Silence: Can You Hear It?

Why is silence vital to the contemplative life?

The lasting fruit of these moments of external silence is the ongoing “internal silence” which spills over into our daily routine; one is called to spiritual silence for renewal and strength in order to fully live out the vocational call in the world. Pope Benedict XVI addressed this topic on July 4, 2010: “Let us not be afraid to be silent outside and inside ourselves, so that we are able not only to perceive God’s voice, but also the voice of the person next to us, the voices of others.”