If your spiritual life is to develop
properly, you must learn how to meditate —
the foundation of mental prayer. A great
deal can be said about meditation, but we’ll
have to limit ourselves to some basic
points. I’d like to approach it by sharing
something of my own experience.
When I first entered the seminary, I was
already used to saying formal prayers, such
as my morning and night prayers and some
devotional prayers out of a little prayer
booklet. But somehow, the idea of meditation
seemed complicated. There was talk of
different methods and steps in the
meditation process. Even the meditation book
from which a reflection was read daily to
the community in the chapel listed
“meditation points” to consider. I felt a
bit apprehensive!
Nevertheless, after going to a few organized
meditation periods, I realized that this
basic form of mental prayer came quite
naturally. There was nothing to be afraid
of! I began by simply thinking about Jesus
in the Gospels, about His words and actions,
or about some important part of my Catholic
faith, such as the Mass or God’s mercy. Then
I found I wanted to talk to the Lord about
what I was reflecting on.
In this way I came to realize that my
thinking or reflecting (that’s the actual
meditation) was leading me to new awareness
and insights about Jesus and the truths of
my Catholic faith. These insights, in turn,
were stirring up various feelings within me
(such feelings are called sentiments or
affections). The more I meditated and came
to new insights, the more I was led to speak
with the Lord in my own words, having a
loving conversation heart-to-Heart (mine
with His). And that, quite simply, was
mental prayer.
The Rosary and Stations of the Cross
In fact, I came to realize that I’d actually
known for a long time what it is to
meditate. For example, I’d done it for years
whenever I prayed the Rosary. When reciting
each of the fifteen decades, we meditate on
one of the joyful, sorrowful, or glorious
mysteries or significant events in the life
of Jesus and His Blessed Mother.
As I constantly meditated on these
mysteries, they became more meaningful for
me. I began to see Jesus’ and Mary’s love in
each mystery, and gradually realized they
have that same love for me, too. By
meditating, I was growing to know and love
them more personally.
A similar thing was happening when I made
the Stations of the Cross. Meditating on
fourteen scenes from the passion and death
of Our Lord, I experienced feelings (those
sentiments or affections) of deeper
gratitude to Jesus for all He suffered for
me. There were feelings of deeper sorrow for
my sins as well, since they caused Jesus to
suffer so much. This, in turn, moved me to
be more resolved, with the help of His
grace, not to commit these sins again in the
future.
Judging, then, from my own experience, I
would say that many of us Catholics first
learn to meditate by simply reciting the
Rosary or making the Stations. As we seek to
deepen this part of our mental prayer life,
a few practical points about meditation and
mental prayer may be helpful.
Formal Prayer vs. Mental Prayer
First, mental prayer (also called the
prayer of the mind) usually develops
naturally from formal prayer (or the prayer
of the lips), as my own experience shows. A
comparison between these two types of prayer
can be useful. Recall St. John Damascene’s
famous definition of prayer as “the raising
of the mind and the heart to God.” In formal
prayer, when we focus on the words of the
prayer with our minds, the heart is then
moved to love God with the sentiments
contained in those words.
For example, if we recite an “Act of Faith,”
the words prayed would logically stir up
feelings or sentiments of faith in our
hearts as we say something such as this:
“God, You are all-knowing, and You reveal to
us what we need to know and do to get to
heaven. I believe in all that You have
revealed to us! Please grant me a strong
faith so that I will always believe what You
teach us through Your Church.”
In mental prayer, however, the focus is not
restricted by the words of a prayer formula.
Rather, the focus of meditation is usually
on a story, such as an event from the life
of Jesus; or a teaching He gave, such as a
parable; or something from the life of a
saint, such as St. Thérèse; or something
contained in a good spiritual book. My mind
isn’t limited to the words, but moves
through various details of the story or
ideas contained in the teaching.
The mind, by reflecting on these details,
can produce a far wider range of insights,
which then stir more sentiments in the
heart. The mind is freer to roam through
this spiritual landscape. Thus the
difference between formal prayer and the
meditation of mental prayer is like the
difference between reciting a poem, where
each specific word is already given, and
telling a story freely in your own words.
The Benefits of Meditation
Meditation as form of mental prayer has
many benefits. One is a greater
understanding and clarity regarding the
teachings of our Catholic faith. By
meditating, we go deeper into these
realities and discover many valuable new
insights that weren’t obvious at first
sight.
St. John of the Cross used the image of
mining for precious metals to describe this
spiritual activity. If “there’s gold in them
thar hills,” then the more you mine, the
more you’ll find! The treasures of the
Sacred Scriptures and other truths of our
faith aren’t always obvious on the surface,
but they’re limitless for those who bother
to search for them.
Another benefit, as we’ve seen, is that our
reflections stir up the vital sentiments of
the heart so needed for loving and serving
the Lord faithfully. These sentiments are
really the most important fruit of mental
prayer. They lead us to talk to God!
In fact, without these sentiments, we’d end
up with a purely intellectual exercise, a
mere reasoning process. Prayer requires
talking with God, and that requires the
sentiments.
In this regard, we should mention that
beginners practicing mental prayer typically
do much more reasoning or reflecting in the
mind than speaking from the heart. But as
time goes on, less reflection is needed to
produce more sentiments. It’s like the
growth of a human friendship.
When friends first meet, they need to ask
lots of questions and share lots of facts
about themselves to get to know each other
better. After the friendship has grown,
however, there are fewer questions but a
deeper knowledge and more intense love for
each other. In fact, when the reasoning in
prayer becomes significantly less and the
sentiments in the heart begin to
predominate, it’s usually a sign that we’ve
come to the third state or kind or prayer,
called affective prayer (or the prayer of
the heart).
Finally, the meditation of mental prayer
helps us form the resolutions we need to
grow in the love of God and our neighbor by
a more conscious and consistent practice of
the Christian virtues. Our meditations, in
the light of the Holy Spirit and with the
assistance of His grace, give us insights
into how to apply the values of the Gospel,
Church teachings, and the wisdom of the
saints to our own daily lives. For all these
reasons, the meditation that provides a
foundation for mental prayer is a must for
growth in Christian holiness!
By
Fr Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R.
Fr. Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R., is a priest of
the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, St.
Felix Friary, 15 Trinity Plaza, Yonkers, NY
10701; 914-476-7279;
www.ministryalliance.com/
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