Catechism of the Catholic Church §2717 — excerpt
Contemplative prayer is silence, the "symbol of the world to come" or "silent love." Words in this kind of prayer are not speeches; they are like kindling that feeds the fire of love.
This translation is under copyright, so only the cited words are quoted here. Follow the link for the full text. Translation: English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. (Libreria Editrice Vaticana), as posted at vatican.va.
Also cites: St. Isaac of Nineveh, Tract. myst. 66 · St. John of the Cross, Maxims · Counsels, 53 in the Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, tr. K. Kavanaugh, OCD, · O. Rodriguez, OCD (Washington DC: Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1979), 678