in so many ways and materialism exerts such a powerful influence over us, Cardinal Robert Sarah presents a bold book about the strength of silence. The modern world generates so much noise, he says, that seeking moments of silence has become both harder and more necessary than ever before.
Silence is the indispensable doorway to the divine, explains the cardinal in this profound conversation with Nicolas Diat. Within the hushed and hallowed walls of the La Grande Chartreux, the famous Carthusian monastery in the French Alps, Cardinal Sarah addresses the following questions: Can those who do not know silence ever attain truth, beauty, or love? Do not wisdom, artistic vision, and devotion spring from silence, where the voice of God is heard in the depths of the human heart?
After the international success of God or Nothing, Cardinal Sarah seeks to restore to silence its place of honor and importance. "Silence is more important than any other human work," he says, "for it expresses God. The true revolution comes from silence; it leads us toward God and others so as to place ourselves humbly and generously at their service."
In a time when technology penetrates our lives in so many ways and materialism exerts such a powerful influence over us, Cardinal Robert Sarah presents a bold book about the strength of silence. The modern world generates so much noise, he says, that seeking moments of silence has become both harder and more necessary than ever before.
Silence is the indispensable doorway to the divine, explains the cardinal in this profound conversation with Nicolas Diat. Within the hushed and hallowed walls of the La Grande Chartreux, the famous Carthusian monastery in the French Alps, Cardinal Sarah addresses the following questions: Can those who do not know silence ever attain truth, beauty, or love? Do not wisdom, artistic vision, and devotion spring from silence, where the voice of God is heard in the depths of the human heart?
After the international success of God or Nothing, Cardinal Sarah seeks to restore to silence its place of honor and importance. "Silence is more important than any other human work," he says, "for it expresses God. The true revolution comes from silence; it leads us toward God and others so as to place ourselves humbly and generously at their service."
249 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2016
About the author
Robert Sarah
51 books229 followersRobert Cardinal Sarah was born in Guinea, West Africa. Made an Archbishop by Pope John Paul II and a Cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI, he was named the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments by Pope Francis in 2014.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 291 reviews
May 19, 2017
As soon as I heard about this book I wanted to start reading it but had to await publication of the English translation. Cardinal Sarah is one of three prominent prelates today I most admire. He considers himself a disciple of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and dedicated this book to him. I share the Cardinal’s affection for our former pontiff and miss his quiet soothing ways.
From the very first page I was swept up in this book. It is a series of reflections on silence, solitude, prayer, and encountering God within, Cardinal Sarah’s own reflections as well as those from Carthusian, Carmelite, Trappist and other contemplative religious traditions. They are simple and profound. Some will surprise you and others you will swear you have thought/heard yourself in the quiet corners of your mind.
In places, the book is a back-and-forth dialogue between Nicholas Diat and Cardinal Sarah. The final chapter includes Dom Dysmus De Lassus of the Carthusian Order in their discussion; his perspective is rich.
I have tried to read Cardinal Sarah’s book slowly, savoring each thought, but usually I got greedy and started to gobble them wanting more and more. That is how I finished it so quickly. I don’t recommend that.
You could easily start this book and never finish it … just reading each reflection and pondering the wisdom in the Silence of God. Well maybe not easily, but certainly profitably. I read most of this in front of the Blessed Sacrament where the Silence is most profound and sublime.
5 Stars +++
From the very first page I was swept up in this book. It is a series of reflections on silence, solitude, prayer, and encountering God within, Cardinal Sarah’s own reflections as well as those from Carthusian, Carmelite, Trappist and other contemplative religious traditions. They are simple and profound. Some will surprise you and others you will swear you have thought/heard yourself in the quiet corners of your mind.
… At the beginning it takes an effort to be quiet, but if we are faithful, little by little, something is born of our silence that attracts us to more silence.” We know that this “something”, whose contours I could not define, is in reality “Someone” who draws us more and more into his mystery.There are so many other quotes I would like to include; maybe later on the author’s page.
The major obstacle, generally, comes from our tendency to stand still as long as we have a system that works. Our heart, accustomed to a certain relationship with God, is reluctant to change in order to enter into a new relationship; nevertheless the Lord is impatient to make progress. Then he goes on ahead in order to oblige us to set out again on the road.”
On the subject of evil and suffering:
Before leaving for the gas chamber, a Jew wrote on a slip of paper: “Lord, remember also the men of ill will, but do not remember then their cruelties. Remember the fruits that we have borne because of what they did. And grant Lord, that the fruits that we have borne may one day be their redemption.” … It is urgent for the modern world to regain a faith perspective. Otherwise mankind is headed for destruction. The Church cannot confine herself to a merely social vision. Charity has a spiritual meaning. Charity is closely related to God’s silence.
In places, the book is a back-and-forth dialogue between Nicholas Diat and Cardinal Sarah. The final chapter includes Dom Dysmus De Lassus of the Carthusian Order in their discussion; his perspective is rich.
I have tried to read Cardinal Sarah’s book slowly, savoring each thought, but usually I got greedy and started to gobble them wanting more and more. That is how I finished it so quickly. I don’t recommend that.
You could easily start this book and never finish it … just reading each reflection and pondering the wisdom in the Silence of God. Well maybe not easily, but certainly profitably. I read most of this in front of the Blessed Sacrament where the Silence is most profound and sublime.
5 Stars +++
September 4, 2018
"It is time to revolt against the dictatorship of noise that seeks to break our hearts and our intellects. A noisy society is like sorry looking cardboard stage scenery, a world without substance, an immature flight. A noisy Church would become vain, unfaithful and dangerous."
Last three-four days I was under the training of Cardinal Robert Sarah who taught me how to be silent in life. He showed me how important it is to be silent in our day to day lives. It is important in the life of a priest to be silent because the priest is a person who should be always with God. This book gave me a lot of understanding about the silence and solitude. Though we have the desire to see God and need always to be with Him we often fail to enter into that great silence.
This book also showed the beauty of the Carthusian life. Sometimes when I read passages from their life it gave me an urge to enter into the monastery of Carthusians but I am called to be an active Franciscan. My vocation is so beautiful if I can make it since St. Francis of Assisi showed it by his life.
The other person I found in this book most quoted was our best theologian of the era Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the different lessons from his life and the books have really beautified this book in its entirety.
The quote from different saints from the Gospel until today made a great contribution to this book. This book is really worthwhile and Cardinal Sarah put out this book in time. Yes, we need to go back to the culture of silence. So that we will be able to overcome the suffocation syndrome and we can talk to God who is our creator. I recommend to all my friends this book. Read this book at least one time in your life. It is really helpful, this book will change your life.
Let us announce war against the dictatorship of noise.
Amen
Immediately I am going to read the book God or Nothing
Last three-four days I was under the training of Cardinal Robert Sarah who taught me how to be silent in life. He showed me how important it is to be silent in our day to day lives. It is important in the life of a priest to be silent because the priest is a person who should be always with God. This book gave me a lot of understanding about the silence and solitude. Though we have the desire to see God and need always to be with Him we often fail to enter into that great silence.
This book also showed the beauty of the Carthusian life. Sometimes when I read passages from their life it gave me an urge to enter into the monastery of Carthusians but I am called to be an active Franciscan. My vocation is so beautiful if I can make it since St. Francis of Assisi showed it by his life.
The other person I found in this book most quoted was our best theologian of the era Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the different lessons from his life and the books have really beautified this book in its entirety.
The quote from different saints from the Gospel until today made a great contribution to this book. This book is really worthwhile and Cardinal Sarah put out this book in time. Yes, we need to go back to the culture of silence. So that we will be able to overcome the suffocation syndrome and we can talk to God who is our creator. I recommend to all my friends this book. Read this book at least one time in your life. It is really helpful, this book will change your life.
Let us announce war against the dictatorship of noise.
Amen
Immediately I am going to read the book God or Nothing
August 24, 2019
I live in a home that has low level noise 24x7. My husband loves to watch TV, keep up with the news and uses the TV as a night light!! I, on the other hand, prefer SILENCE. No wonder this book title more than appealed to me. When one of my groups. Catholic Thought, made this a selection in June, I knew I wanted to read it too.
Cardinal Robert Sarah is from Guinea, a country in western Africa. Pope Francis appointed him as head of the congregation that is responsible for the celebration of the liturgy in the Church. Much of what Sarah discusses asks for more silence during the Mass. But he very much encourages personal silence as well. My favorite quote is very simple:
"Let everything be quiet so that God can make himself heard."
It helps me to remember that both talking to God through prayer and hearing his answer cannot be attained without silence.
This book is beautifully written and sometimes put tears in my eyes with its eloquence. Some of my other favorite quotes have been made visible through Kindle notes.
5 stars
Cardinal Robert Sarah is from Guinea, a country in western Africa. Pope Francis appointed him as head of the congregation that is responsible for the celebration of the liturgy in the Church. Much of what Sarah discusses asks for more silence during the Mass. But he very much encourages personal silence as well. My favorite quote is very simple:
"Let everything be quiet so that God can make himself heard."
It helps me to remember that both talking to God through prayer and hearing his answer cannot be attained without silence.
This book is beautifully written and sometimes put tears in my eyes with its eloquence. Some of my other favorite quotes have been made visible through Kindle notes.
5 stars
Shelved as 'actual-tbr-list'
December 14, 2021Found this brilliant quote on Instagram...
“Our world no longer hears God because it is constantly speaking, at a devastating speed and volume, in order to say nothing.
“Modern civilization does not know how to be quiet. It holds forth in an unending monologue. Postmodern society rejects the past and looks at the present as a cheap consumer object; it pictures the future in terms of an almost obsessive progress. Its dream, which has become a sad reality, will have been to lock silence away in a damp, dark dungeon.
“Thus there is a dictatorship of speech, a dictatorship of verbal emphasis. In this theater of shadows, nothing is left but a purulent wound of mechanical words, without perspective, without truth, and without foundation. Quite often “truth” is nothing more than the pure and misleading creation of the media, corroborated by fabricated images and testimonies. When that happens, the word of God fades away, inaccessible and inaudible. Postmodernity is an ongoing offense and aggression against the divine silence.
“From morning to evening, from evening to morning, silence no longer has any place at all; the noise tries to prevent God himself from speaking. In this hell of noise, man disintegrates and is lost; he is broken up into countless worries, fantasies, and fears. In order to get out of these depressing tunnels, he desperately awaits noise so that it will bring him a few consolations.
“Noise is a deceptive, addictive, and false tranquilizer. The tragedy of our world is never better summed up than in the fury of senseless noise that stubbornly hates silence.
“This age detests the things that silence brings us to: encounter, wonder, and kneeling before God. Even in the schools, silence has disappeared. And yet how can anyone study in the midst of noise? How can you read in noise? How can you train your intellect in noise? How can you structure your thought and the contours of your interior being in noise? How can you be open to the mystery of God, to spiritual values, and to our human greatness in continual turmoil?
“Contemplative silence is a fragile little flame in the middle of a raging ocean.”
The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise
By Cardinal Robert Sarah
“Our world no longer hears God because it is constantly speaking, at a devastating speed and volume, in order to say nothing.
“Modern civilization does not know how to be quiet. It holds forth in an unending monologue. Postmodern society rejects the past and looks at the present as a cheap consumer object; it pictures the future in terms of an almost obsessive progress. Its dream, which has become a sad reality, will have been to lock silence away in a damp, dark dungeon.
“Thus there is a dictatorship of speech, a dictatorship of verbal emphasis. In this theater of shadows, nothing is left but a purulent wound of mechanical words, without perspective, without truth, and without foundation. Quite often “truth” is nothing more than the pure and misleading creation of the media, corroborated by fabricated images and testimonies. When that happens, the word of God fades away, inaccessible and inaudible. Postmodernity is an ongoing offense and aggression against the divine silence.
“From morning to evening, from evening to morning, silence no longer has any place at all; the noise tries to prevent God himself from speaking. In this hell of noise, man disintegrates and is lost; he is broken up into countless worries, fantasies, and fears. In order to get out of these depressing tunnels, he desperately awaits noise so that it will bring him a few consolations.
“Noise is a deceptive, addictive, and false tranquilizer. The tragedy of our world is never better summed up than in the fury of senseless noise that stubbornly hates silence.
“This age detests the things that silence brings us to: encounter, wonder, and kneeling before God. Even in the schools, silence has disappeared. And yet how can anyone study in the midst of noise? How can you read in noise? How can you train your intellect in noise? How can you structure your thought and the contours of your interior being in noise? How can you be open to the mystery of God, to spiritual values, and to our human greatness in continual turmoil?
“Contemplative silence is a fragile little flame in the middle of a raging ocean.”
The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise
By Cardinal Robert Sarah
August 26, 2017
It can get redundant in places, but pithy enough as to invite pause and reflection. I have thought and said much about silence in the past several years, especially as social media grows in breadth and influence. Becoming a contemplative or even desiring to be one sounds bizarre to many today, but I've often wondered just how much change we could effect in the world should more of us turn away from the noise and seek the Lord more in the silence of our hearts and our homes. Certainly one to reread and digest and apply a bit at a time. I am rather amused at a few lengthy sections where thoughts about immigration, or the divorced and remarried, or the liturgy, seem to suddenly burst out like a flash from the even flow of meditations on silence. A bit jarring, I almost felt like the book was written as a paean to silence but you need to read the whole thing to find the hidden messages (wink, wink). But I will not project my naughty thinking on the Cardinal. Great book for daily meditation. My new goal is 15 minutes a day in UTTER SILENCE, preferably in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
May 28, 2017
A deeply contemplative book, “The Power of Silence” took me back to a quiet personal retreat I made, at a Cistercian Monastery, many years ago. The subtitle, “Against the Dictatorship of Noise” may strike a chord with many in our current day, as we are perpetually bombarded with media of every description, the often frantic pace of our own lives, and Just. Plain. Noise.
The author, Robert Sarah, is a very prominent Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church, and writes from a heart obviously filled with the love of God, and a life that has grown wise and insightful from many years of spiritual experience. Despite the fact that he and I have quite different views on certain doctrines of the faith, this book is more of an intimate devotional journey – an oasis for the soul – and a book length conversation with the reader about the delight and blessing of a quiet heart, and the great spiritual power of silence.
One of the parts I enjoyed most in this book was the ample quotations from various church fathers and saints of God, liberally sprinkled throughout. I also learned much about the Carthusians, and their devoted lives of silence. This is not a large book, though not one to rush through, but rather to savor -- a rich and thoughtful treatment of an often neglected spiritual discipline.
The author, Robert Sarah, is a very prominent Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church, and writes from a heart obviously filled with the love of God, and a life that has grown wise and insightful from many years of spiritual experience. Despite the fact that he and I have quite different views on certain doctrines of the faith, this book is more of an intimate devotional journey – an oasis for the soul – and a book length conversation with the reader about the delight and blessing of a quiet heart, and the great spiritual power of silence.
One of the parts I enjoyed most in this book was the ample quotations from various church fathers and saints of God, liberally sprinkled throughout. I also learned much about the Carthusians, and their devoted lives of silence. This is not a large book, though not one to rush through, but rather to savor -- a rich and thoughtful treatment of an often neglected spiritual discipline.
July 9, 2018
The Power of Silence is an important book for our age. T.S. Eliot in is his masterpiece work, The Four Quartets summarized the state of humanity in the modern world as “Distracted from distraction by distraction.” Cardinal Sarah has a variation on this theme: that in the modern world a dictatorship of noise has descended upon mankind and, indeed, has enslaved mankind. This noise has altered our fundamental relationship with God and has led to the pernicious condition of our souls. Eliot looks at the symptom, distraction; Sarah identifies the infecting virus, noise.
There is something to be said of this. I remember many years ago reading about the Native American’s first reaction to the sound of a firearm when first encountering Europeans. They had never heard a sound so loud that it disturbed to their core. It was a sound that felt like a cleaving slice. Nature does not provide any such sound, at least not on a routine basis. And the modern world is full of such sounds. We are rarely without sound, rarely allowed to have a wholesome composed time to commute with the divine, and rarely allowed to hear the silence that is God Himself. Sarah is most eloquent in his metaphors. “Silence is this powerful dike that controls the tumultuous waters of the world and protects from noises and distractions of all sorts. Silence is a dam that restores a kind of dignity to mankind.”
That dignity is an integrity of being, a wholeness that resists the fragmenting jolts of contemporary life. In the book, Cardinal Sarah takes us through the dictatorship of noise of our lives, through what it has done to us and to society, and what we can achieve by seeking silence. It is a little haphazardly written—or perhaps more accurately, not written in a linear fashion—and at times it feels he over stretches the argument. It is not a perfectly written book, and so it may frustrate the reader at times. But it does not diminish the book’s importance. It makes a monumental argument against the dissipation of our times.
There are lots of great quotes that are in the book. Here are a few that shows the development of Sarah's thought:
"At the heart of man is an innate silence, for God abides in the innermost part of every person. God is silence, and this divine silence dwells in man."
"In silence man conquers his nobility and grandeur only if he is on his knees in order to hear and adore God. It is in the silence of humiliation and self-mortification, by quieting the turmoil of the flesh, by successfully taming the noisy images, by keeping at a distance the dreams, imaginations, and roaring of the world that is always in a whirl, in order to purify himself of all that ruins the soul and separates it from contemplation, that man makes himself capable of looking at God and loving him."
"Persons who live in noise are like dust swept along by the wind."
"Words bring with them the temptation of the golden calf! Only silence leads man beyond words, to the mystery, to worship in spirit and in truth."
" Modern existence is a propped-up life built entirely on noise, artificiality, and the tragic rejection of God. From revolutions to conquests, from ideologies to political battles, from the frantic quest for equality to the obsessive cult of progress, silence is impossible. What is worse: transparent societies are sworn to an implacable hatred of silence, which they regard as contemptible, backward defeat."
"Silence is an extremely necessary element in the life of every man. It enables the soul to be recollected. It protects the soul against the loss of its identity. It predisposes the soul to resist the temptation to turn away from itself to attend to things outside, far from God."
There is something to be said of this. I remember many years ago reading about the Native American’s first reaction to the sound of a firearm when first encountering Europeans. They had never heard a sound so loud that it disturbed to their core. It was a sound that felt like a cleaving slice. Nature does not provide any such sound, at least not on a routine basis. And the modern world is full of such sounds. We are rarely without sound, rarely allowed to have a wholesome composed time to commute with the divine, and rarely allowed to hear the silence that is God Himself. Sarah is most eloquent in his metaphors. “Silence is this powerful dike that controls the tumultuous waters of the world and protects from noises and distractions of all sorts. Silence is a dam that restores a kind of dignity to mankind.”
That dignity is an integrity of being, a wholeness that resists the fragmenting jolts of contemporary life. In the book, Cardinal Sarah takes us through the dictatorship of noise of our lives, through what it has done to us and to society, and what we can achieve by seeking silence. It is a little haphazardly written—or perhaps more accurately, not written in a linear fashion—and at times it feels he over stretches the argument. It is not a perfectly written book, and so it may frustrate the reader at times. But it does not diminish the book’s importance. It makes a monumental argument against the dissipation of our times.
There are lots of great quotes that are in the book. Here are a few that shows the development of Sarah's thought:
"At the heart of man is an innate silence, for God abides in the innermost part of every person. God is silence, and this divine silence dwells in man."
"In silence man conquers his nobility and grandeur only if he is on his knees in order to hear and adore God. It is in the silence of humiliation and self-mortification, by quieting the turmoil of the flesh, by successfully taming the noisy images, by keeping at a distance the dreams, imaginations, and roaring of the world that is always in a whirl, in order to purify himself of all that ruins the soul and separates it from contemplation, that man makes himself capable of looking at God and loving him."
"Persons who live in noise are like dust swept along by the wind."
"Words bring with them the temptation of the golden calf! Only silence leads man beyond words, to the mystery, to worship in spirit and in truth."
" Modern existence is a propped-up life built entirely on noise, artificiality, and the tragic rejection of God. From revolutions to conquests, from ideologies to political battles, from the frantic quest for equality to the obsessive cult of progress, silence is impossible. What is worse: transparent societies are sworn to an implacable hatred of silence, which they regard as contemptible, backward defeat."
"Silence is an extremely necessary element in the life of every man. It enables the soul to be recollected. It protects the soul against the loss of its identity. It predisposes the soul to resist the temptation to turn away from itself to attend to things outside, far from God."
March 14, 2019
ENGLISH: This book promotes silent prayer and provides many reasons to practice it, but does not say how to do it. There are other books that do that, so reading this book should lead us to find other books, or a teacher, which will handle the question in a more practical way. I found it somewhat repetitive, although perhaps the structure of the book makes this unavoidable.
ESPAÑOL: Este libro aconseja practicar la oración del silencio y ofrece muchas razones para hacerlo, pero no dice cómo se hace. Hay otros libros que sí lo hacen, por lo que leer este debería impulsarnos a buscar otros libros o un maestro que aborden la cuestión de forma más práctica. Me pareció algo repetitivo, aunque quizá la estructura del libro hace que esto sea inevitable.
ESPAÑOL: Este libro aconseja practicar la oración del silencio y ofrece muchas razones para hacerlo, pero no dice cómo se hace. Hay otros libros que sí lo hacen, por lo que leer este debería impulsarnos a buscar otros libros o un maestro que aborden la cuestión de forma más práctica. Me pareció algo repetitivo, aunque quizá la estructura del libro hace que esto sea inevitable.
March 31, 2019
Both this book and God or Nothing have been on my ‘to be read list’ for a while now. Which are the only two works by him that are available currently in English. Each time I was about to start this book, it got bumped for some reason. But I have just finished reading it for the second time in a month as part of an online Catholic book club. This book was not exactly what I was expecting, but it has proved to be what I needed. It has been an excellent resource to be reading at the beginning of lent.
This book has mixed reviews. It has a 4.49/5 star average with over 660 ratings and 120 reviews, at the time of writing this review. In looking at the reviews and ratings from friends, authors, and others in the book club I am surprised by the range. From the people I know the book is rated either 3/5 stars or like I rated it 5/5 stars. And in part that is likely due to the format. The first four chapters of the book are written in numbered point form responses. A total of 365 points to be precise. Some are a short as a single sentence:
“297. There is no genuine action or major decision except in the silence of the prayer that precedes them.”
And some are several paragraphs and even extended with supporting quotes. And a few are almost entirely quotes from other sources. And the final chapter is a dialogue, transcribed and for us in English also translated. The chapters in the volume are:
Introduction
I. Silence versus the World’s Noise
II. God Does Not Speak, but His Voice Is Quite Clear
III. Silence, the Mystery, and the Sacred
IV. God’s Silence in the Face of Evil Unleashed
V. Like a Voice Crying out in the Desert: The Meeting at the Grande Chartreuse
Afterword
Bibliography
This book is not a how to guide. There are many great Catholic and Christian books on that. This book is a dialogue with the focus of the conversation being the need and importance of silence. The importance of silence personally, communally, and in corporate worship. One of the things I love about our current Parish priest is he is ok with silence during mass. He deliberately sits after the homily and pauses, even during weekday masses. He respects the silences during the mass and nurtures them, and through them our parish family. Points 263-268 have some great points regarding silence in the Ordinary Form of the mass.
This book is easy to read, but less easy to live and apply. It is a conversation drawn from personal experience and draws from church history. The many sources referenced attest to the longstanding tradition of silence. As such it will serve more as a jumping off point. It will help readers begin to understand, or to grow in their understanding of the importance and need for silence.
But because of the structure and form, the book can be seen as repetitive. Circling back to points and themes already covered. Two of the points that spoke directly to me on my second reading of the book were:
“269. As for interior silence, it can be achieved by the absence of memories, plans, interior speech, worries. . . . Still more important, thanks to an act of the will, it can result from the absence of disordered affections or excessive desires. The Fathers of the Church assign an eminent place to silence in the ascetical life. Think of Saint Ambrose, Saint Augustine, Saint Gregory the Great, not to mention the Rule of Saint Benedict of Nursia on “taciturnity”, or his words about grand silence at night, where he adopts the teaching of Cassian. Starting with those spiritual masters, all the medieval founders of religious orders, followed by the mystics of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, insisted on the importance of silence, even beyond its ascetical and mystical dimension.
Is silence, therefore, an essential condition for contemplative prayer?
270. The Gospels say that the Savior himself prayed in silence, particularly at night, or while withdrawing to deserted places. Silence is typical of the meditation by the Word of God; we find it again particularly in Mary’s attitude toward the mystery of her Son. The most silent person in the Gospels is of course Saint Joseph; not a single word of his does the New Testament record for us. Saint Basil considers silence not only as an ascetical necessity of monastic life but also as a condition for encountering God. Silence precedes and prepares for the privileged moment when we have access to God, who then can speak to us face to face as we would do with a friend.”
I loved reading this book, and particularly loved the commends and feedback from others in the book club. I have recommended this book to friends both Catholic and evangelical. And I recommend it to you.
Read the review on my blog Book Reviews and More.
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2019 Catholic Reading Plan!
This book has mixed reviews. It has a 4.49/5 star average with over 660 ratings and 120 reviews, at the time of writing this review. In looking at the reviews and ratings from friends, authors, and others in the book club I am surprised by the range. From the people I know the book is rated either 3/5 stars or like I rated it 5/5 stars. And in part that is likely due to the format. The first four chapters of the book are written in numbered point form responses. A total of 365 points to be precise. Some are a short as a single sentence:
“297. There is no genuine action or major decision except in the silence of the prayer that precedes them.”
And some are several paragraphs and even extended with supporting quotes. And a few are almost entirely quotes from other sources. And the final chapter is a dialogue, transcribed and for us in English also translated. The chapters in the volume are:
Introduction
I. Silence versus the World’s Noise
II. God Does Not Speak, but His Voice Is Quite Clear
III. Silence, the Mystery, and the Sacred
IV. God’s Silence in the Face of Evil Unleashed
V. Like a Voice Crying out in the Desert: The Meeting at the Grande Chartreuse
Afterword
Bibliography
This book is not a how to guide. There are many great Catholic and Christian books on that. This book is a dialogue with the focus of the conversation being the need and importance of silence. The importance of silence personally, communally, and in corporate worship. One of the things I love about our current Parish priest is he is ok with silence during mass. He deliberately sits after the homily and pauses, even during weekday masses. He respects the silences during the mass and nurtures them, and through them our parish family. Points 263-268 have some great points regarding silence in the Ordinary Form of the mass.
This book is easy to read, but less easy to live and apply. It is a conversation drawn from personal experience and draws from church history. The many sources referenced attest to the longstanding tradition of silence. As such it will serve more as a jumping off point. It will help readers begin to understand, or to grow in their understanding of the importance and need for silence.
But because of the structure and form, the book can be seen as repetitive. Circling back to points and themes already covered. Two of the points that spoke directly to me on my second reading of the book were:
“269. As for interior silence, it can be achieved by the absence of memories, plans, interior speech, worries. . . . Still more important, thanks to an act of the will, it can result from the absence of disordered affections or excessive desires. The Fathers of the Church assign an eminent place to silence in the ascetical life. Think of Saint Ambrose, Saint Augustine, Saint Gregory the Great, not to mention the Rule of Saint Benedict of Nursia on “taciturnity”, or his words about grand silence at night, where he adopts the teaching of Cassian. Starting with those spiritual masters, all the medieval founders of religious orders, followed by the mystics of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, insisted on the importance of silence, even beyond its ascetical and mystical dimension.
Is silence, therefore, an essential condition for contemplative prayer?
270. The Gospels say that the Savior himself prayed in silence, particularly at night, or while withdrawing to deserted places. Silence is typical of the meditation by the Word of God; we find it again particularly in Mary’s attitude toward the mystery of her Son. The most silent person in the Gospels is of course Saint Joseph; not a single word of his does the New Testament record for us. Saint Basil considers silence not only as an ascetical necessity of monastic life but also as a condition for encountering God. Silence precedes and prepares for the privileged moment when we have access to God, who then can speak to us face to face as we would do with a friend.”
I loved reading this book, and particularly loved the commends and feedback from others in the book club. I have recommended this book to friends both Catholic and evangelical. And I recommend it to you.
Read the review on my blog Book Reviews and More.
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2019 Catholic Reading Plan!
July 21, 2018
This book is one of the most important spiritual books published in recent times. I know, this is a mouthful, but Cardinal Sarah draws on something very elemental and human – our connection to God. I was already deeply moved by his other book, God or Nothing, and this encore is just as substantial.
In this book Cardinal Sarah draws from his own deep spirituality and puts before us how our modern-day noise pollution, without and within, separates us from our true selves and our connection to the soul and the deep voice of God within. He demonstrates how important to our own well being the need for silence is. Silence is not merely the absence of sound, but the focus on the interior life and the riches found within in union with God. This silence needs to be cultivated if we are to have a meaningful and fruitful relationship with God.
“Unless silence dwells in man, and unless solitude is a state in which he allows himself to be shaped, the creature is deprived of God. There is no place on earth where God is more present than in the human heart. This heart truly is God’s abode, the temple of silence.”
“I am not afraid to assert that the false priests of modernity, who declare a sort of war on silence, have lost the battle. For we can remain silent in the midst of the biggest messes and most despicable commotion, in the midst of the racket and howling of those infernal machines that draw us to functionalism and activism by snatching us away from any transcendent dimension and from any interior life.”
“A Christian cannot fear silence because he is never alone. He is with God. He is in God. He is for God. In the silence, God gives me his eyes so as to contemplate him better. Christian hope is the foundation of the true silent search of the believer. Silence is not frightening; on the contrary, it is the assurance of meeting God.”
One could quote half the book and still not get to its essence there is so much to contemplate. It is one of these books to never put on the bookshelf, to be opened randomly at any page and let the wisdom of these pages penetrate and nurture the soul.
In this book Cardinal Sarah draws from his own deep spirituality and puts before us how our modern-day noise pollution, without and within, separates us from our true selves and our connection to the soul and the deep voice of God within. He demonstrates how important to our own well being the need for silence is. Silence is not merely the absence of sound, but the focus on the interior life and the riches found within in union with God. This silence needs to be cultivated if we are to have a meaningful and fruitful relationship with God.
“Unless silence dwells in man, and unless solitude is a state in which he allows himself to be shaped, the creature is deprived of God. There is no place on earth where God is more present than in the human heart. This heart truly is God’s abode, the temple of silence.”
“I am not afraid to assert that the false priests of modernity, who declare a sort of war on silence, have lost the battle. For we can remain silent in the midst of the biggest messes and most despicable commotion, in the midst of the racket and howling of those infernal machines that draw us to functionalism and activism by snatching us away from any transcendent dimension and from any interior life.”
“A Christian cannot fear silence because he is never alone. He is with God. He is in God. He is for God. In the silence, God gives me his eyes so as to contemplate him better. Christian hope is the foundation of the true silent search of the believer. Silence is not frightening; on the contrary, it is the assurance of meeting God.”
One could quote half the book and still not get to its essence there is so much to contemplate. It is one of these books to never put on the bookshelf, to be opened randomly at any page and let the wisdom of these pages penetrate and nurture the soul.
March 11, 2019
Father, why did you give the book only three stars and not five stars? Well, firstly, it was not out of a lack of respect for His Eminence. He is clearly a man who loves the faith, who has suffered a lot for the faith, and has the genuine piety of a devout Catholic. It was just that his piety is at times accompanied by doctrinal ambiguities, which is a major fault in someone of his high position in the Church. Secondly, it was not because I did not like parts of the book. On the contrary, there were several passages that were not just good, but were excellent. Here are three in particular:
1. Reverence – on several occasions, His Eminence roundly criticizes the lack of reverence in modern Catholic liturgies and emphasizes the transcendence of God and our corresponding need to humble ourselves and even prostrate ourselves before almighty God. This is a message that the Catholic world desperately needs. Here is an example:
2. Poverty – the Cardinal’s perspective on poverty is a wholly supernatural one and it was very refreshing to hear him set the record straight on the true attitude of a Catholic toward poverty. Here is what he says:
3. Inculturation – again, His Eminence hits the nail on the head when he states that the liturgy must not adapt itself to cultures, but cultures must adapt themselves to the liturgy, which transcends individual cultures. The liturgy must form people in the worship of God; it is not there for them to choose how they want to express themselves in their relationship with God. Here is part of what Cardinal Sarah says on this question:
Despite these positive aspects of The Power of Silence, there were three other things that I found disappointing, such that I wavered between giving the book two or three stars. I would have given it 2.5, if possible. Here are those three things:
1. Piety without doctrine – there are many beautiful passages about the fruitfulness of silence in approaching God and the damaging effects of noise. However, the presentation is not orderly and it lacks intellectual discipline. There is a lack of clear definitions and distinctions. The reader needs to be told that not all silence is good. The Buddhists have silence, the Quakers have silence, the Quietists have silence, but their silence is different from the silence of the authentic Catholic contemplative. Why? Because they have the wrong idea of God. Unless one is grounded in a proper understanding of who God is (dogma) and how He is to be sought (proper methods of prayer), then one will easily go astray in one’s practice of silence. Buddhists are definitely not “encountering God” in their silence. But the reader is never told this and may walk away with the impression that all silence is good, no matter how it is practiced, that it is some sort of panacea. This need for a proper understanding of God in order to orient prayer correctly, which is not mentioned in the book, at least as far I could tell, brings me to the second point.
2. God – The Cardinal makes some ambiguous statements about God, in his treatment of the problem of evil, that can be misleading. He speaks of how the Jewish philosopher Hans Jonas justifies God’s “silence” at the Holocaust by saying that God suffered by it. Cardinal Sarah rightly points out that this is to take away God’s omnipotence. But then he goes on to try to find a way to say that God suffers by man’s sins, to try to allow Catholics to think of God as being vulnerable in order to help them deal with the evil in the world. “To believe in a silent God who ‘suffers’ is to make the mystery of God’s silence more mysterious and more luminous, too” (p. 92). For me, this is a dangerous anthropomorphizing of God that sacrifices doctrine for piety. It does not make God more luminous, but more human, and so less God.
3. Ecumenism – another manifestation of the book’s lack of clarity, mentioned in point 1, is in the Cardinal’s willingness to cite all manner of authors and sources, without cautioning the reader that some of those sources are dangerous. He quotes Teilhard de Chardin once and Thomas Merton many times, but does not warn the reader that these authors made strange amalgamations of modern thought and Catholic thought. Chardin married naturalism with Catholicism; Merton married paganism and Catholicism. These marriages were unnatural and contrary to the Church’s true marriage with Our Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that the Cardinal quotes them without warning the reader again gives the impression that, as long as you favor silence, no matter what you believe, you will find God. But this is simply not the case. Likewise, I was confused as to why the Cardinal would cite approvingly a parable from the “tradition of mystical Islam” (p. 160), without any warning that Islam is a false religion, and so giving the impression that doctrine is not important.
4. The liturgy – I know, I only said three points, but in fact there is a fourth. This concerns the Cardinal’s unwillingness to take a stand in favor of the traditional liturgy. “I refuse to waste our time pitting one liturgy against another or the rite of Saint Pius V against that of Blessed Paul VI. Rather, it is about entering into the great silence of the liturgy; it is necessary to know how to be enriched by all the Latin or Eastern liturgical forms that give a privileged place to silence” (p. 134). This statement is massively disappointing and confirms the reader in the impression that the Cardinal has turned silence into something that is good in itself, without considering the orientation of the one being silent. He seems to think that if we simply add silence to the New Mass and face ad orientem, if we make a “reform of the reform”, then everything will be good. Of course, that is not at all the case, because of the doctrinal problems of the New Mass. The Cardinal seems to imply that examining the doctrinal differences between the New Mass and the old is a waste of time. But the destructive influence of the new liturgy cannot in any way be reduced to the fact that it lacks silence, far from it!
Besides this, I did appreciate the passages of the abbot of the Grande Chartreuse, Fr. Dysmas de Lassus. He articulated the teaching of the Church more clearly. The passages about the life of the Carthusian monks at the charterhouse helped me also appreciate better, I think, how those monks were able to invent such a fantastic liqueur as chartreuse. For those who made it all the way through The Power of Silence, I would invite them to treat themselves to a taste of yellow or, preferably, green chartreuse. In silence, of course.
1. Reverence – on several occasions, His Eminence roundly criticizes the lack of reverence in modern Catholic liturgies and emphasizes the transcendence of God and our corresponding need to humble ourselves and even prostrate ourselves before almighty God. This is a message that the Catholic world desperately needs. Here is an example:
“God is great. God is beyond contingencies, God is immense. It is true that I would never automatically use the word ‘familiarity’ in speaking about God. When you are familiar with someone, you take almost every sort of liberty, and you are less careful about your gestures and words. It is not possible to allow oneself to behave that way with God, even though he is our Father.” (p. 206)
2. Poverty – the Cardinal’s perspective on poverty is a wholly supernatural one and it was very refreshing to hear him set the record straight on the true attitude of a Catholic toward poverty. Here is what he says:
“I am surprised by the way in which poverty is understood in the world today, and even by many members of the Catholic Church. In the Bible, poverty is always a state that brings God and man closer together. The poor of Yahweh populate the Bible. Monasticism is an impulse toward God alone: the monk leads his life in poverty, chastity, absolute obedience, and lives on God’s Word in silence. Perversely, the modern world has set for itself as an odd objective the eradication of poverty. Above all, there is a kind of disturbing confusion between misery and poverty.” (p. 168)
3. Inculturation – again, His Eminence hits the nail on the head when he states that the liturgy must not adapt itself to cultures, but cultures must adapt themselves to the liturgy, which transcends individual cultures. The liturgy must form people in the worship of God; it is not there for them to choose how they want to express themselves in their relationship with God. Here is part of what Cardinal Sarah says on this question:
“I am an African. Allow me to say it clearly: the liturgy is not the place to promote my culture. Rather, it is the place where my culture is baptized, where my culture is raised to the height of the divine. Through the Church’s liturgy (which the missionaries brought everywhere in the world), God speaks to us, he changes us and grants us a share in the divine life.” (p. 225)
Despite these positive aspects of The Power of Silence, there were three other things that I found disappointing, such that I wavered between giving the book two or three stars. I would have given it 2.5, if possible. Here are those three things:
1. Piety without doctrine – there are many beautiful passages about the fruitfulness of silence in approaching God and the damaging effects of noise. However, the presentation is not orderly and it lacks intellectual discipline. There is a lack of clear definitions and distinctions. The reader needs to be told that not all silence is good. The Buddhists have silence, the Quakers have silence, the Quietists have silence, but their silence is different from the silence of the authentic Catholic contemplative. Why? Because they have the wrong idea of God. Unless one is grounded in a proper understanding of who God is (dogma) and how He is to be sought (proper methods of prayer), then one will easily go astray in one’s practice of silence. Buddhists are definitely not “encountering God” in their silence. But the reader is never told this and may walk away with the impression that all silence is good, no matter how it is practiced, that it is some sort of panacea. This need for a proper understanding of God in order to orient prayer correctly, which is not mentioned in the book, at least as far I could tell, brings me to the second point.
2. God – The Cardinal makes some ambiguous statements about God, in his treatment of the problem of evil, that can be misleading. He speaks of how the Jewish philosopher Hans Jonas justifies God’s “silence” at the Holocaust by saying that God suffered by it. Cardinal Sarah rightly points out that this is to take away God’s omnipotence. But then he goes on to try to find a way to say that God suffers by man’s sins, to try to allow Catholics to think of God as being vulnerable in order to help them deal with the evil in the world. “To believe in a silent God who ‘suffers’ is to make the mystery of God’s silence more mysterious and more luminous, too” (p. 92). For me, this is a dangerous anthropomorphizing of God that sacrifices doctrine for piety. It does not make God more luminous, but more human, and so less God.
3. Ecumenism – another manifestation of the book’s lack of clarity, mentioned in point 1, is in the Cardinal’s willingness to cite all manner of authors and sources, without cautioning the reader that some of those sources are dangerous. He quotes Teilhard de Chardin once and Thomas Merton many times, but does not warn the reader that these authors made strange amalgamations of modern thought and Catholic thought. Chardin married naturalism with Catholicism; Merton married paganism and Catholicism. These marriages were unnatural and contrary to the Church’s true marriage with Our Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that the Cardinal quotes them without warning the reader again gives the impression that, as long as you favor silence, no matter what you believe, you will find God. But this is simply not the case. Likewise, I was confused as to why the Cardinal would cite approvingly a parable from the “tradition of mystical Islam” (p. 160), without any warning that Islam is a false religion, and so giving the impression that doctrine is not important.
4. The liturgy – I know, I only said three points, but in fact there is a fourth. This concerns the Cardinal’s unwillingness to take a stand in favor of the traditional liturgy. “I refuse to waste our time pitting one liturgy against another or the rite of Saint Pius V against that of Blessed Paul VI. Rather, it is about entering into the great silence of the liturgy; it is necessary to know how to be enriched by all the Latin or Eastern liturgical forms that give a privileged place to silence” (p. 134). This statement is massively disappointing and confirms the reader in the impression that the Cardinal has turned silence into something that is good in itself, without considering the orientation of the one being silent. He seems to think that if we simply add silence to the New Mass and face ad orientem, if we make a “reform of the reform”, then everything will be good. Of course, that is not at all the case, because of the doctrinal problems of the New Mass. The Cardinal seems to imply that examining the doctrinal differences between the New Mass and the old is a waste of time. But the destructive influence of the new liturgy cannot in any way be reduced to the fact that it lacks silence, far from it!
Besides this, I did appreciate the passages of the abbot of the Grande Chartreuse, Fr. Dysmas de Lassus. He articulated the teaching of the Church more clearly. The passages about the life of the Carthusian monks at the charterhouse helped me also appreciate better, I think, how those monks were able to invent such a fantastic liqueur as chartreuse. For those who made it all the way through The Power of Silence, I would invite them to treat themselves to a taste of yellow or, preferably, green chartreuse. In silence, of course.
May 14, 2017
This is my first Cardinal Sarah book (I have God or Nothing but haven't read it—sad!). In it, he expounds on a topic that is dear to my heart but had been largely underproclaimed in the modern Church. I am Indonesian, and as an Asian I am culturally accustomed to the orderly alternating cycles of music and silence... that is, until modernity blurs all of them! Cardinal Sarah provides a refreshing and comprehensive take on the important subject of silence. He bases his reflections on his personal experience at the Carthusian Charterhouse. The Carthusian Order—some of us might have known this already—is the master practitioner of silence, both external and internal. It is certainly hard to comprehend how a group of men is able to accomplish the simple yet heavy task of being utterly silent in the presence of the Almighty. Cardinal Sarah shows how the tree of silence, when planted carefully, can have roots reaching deep and far, and fruits lush and fleshy. Silence, though seems passive, is very much active and no less of a weapon in the spiritual warfare. I'm glad the good Cardinal wrote this book!
June 5, 2021
Un buen libro que nos adentra en el misterio del silencio. El Cardenal es discípulo de Benedicto XVI, claro referente en la teología actual. Se habla del verdadero silencio, el del alma, que poco tiene que ver con el silencio físico o el de las técnicas orientales. Es el silencio del amor, que es mucho más profundo. Esto es el silencio cristiano. Las palabras no bastan. Es el que tiene una madre cuando escucha a su hijo o cuando acompañas en el hospital a un amigo enfermo. El Cardenal da pautas para conseguir este silencio, siempre desde la órbita cristiana. Describe las dificultades para llegar a él en la sociedad actual.
April 21, 2019
A timely book on the need for silence in life, especially in the spiritual life. It is evident that Cardinal Sarah is not on board with the current direction of Church leadership and he has several veiled criticisms of those who would unite the Church with the concerns and fashions of the world.
August 19, 2020
Awesome
July 28, 2017
I began reading this book with a great desire to like it, and a hope that it may help my spiritual life through a growth of silence. That being said, aside from advice to practice lectio devina, I did not find that this book gave much in terms of recommending ways by which to grow in silence and prayer.
My greater discontent, however, was with what I saw as a poor argumentative structure of the text. I think that too often Cardinal Sarah describes an effect as the result of some cause without giving good reasons for why or how it is so. Often I found myself coming up with counter examples which caused me to question his claims, and such examples were never really dealt with. I felt too, at times, that Cardinal Sarah went too far with his praise of silence. Not all men are contemplative, and though all men could use from increased periods of prayerful silence, I think that the book implied an intensity that I do not believe all men are called to.
Don't get me wrong, there are some excellent points and some fabulous quotes in the text; I have many passages highlighted and pages earmarked. However, I think that, as a cohesive work, the book lacked structure which made it difficult for me to consume and enjoy.
My greater discontent, however, was with what I saw as a poor argumentative structure of the text. I think that too often Cardinal Sarah describes an effect as the result of some cause without giving good reasons for why or how it is so. Often I found myself coming up with counter examples which caused me to question his claims, and such examples were never really dealt with. I felt too, at times, that Cardinal Sarah went too far with his praise of silence. Not all men are contemplative, and though all men could use from increased periods of prayerful silence, I think that the book implied an intensity that I do not believe all men are called to.
Don't get me wrong, there are some excellent points and some fabulous quotes in the text; I have many passages highlighted and pages earmarked. However, I think that, as a cohesive work, the book lacked structure which made it difficult for me to consume and enjoy.
September 2, 2017
One of the paradoxes of talking about silence is how much noise such chattering can produce. It is a prowess, then, to write on silence for over 200 pages without producing noise, sounding self-righteous or vain. This book, however, is written in such a way—humbly and prayerfully—that it opens a space for silence, instead of filling it with words. It's a powerful and necessary book that brings you down to your knees.
April 11, 2019
The main purpose of this book is to make us realize that the modern world is filled with noise of all kinds, and silence is really necessary to be able to find ourself and for the relationship with God. The author makes extensive use of references to support the claim. I found the book hard to get to completion, mainly due to repetitiveness and the way it is structured, as a long sequence of small paragraphs with plenty of citations.
July 2, 2021
I wouldn’t want to exaggerate, so I’ll put it this way: “The Power of Silence” may be the most important book written in my lifetime.
March 31, 2019
This book has many good insights to ponder about silence and its relation to God and the mystery.
I found chapter 1 hard to get into till about half of it, but then it got better and I am glad I continued.
I liked specially chapters 2 and 3, "God does not speak, but His voice is quite clear" and "Silence, the mystery and the sacred".
I found chapter 1 hard to get into till about half of it, but then it got better and I am glad I continued.
I liked specially chapters 2 and 3, "God does not speak, but His voice is quite clear" and "Silence, the mystery and the sacred".
May 27, 2020
A friend recommended this work of Cardinal Robert Sarah but warned me that it was slow, if worthwhile, going. He was right. I don’t disagree with most of Sarah’s comments on the virtues of silence, especially in silent prayer This silence is a large component of the Carthusian Grande Chartreuse monastery in France , often mentioned. It’s a series of interviews in which Sarah responds to questions which gives the book a loose, even rambling, structure, and would have been more coherent, I think, had he chosen his own topics and organized his thoughts around them.
One of Sarah’s observations is that while human speech, the power of words, defines a human and separates him from lower forms of life, it only acquires meaning in terms of the silence that it comes out of. He sees this silence in the context of God, “the silent one.” “Silence is more important than any other human work for it approaches God.” He sees silence, then, as leading us toward God from whom flows a concern for others , and in that we find worth and value. .
One of the chief virtues that I see in Sarah’s praise of silence is that it brings humility. With speech we begin to take ourselves too seriously and lose perspective on what is beyond us. On this point, he is a traditionalist and is pretty harsh on the modern media which he considers mostly an echo chamber , full of ideologies that denigrate the sacredness of such things as sexuality, the family, and marriage. He says they are hard to reconcile with the centuries-old “magisterium” (traditions and revelations) of the Catholic Church. “Highly amplified by the blaring media, they go so far as to dispute God’s design.” There are a lot of abstractions here, subject I’d say to continued interpretation, but mostly closed subjects to Sarah.
He confronts some difficult questions as to the “silence” of God in the face of the evils and horrors of the wars of the 20th century. One question asked of him is, “Why is God able to remain silent in the face of sorrowful events?” His response is an honest enough one, that it’s an enigma that is impossible to resolve. We have no answers any better than the one given to Job – it’s simply presumptuous to demand answers of God. Sarah’s only tentative solution is that evil is part of the human condition and only through the silence of prayerful faith can humans realize that they are only partially, at best, in control of reality and must accommodate themselves to that fact. That leads again to humility.
And Sarah is humble himself in acknowledging that he has been “stammering in the presence of a great mystery.” He adds that he has tried to show that silence is what is essential to prayer and successful prayer puts us in contact with God. My chief concern with the book is that I think “God” is a concept taken too literally.. I would rather see “God” approached as a transcendent reality, encompassing all the things in the universe, both infinitely great and infinitely small, about which we only have glimpses of understanding, and in the f ace of which a humble silence is the best response.
One of Sarah’s observations is that while human speech, the power of words, defines a human and separates him from lower forms of life, it only acquires meaning in terms of the silence that it comes out of. He sees this silence in the context of God, “the silent one.” “Silence is more important than any other human work for it approaches God.” He sees silence, then, as leading us toward God from whom flows a concern for others , and in that we find worth and value. .
One of the chief virtues that I see in Sarah’s praise of silence is that it brings humility. With speech we begin to take ourselves too seriously and lose perspective on what is beyond us. On this point, he is a traditionalist and is pretty harsh on the modern media which he considers mostly an echo chamber , full of ideologies that denigrate the sacredness of such things as sexuality, the family, and marriage. He says they are hard to reconcile with the centuries-old “magisterium” (traditions and revelations) of the Catholic Church. “Highly amplified by the blaring media, they go so far as to dispute God’s design.” There are a lot of abstractions here, subject I’d say to continued interpretation, but mostly closed subjects to Sarah.
He confronts some difficult questions as to the “silence” of God in the face of the evils and horrors of the wars of the 20th century. One question asked of him is, “Why is God able to remain silent in the face of sorrowful events?” His response is an honest enough one, that it’s an enigma that is impossible to resolve. We have no answers any better than the one given to Job – it’s simply presumptuous to demand answers of God. Sarah’s only tentative solution is that evil is part of the human condition and only through the silence of prayerful faith can humans realize that they are only partially, at best, in control of reality and must accommodate themselves to that fact. That leads again to humility.
And Sarah is humble himself in acknowledging that he has been “stammering in the presence of a great mystery.” He adds that he has tried to show that silence is what is essential to prayer and successful prayer puts us in contact with God. My chief concern with the book is that I think “God” is a concept taken too literally.. I would rather see “God” approached as a transcendent reality, encompassing all the things in the universe, both infinitely great and infinitely small, about which we only have glimpses of understanding, and in the f ace of which a humble silence is the best response.
October 5, 2020
Took me nine months to read this whole book, but I would definitely recommend reading it slowly, because there is a lot to unpack. It’s a great book to read in the quiet of the morning or evening (if you can find any quiet).
July 5, 2017
Amazing. "It says nothing. It's boring," I was told. Instead, I am set on fire by this book. Yes, the book does go where the conversation goes. Cardinal Sarah quotes scripture, patristics and hagiography (from memory!) to remind us that God is in silence and that only the lover can hear him there. From Mother Teresa: In the silence is Love that we need to borrow in order to love others. Kierkegaard: Noise is a disease. Silence is prayer. Carmel: The desert is the battle place where Job fought. The rebuke to priests on wordiness from Henry Nouwen is priceless for guiding our children. Wordiness is a lack of trust in the Paraclete. From the Carthusians, Sarah reminds this generation to relearn silence of the mouth, eyes and heart, to still our intake and output of passions. Unplug for spiritual freedom. Teach your children silence. Guard the silence in the liturgy. Hear the delicate silence after the bell.
June 7, 2021
Written in the form of conversation, Cardinal Sarah provides us an insightful meditation on silence and its power to transform our interiority. The silence discussed here refers not only to the absence of noisy sounds, but also of distracting sights and thoughts. The modern world is full of noises, precisely because it is full of despair and absurdity without God, and we flee from such a cold reality by employing distractions. Silence, on the other hand, forces one to meet God and his truest self face to face, where there is no escape. But through silence too, we come to appreciate and understand more of the incomprehensible Divine Love; for indeed, where love abounds, words become unnecessary.
September 12, 2022
Detta är en sann bok. Jag vill påstå att den har effekter på både ledarskap och politik om man tar den på allvar, och medger villigt att en del av den inte roar de sekulära delarna av min person. Men den är rasande viktig. Boken alternerar mellan observationer av det mänskliga psyket som hade varit värdiga Frankl, förklaringar från kristen mystik kring dessa (inklusive en mycket intressant dialog om kartusianernas sätt att se sanning, mellan författaren och kollega), och observationer kring dagsläget baserat på dessa. Denna text bör läsas och levas, helt enkelt. Kardinal Sarah kommer jag att fortsätta att studera, pö om pö.
May 15, 2017
I think this is the most important book on the market right now. Not that its subject matter would ever be untimely, but it is especially timely in our tweet-saturated, attention-dispersed, blinking-light modern world. This is one of those books where I have to stop myself from underlining just about everything. Theologically, it is remarkably astute and instructive. Spiritually, it is as nourishing a read as any book I can remember reading.
October 10, 2017
Really great. Dense and hard to get through, but worth it. Puts a totally different perspective on things, and I love how he doesn't tiptoe around subjects, but respectfully speaks truth clearly.
August 10, 2022
Okay...so...how is it that I give this book 5 stars? Well, that's a great question.
Let's start with this: this book...it's definitely Roman Catholic (just refer to who wrote it!). And I'm not - I'm a Presbyterian of the PCA variety. But, it was recommended to me from someone whose advise I trust as a good read so I gave it a go. I've read a number of Protestant books on hurry and taking proper time for rest, communion with God...things of that sort. Leveraging the old traditions of the monks and nuns of the Church, writings from the church fathers, and (to RCC-haters' chagrin) scripture(!), I felt this book did really well in emphasizing the importance of slowing down. Embracing silence. Seeking that time in the word of God and in prayer to allow the Spirit to both minister, convict and encourage you. There are a plethora of quotes and points that I ended up taking away from the book. Yes, some terminology might mean different things to the Catholic verses what you might be familiar with if you're Protestant. But I'm not one of those Protestant types who are allergic to church tradition, and I found both his objectives in the book, approach in making the points he made, and the whole-life approach to communion with our Triune God quite refreshing (I'm always going to be a sucker for things like the Divine Office - learned that from a Lutheran actually)
Maybe I'm not Presbyterian enough to dislike a book like this. But for what it aims to do, I think it does it well, thus the rating. I'd recommend it.
(oh, and yes the format of the book might be a bit jarring - the first section almost seems random with just numbering of thoughts...but it then transitions to a somewhat more traditional read. I bet that might prove a bit janky in text...but audibly, I found it much more palatable - I could pause and take a quick voice recording of a numbered point that I wanted to refer back to and things worked out really well as a result. Probably isn't for everyone though, but I figured I'd include that fact. Other reviews include more info as to this breakdown.)
Let's start with this: this book...it's definitely Roman Catholic (just refer to who wrote it!). And I'm not - I'm a Presbyterian of the PCA variety. But, it was recommended to me from someone whose advise I trust as a good read so I gave it a go. I've read a number of Protestant books on hurry and taking proper time for rest, communion with God...things of that sort. Leveraging the old traditions of the monks and nuns of the Church, writings from the church fathers, and (to RCC-haters' chagrin) scripture(!), I felt this book did really well in emphasizing the importance of slowing down. Embracing silence. Seeking that time in the word of God and in prayer to allow the Spirit to both minister, convict and encourage you. There are a plethora of quotes and points that I ended up taking away from the book. Yes, some terminology might mean different things to the Catholic verses what you might be familiar with if you're Protestant. But I'm not one of those Protestant types who are allergic to church tradition, and I found both his objectives in the book, approach in making the points he made, and the whole-life approach to communion with our Triune God quite refreshing (I'm always going to be a sucker for things like the Divine Office - learned that from a Lutheran actually)
Maybe I'm not Presbyterian enough to dislike a book like this. But for what it aims to do, I think it does it well, thus the rating. I'd recommend it.
(oh, and yes the format of the book might be a bit jarring - the first section almost seems random with just numbering of thoughts...but it then transitions to a somewhat more traditional read. I bet that might prove a bit janky in text...but audibly, I found it much more palatable - I could pause and take a quick voice recording of a numbered point that I wanted to refer back to and things worked out really well as a result. Probably isn't for everyone though, but I figured I'd include that fact. Other reviews include more info as to this breakdown.)
May 28, 2021
Fantastic! Awesome encouragement and meat to chew on for those looking to go deeper. This isn't a how-to guide on silence, although the most important part is pretty simple, but it can open you up to doing your own search for the best practices. Instead, this book really hammers hard with a lot of great quotes from contemporaries and saints, popes and those in religious communities that beautifully explain and demand the practice of silence to lead to closer union with God. Cardinal Sarah also includes his thoughts on Silence in the liturgy, Silence and Suffering, and more. There's even a discussion between him and a Carthusian Dom that really makes great connections. I've definitely enjoyed reading it for a book club, and now I want to go back in a year or so and read slowly, taking the time to think about and apply it more deeply. But, it definitely reinforces a lot of what I already know. Thank you Robert Cardinal Sarah!
September 8, 2019
Deeply profound and affecting. Not a book you read through quickly. It demands that you read it thoughtfully and deliberately. I read other things and did other things while a single page of this marinated in my mind, always reminding me of the very cacophony I invite into my life daily. There are a lot of insights that I now take with me and try to apply. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 291 reviews