Prayer that Pierces the Heavens

The prayer of the lowly pierces the heavens. (Sir 35:17)

Father Ignatius Schweitzer, O.P.

“Our prayer should be like the needle: little, simple, and almost imperceptible….”

We want our prayer also to pierce the heavens. What pierces most effectively? It is what is little, simple, and almost unnoticeable that pierces most effectively. It’s the needle that pierces most effectively. Our prayer should be like the needle: little, simple, and almost imperceptible, so fine and delicate is this prayer. Like a needle in a haystack! But also sharp, sharp indeed. The needle pierces the veil better than the bar of gold, no matter how grand and impressive the gold may be.

The prayer of the lowly pierces the heavens, pierces the veil to God himself. And when the veil is pierced, what happens? Well, when our lowly prayer pierces the veil like a needle, then, through the pin-hole, a very slight ray of light pierces back from the other side. On the other side of the veil is God’s abundant light, pure and simple. So when we pierce the veil with the little needle of our prayer, a very slight ray of light pierces back at us from the other side. God manifests himself, ever so slightly, so a little ray of light pierces through the veil into our souls.

Our lowly prayers pierce the heavens but in return, there is the piercing of the earth by heaven itself. The Lord did not want heaven without us, so he brought heaven down to us, in Jesus, in the Sacraments, in the Word breathing forth Love being sent to our souls even now. So every so often very slight rays of heaven pierce the earth. As our lowly prayer pierces the heavens, heaven pierces the earth.

That’s the needlework of our daily prayer, our daily lowly prayer. That’s the mysterious grace of prayer. As our lowly prayer pierces the heavens like a needle so we also draw the needle back to us, and over time we thread together heaven and earth. That’s the needlework of the prayer of the lowly, piercing the heavens and yet heaven piercing the earth. Eventually with some perseverance, one discovers that the little movements, to and fro, have threaded together nothing less than heaven and earth.

St. Therese, the Little Flower, says with every stitch of the needle, she can save a soul. The needlework of love may be little, but it is stitching together heaven and earth. “To pick up a pin for love, can convert a soul.” The prayer of the lowly pierces the heavens, and in return heaven pierces the earth.

To have our prayer be “the prayer of the lowly” sounds lovely… It sounds very lovely! But how do we get there? Uhh… Now it doesn’t sound so lovely! That will take the work of humility and a life of faithfulness to prayer, persevering through spiritual “rain, sleet, or snow.” The Dominican nuns have committed themselves to this task. We will have to wait until the next life to see how many spiritual holes they’ve mended among us and what relationships between God and men they’ve helped knit together. Needlework involves the little movements back and forth, but over time, something beautiful comes about. The little to and fro of the needlework of prayer is gradually stitching together a master piece of love.

Fr. Ignatius Schweitzer, O.P. is Prior of Saint Catherine of Siena Priory, NYC, and Promoter of the Dominican Laity for the Province of Saint Joseph. In 2022 , he gave a series of lectures at the Monastery of Our Lady of Grace on prominent mystics in the Catholic Church.