DIVINE PRESENCE. - Respectful attentiveness to the presence of God, or "elevation of the soul," constitutes the fundamental act indispensable in every true prayer, even one that is merely vocal (Ps. 140:2; St. Teresa, Mansions, I, 1, 7; St. Augustine, Enarr. in Ps., 85, n. 7; St. Ignatius, Spir. Ex., n. 75). By the presence of God the devout soul understands the gaze of the Divinity, attentive and intelligent (Ps. 5:2-3), helpful and merciful (ibid. 9:14), purifying and life-giving (I Jn. 3:19-20), the affection with which God enfolds within himself his beloved creature, "embracing her in his love" (Is. 66:12-13; St. Ignatius, Spir. Ex., n. 15), in a word, Grace, considered as God's personal communication (Is. 58:9). The soul devoted to prayer wishes to render to God presence for presence, grace for grace (Ps. 118:148), to sketch out the face-to-face of the eternal converse (II Cor. 5:1-9).
The exercise of the presence of God is necessary for prayer, and for this reason the "house of prayer" is also a temple of God, that is, the place where one finds oneself apud Dominum, welcomed by the Lord (Ps. 83:2-5). In the economy of grace "the true worshipers worship the Father in spirit and truth": the building of the Temple becomes a spiritual exercise, man a living temple of God (II Cor. 6:16), and God himself the temple of his elect (Rev. 21:22-27). The assiduous remembrance of the presence of God being, as can be seen, a living exercise of hope, it is found in various ways at the beginning of every kind of spiritual perfection (Gen. 17:1), whether in sincere horror, sorrow and turning away from sin (Is. 1:15-16), or in the constant progress of the virtues (Jn. 15:4-5), or in the unitive conformity and the imperturbable peace that rewards it (Lk. 1:46-49). This universal seeking of God is usually sustained at times by the corresponding supernatural feeling (Ps. 138:7-12). The prayer called "of simple presence" unfolds while the soul, though fervent, no longer feels able to meditate, or rather to rest peacefully in a "general and confused loving attentiveness to or assistance from God." This mode of prayer usually marks the entrance into contemplation strictly so called (St. John of the Cross, Ascent, bk. 2, ch. 14). In the contemplative soul the intimate aspect of the presence takes on prominence (St. Bernard, De consideratione, bk. 5, nn. 11-12); and in the state of union, the intimate affective presence manifests itself as habitual substantial contact, or spiritual interpenetration (I Cor. 6:17), a living hearth of sentiments of the love of God, governed by the pattern of the eternal fulfillment of that "sweet encounter" (Ps. 41:2-3; St. John of the Cross, Flame, ch. 1).
From a more general point of view, the presence of God anticipates the eternal Judgment (Jn. 3:19). God turns his gaze away from the wicked (Ps. 137:6: the nauseated turning away of the divine face is captured dramatically in Giotto's Last Judgment) and to his turning away corresponds the execution of the wicked man by a presence that condemns him inexorably (Jn. 3:20). Likewise the elect, with full humility and trust, go to meet the gaze that turns toward them (Ps. 32:18-21), even while they still have nothing to offer him but a first glimmer of good will (Jn. 3:21; Ps. 62:2-3).
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Michele Ledrus