At the risk of sounding like a recipe blog, I need to give you some back-story. I first read von Balthasar’s Prayer in my 20s while working on my Master’s of Divinity. I believe it was during a systematic theology class when my professor, Victor Shepherd, made an offhand comment: “Von Balthasar’s work is one of the best books ever written on prayer.” Knowing that I had a lot of room to grow in the prayer department (and still do—don’t we all?) I bought a copy from the Tyndale Seminary bookstore.

I tried to read it while in school but it was too much to grasp. I returned to it the summer after graduation and forced my way through it, but much of it sailed over my head. I knew it was important but felt like a bee skimming over the surface of a flower (shout out to Madame Guyon for that metaphor).

Things have changed. This past winter I was the professor teaching a first-year class of undergrad students spiritual formation. I mentioned the significance of this book in a class on contemplative prayer and drew some morsels from the manuscript. That’s when I realized that I needed to return. In the spirit of contemplation, I read this book every day of Lent—8 pages per day. I took my time and savoured it, annotating and returning to my notes after reading. Dr. Shepherd was right: this book is one of the best books ever written on prayer.

Von Balthasar keeps returning to the fact that the Jesus is the way. Through meditation on the humanity of Christ, we are lifted into the mystery of the triune God.

In the Son, therefore, heaven is open to the world. He has opened the way from the one to the other and made exchange between the two possible, first and foremost through his Incarnation (Jn 1:51). (52)

As you would expect from the eminent theologian, although the Son’s humanity is the home of contemplation, the entire triune God is involved.

There is the Father who predestines and chooses us and adopts us as his children; the Son who interprets the Father to us and gives him to us in his self-surrender unto death and the mystery of the bread; there is the Spirit who implants God’s life in our souls and makes it known. (82)

If you’re searching for a method or a technique to grow in contemplative prayer, you’ll need to look elsewhere. Von Balthasar assumes that these first steps have been taken. For those who have an active life of prayer, von Balthasar’s volume will inspire and strengthen your practice. It’s a book worth praying your way through!

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Fun fact: Before I launched my website in 2008, I kept a notebook with brief thoughts on every book I’ve read since January 2000. Here’s my entry on Prayer, the first time I read it on June 1, 2002:

I bought this on Dr. Shepherd’s recommendation. It is very deep and slow to read, but the riches are inexhaustible. In particular, the tensions in Christian life (last chs.) are beautiful expressions of faith.

I stand by those 24 year-old words!

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Von Balthasar, Hans Urs. Prayer. 1955. Translated by Graham Harrison. Ignatius, 1986.