“Anyone who expects to advance without having meditated often on his own sinfulness, the Passion of Christ, and the kindness, goodness, and dignity of God, will most certainly go astray and fail in his purpose. But a person who has long pondered these things must eventually leave them behind beneath a cloud of forgetting if he hopes to pierce the cloud of unknowing that lies between him and his God.” (1)
Introduction
“Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ” (2). We begin with this quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church to ensure the reader from the start that the practice of meditation in the Christian sense is something the Catholic Church heartily promotes for its members. It is not some esoteric exercise to be practiced only by cloistered monks and nuns, and it has nothing to do with the so-called “mysticism” found in some pagan Eastern religions. Christian Meditation is not simply one of the various ways of prayer; rather, it is the starting point for authentic spiritual growth that eventually leads to the beginnings of contemplative prayer.
The Directive of Scripture
In the Bible’s book of prayer, we find that the first verse of the first psalm, by way of implication, counsels us to the practice of meditation: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on His law he meditates day and night.” (3)
In his commentary on the Book of Psalms, St. Robert Bellarmine says this verse tells us the “[just man] should most frequently reflect on [the Law], by constantly exercising his mind in reflecting on [it] and loving it, so that all his actions may be in accordance with it. . . . And [he should] be mindful of it when [facing] anything . . . in which he may apprehend a danger of its violation.” (4) The practice of such recollection as what the saint speaks of in his commentary must have a foundation, and that foundation is the practice of Christian meditation, as is taught by the lives of all the saints and the writings of the spiritual masters such as Ss. Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross.
A Natural Activity
Meditation, whether it be sacred or secular, is a natural activity common to every person who has reached the age of reason. The only difference between sacred and secular meditation is the choice of subject matter. There are three principal elements to meditation: considerations, affections, and resolutions. These terms are understood here as follows: consideration is the activity of the intellect by which it reasons about some object or idea so as to draw a conclusion; affection is an unfelt movement of the will that results from the conclusion(s) resulting from the consideration; resolution is a firm commitment to carry out some particular act.
Example of Secular Meditation
To demonstrate, let us consider a typical example of secular meditation by describing the three-step process a consumer goes through when buying a car. At the beginning of the process, the individual looks at the various options available in terms of the type of car, its cost, and the accessories that could be included in the purchase. (Step 1) A carefully reasoned consideration of these items will lead him to a conclusion that naturally transitions him to the second stage, in which he finds himself especially attracted to one particular car. (Step 2) This affection, which may be weak at first, gains strength and, at some point, he recognizes that “this” car is the “right” car. His will is thus being moved to purchase that particular car. He dwells on that satisfying thought for some time and, in doing so, is led to the third stage. When the affection reaches maturity, the consumer recognizes that it is time to formally express the movement of his will (that is, the affection). (Step 3) This is done with a resolution to purchase the car. And so it is with secular meditation.
Subject Matter of Christian Meditation
As noted above, the process for sacred meditation (typically referred to as Christian meditation) differs only in the choice of subject matter. Scripture is the subject matter choice par excellence, but other sources that present some aspect of divine revelation or the proper response to divine revelation are suitable as well. The Gospels are especially fertile ground for this endeavor, for in them we see God in action via human nature in Jesus Christ.
Variations Found in Christian Meditation
We now provide an example of Christian meditation, noting that one will find minor variations in the way Christian meditation has been taught and practiced by religious orders, which can be considered “schools of prayer,” so one should not be concerned that there is more than one template for Christian meditation coming from these various schools. Despite these minor variations, the primary elements of considerations, affections, and resolutions, as described above, are always found in the way these schools of prayer teach beginners the practice of Christian meditation. Furthermore, one should keep in mind that this is a method of prayer. It is useful and necessary at the beginning, but the method will fade somewhat over the years as one gains experience with it, and rightly so, for it is the deepening of one’s prayer life that is primary; the method is only an aid to help bring that about. Let us proceed with an example of one who is beginning a session of Christian meditation.
The First Step: Consideration
In the first step, consideration, he reads a passage from Scripture, or some other suitable material, that catches his attention: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” (5) This begins an interior conversation that may draw on related passages from Scripture, the lives of the saints, or some other source.
“St. Thomas writes: ‘To love is to will the good of another.’ (6) If I am to love my enemies, then, it follows that I am to see the enemy as a person worthy of love rather than an enemy. Further, Jesus says, ‘Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.’ (7) And, in all of that, I am to be willing the good of the enemy, with a genuine desire for his welfare. This is no simple thing. Do not my passions get aroused when someone acts toward me in a hateful way, or curses me, or abuses me? Does not my inner being cry out for vengeance, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth? Yes, I want to love my neighbor, but what about justice? Does not justice require that the one who has injured me make restitution for the injury before I have an obligation to love such a person? It seems that this saying is an admirable ideal, but could it actually be something that God expects of us?”
“Perhaps I should consider who gave us this saying. It came from Jesus, who had many enemies. How did He respond to those who hated Him, cursed Him, and abused Him? They worked against Him throughout His public ministry, conspired to condemn Him to a death of extreme torture on the cross, yet His response to all of that was ‘Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing.’” (8)
The Second Step: Affection
It is commonly said that there are four types of prayer: adoration, contrition, thanksgiving, and supplication. It is more accurate to say that these are four attitudes of prayer; this becomes evident in the second step, affection, in which the will is moved to one or more of these four attitudes. The second step follows naturally from the first as the one at prayer is drawn to the example given by Jesus. His first words after being nailed to the cross were, “Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing.” Recalling this, he recognizes the difficult commands of the Gospel were not merely given by Jesus but also lived out by Him to their fullness. This realization triggers a change in the interior conversation as the he begins to see the example of Jesus to be eminently desirable in his own life. Moved by what he has come to recognize in the life of Jesus, he begins to express that affection.
“Jesus, though you are the Son of God (adoration) you assumed an instance of human nature in which you suffered extraordinary torments in your Holy Passion to save me from the everlasting punishment that is due me because of my sins. For this I am deeply grateful and thank you from the depths of my soul (thanksgiving). You bore your sufferings with unfathomable patience, while I, on the other hand, abhor the thought of suffering even the slightest injury, and this is especially true when the injury comes from an enemy. But immediately after your persecutors nailed you to the cross you prayed for them, asking your Father to forgive them, and even making an excuse for them: ‘They do not know what they are doing’” (Lk 23:34).
“So different are my ways. I am sorry to say (contrition) that not only do I fail to truly forgive my enemies, I search for secret ways in which to get my revenge on them. Though I call myself a Christian, I see that it is no more than a superficial Christianity that I practice, one that causes me no pain and views relationships with others as something like business contracts. But you have shown me that this is not the way to live. O Lord, I beseech (supplication) you, flood my soul with your grace that my cold heart of stone will be made warm and soft like wax, and molded in the way of virtue by what you have shown me here. Help me to cast off my hidden deeds of darkness, so that I may enter into your wonderful light. Grant me the wisdom to see goodness in everyone, especially those who would be my enemies, for you are truly present in them, though your presence is hidden to those who are without the light of grace. Lord, grant me this grace, for I intend, this day, to begin the genuine practice of love of neighbor, though I freely admit that up to this day, I have shown little love, if any, to my neighbor.”
This interior conversation may go on for some time, or it may be short in duration. What is important is that the conversation be the result of a genuine affection in which the will is being moved to love God, to adore Him, to acknowledge His wisdom and to desire to serve Him or is being moved to any of a thousand other similar acts of devotion. (Note that this affection, which begins with the intellect and results in an unfelt movement of the will, is not to be confused with emotion, which begins in the senses, is physically felt, and is unwilled, at least in its first movements.)
The number of words expressed during the affection is not significant; it is the ardent desire to reform one’s life so as to grow in holiness by way of imitation of the life of Jesus that is important. One may experience strong urges as a result of such meditations but, whether weak or strong, as long as such movements are present, one should give way to them. Their duration may be measured only in seconds, or they may last for several minutes, but they will come to an end at which time one should not attempt to extend them, for they are short-lived gifts from the Holy Spirit. When the gift has completed its work on the soul, the time has come to move on to the third step of meditation.
The Third Step: Resolution
In the third step, resolution, he makes a commitment to put into practice the desires that have come about in the second step. This is done with a general resolution of amendment in a particular area of life. The conversation continues.
“Lord Jesus, I thank you for showing me the way that I must reform my life in regard to the way I treat my neighbor, especially the troubling neighbor. From this day forward, I resolve to recognize your presence in my neighbor, especially the neighbor who would be my enemy, and to have a genuine love for my neighbor in whatever circumstances he presents to me.”
Resolution for the Day
This conversation completes a cycle of meditation. Note that the time required for one of these cycles will vary. It could take as little as a couple of minutes, or it could be considerably longer. In any particular period of time allotted to meditation, it is likely that one will repeat this cycle some number of times until the time allotted for prayer has been expended, at which point the individual makes a specific resolution, drawn from the fruits of this time of meditation. The resolution can be very simple, such as greeting an “enemy” with kindness, or it can be more complex. But whatever the resolution is, it must be chosen such that it can be carried out that same day.
1 – Cloud of Unknowing, ch. 7.
2 – CCC 2708.
3 – Ps 1:1.
4 – St. Robert Bellarmine, A Commentary on the Book of Psalms, p. 1.
5 – Lk 6:27-28.
6 – CCC 1766; Summa I of II, 26, 4.
7 – Lk 6:27-28.
8 – Lk 23:34.
