Catholic Dictionary
Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.
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MIXED CONTEMPLATION
Active and passive contemplation alternately experienced, that is, the prayer of simplicity acquired by human effort, and mystical union freely infused by God. Sometimes called the first degree of infused contemplation. The mystical union may be of short duration, or it may last for a longer time, partly depending on a person's ability to sustain it, but mainly on the gratuitous dispensation of God's providence.