It is written in the First Book of Kings that God said to St. Elijah the Prophet, “Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord: and behold the Lord passeth,” (1 Kings 19:11). Following this, St. Elijah in obedience ascended to the crest. When he got there, there was a strong wind, so strong that it broke stones into pieces. The Lord, it is written, was not in the wind. After this, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After this, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. Finally, after the fire, there was a “whistling of gentle air,” (1 Kings 19:12). It was upon feeling this quiet whistling that St. Elijah covered his face in reverence (1 Kings 19:11-13).
Silence is an incredible gift, fruitful to the soul for deep inward contemplation ordered towards the love of God. The importance of silence to the Christian life is taught through the scriptures, wherein we are instructed to “[b]e still and see that [He] is God,” (Psalms 45:11). Further, silence is a constant and crucial presence throughout Christian tradition. St. John of the Cross spoke extensively about the importance of silence, once writing that “[t]he Father spoke one Word, which was His Son, and this Word He speaks always in eternal silence, and in silence must It be heard by the soul.” The Order of Carthusian monks has dedicated itself to prayerful silence from its earliest days, drawing on earlier traditions stretching back to the Holy Desert Fathers. This silence, however, is not for its own sake. A saying of these same Desert Fathers tells us that if one man does not speak, but harbors judgement in his heart towards others, and if another man does speak, but only says what is necessary, then it is the second that has kept silence, and not the first. Ultimately, silence is, like all things holy, an anticipation of what is to come; prayerful silence is a tiny glimpse into the deep, unspeakable communion that the elect will one day enter into with the Triune God.
In light of this, we come to Holy Saturday. As of old, a day of rest. The day before had been deeply sorrowful, when the Christians saw their Way, their Truth, and their Life crushed under the weight of the Cross. Now, the prevailing feeling for many was fear, a sense that everything had come to an end. Still, there remained in the hearts of the faithful the tiniest glimmer of hope; a hope afraid to make itself known, afraid to voice itself, relegated to a place of uneasy silence. In the inwardmost corner of their souls, these disciples held a quiet conviction that perhaps this was not the end, perhaps it was only the beginning. Perhaps, if they returned to that silent, lonesome tomb, they might find it empty, with nothing remaining but a whistling of gentle air.
All Bible readings are from the 1899 English Douay-Rheims version.
The saying of the Desert Fathers is sourced from The Sayings of the Holy Desert Fathers chapter 1 number 27, translated by E. A. Wallis Budge and published in 1904.
The quote from St. John of the Cross is sourced from Sayings of Light and Love, number 100.
Penn Epistle 