So I’ve just resently began to get into St. Francis de Sales Introduction to the Devout Life. Absoluely LOVE the book but I’m finding diffculty in mediateing. I feel like it’s more of just praying then mediation though prayer and mediation could be the same I guess… I’m not exactly sure. But I was curious of ways in which I could mediate.
So far I’ve only attempted mediating when I have time to go to the adoration chapel which I managed to go to every day this past week expect for today because I had no way of getting to the adoration chapel. Well see thats a problem because I want to mediate but how do I mediate outside of the adoration chapel? I find it easy to mediate/pray there. I have very little to no distraction, peace comes easy and usually I sit there for 30 mins to an hour without even realizing the time has passed by but when it comes to mediation outside of the adoration chapel I am struggling with praying. It’s diffcult in general for me to even get a few small prayers. Any suggestions on how to over come this? One big distract of my home is that the TV is usually always on to distract me so I go on the computer, computer takes up major time and I get little to no work done. >.< it’s just this never ending cycle of bad once I get sucked into the distract of the computer.
If theres any type of spiritual hymes, music that I could listen to I’d be more then happy to plug in my ipod and listen to that while trying to mediate I just need the music.
Like I said, tips, books, and guides in general would be amazing. Anything to help a beginner to mediation.
Um I’ve never heard of the Prayer and Life Workshops. I live in St. Louis Missouri dose the site show if there are events happening in your area because the site is confusing for me.
As for the contemplative religious communities do I have to join the communities? I don’t know if I’m called to be a Carmelite. I’ll look into it but I don’t want to get in over my head, if you know what I mean. I am seeing my spiritual director soon maybe he can give some in site on this subject more.
Though I really don’t know much at all on this subject. Like I said I’m a beginner and a beginner in the biggest sense of the word. I’m a convert to the Catholic faith as of two and a half years ago and as far as beginning mediation I’ve been looking into and been realizing that I really do well in the silent prayer or mediation. This week I just officially began to pray with Introduction to the Devout Life but I don’t know if I’m mediating or just praying… Is there a difference? Just looking to get more into it as I dive in deeper with God and I want to make sure I’m doing it right and trying to find ways of doing that. I’ve been doing a lot of prayer in the adoration chapel since I’ve began college which was at the beginning of October but as I step more into the adoration chapel I’ve longing to dive deeper with God and I’m hoping mediation prayer will do that.
Please don’t get offended or upset, but I can’t help feeling that you’d get more responses if you used the correct word ‘meditate’ in your thread title.
‘Mediate’ is something else quite different. It’s being a go-between to help two or more people resolve a quarrel or disagreement, roughly speaking - nothing to do with prayer…
You might be interested in the book “Interior Castle” by St Teresa of Avila
I think one of the best ways to start meditating is to meditate on the Mysteries of the Rosary and on Christ’s Passion. It often helps to do this together with spiritual reading of some sort. Keep in mind the purpose of meditation should always be to come closer to God and to grow in love for Him, rather than the experience itself (I’m only mentioning this because it’s a common mistake to fall into).
I’m a beginner also. St. Francis de Sales’ book is a great start. There are several “considerations” that he describes in the early sections of the book. If you follow those, they establish the idea that meditating is really just thinking deeply about a subject.
TV - turn it off. If you’re at home home, meditate in a quiet place, no TV/radio/stereo/computer to distract you. Comfortable chair.
If you get distracted, just note that you’re distracted, and try to bring yourself back to the subject you are meditating on. If it helps, have a picture or a phrase that you can rely on. St. Teresa of Avila says to have a picture of Jesus. For me, it helps to say “teach me, Lord.” That usually helps.
Don’t get upset about distraction. You’ve joined the company of every person who has ever attempted meditation on that one.
Oh opps:blush:! Well I never intended to make that mistake thats what I get for using my uncles computer that isn’t firefox and doesn’t have the spell checker on it >.< lol I am absolutely HORRIBLE with spelling. Just not the gift God gave me
Ah yes, I own that book but haven’t got much into it cause I wanted to discern reading it with my spiritual director. As for the mysteries of the rosary I actually started slightly on that by just pray with one decade for a longer period rather then sit there trying to do the entire rosary. The rosary in general for me though just isn’t my type of prayer though. Being a convert to the Catholic faith I’ve found it extremely difficult to pray with Mary/saints. It’s something I’m growing into with God but it’s difficult for me at the moment.
thanks for the link!
As for the distraction there distractions I can’t control. There TV shows my dad watches not me. I rarely watch TV anymore. Personally if I could turn off all electronics in my home I would. I hate sound in my house any noise at all and there is absolutely no where in my house to go and pray. It’s driving me up a wall to be honest. The only place I can go and sit comfortable would be my living room but my dad permanently takes it over and so I have barley any access to it. yeah so I’m really stuck between a rock and a hard place right now as far as distractions go because I have no control over them.
thanks for the book I’ll look into getting it thanks!
Actually, the fact that you are able to meditate so well in front of the Blessed Sacrament tells me that you are doing very well with the practice of meditation. Many people cannot meditate at all no matter where they are, and for others it can take a very long time to learn the practice of meditation, so be grateful for this gift that God has given you!
I feel bad for you, but you aren’t alone. We live in a very noisy world that is full of distractions and it can be very hard to push them all away. It is far easier to turn on a TV or computer than it is to sit down and pray and meditate. I also know how frustrating it can be to live or be around people that have no concept of prayer or meditation. We have become addicted to being entertained every waking hour. I also find it maddening. Just get out of the house and take a walk if you can’t get to the chapel. You might find the outdoors a great place for prayer and contemplation!
As for the mysteries of the rosary I actually started slightly on that by just pray with one decade for a longer period rather then sit there trying to do the entire rosary. The rosary in general for me though just isn’t my type of prayer though. Being a convert to the Catholic faith I’ve found it extremely difficult to pray with Mary/saints. It’s something I’m growing into with God but it’s difficult for me at the moment.
I’'m a convert also (from Protestantism) . I really struggled with devotion to Mary and the Saints. Over time, as I read about it and prayed, I began to get used to it more. Now it’s a part of my spirituality. Just keep in mind that Mary leads us to Jesus, she is His Mother and there’s no competition between them
As for the distraction there distractions I can’t control. There TV shows my dad watches not me. I rarely watch TV anymore. Personally if I could turn off all electronics in my home I would. I hate sound in my house any noise at all and there is absolutely no where in my house to go and pray. It’s driving me up a wall to be honest. The only place I can go and sit comfortable would be my living room but my dad permanently takes it over and so I have barley any access to it. yeah so I’m really stuck between a rock and a hard place right now as far as distractions go because I have no control over them.
oh I know what you mean… most of the time, I can’t find a quiet place where there are no people. My solution to this has been to take walks or to pray in a church.
Father Thomas Dubay, in Prayer Primer offers the following simple method for meditation:
Find a quiet place.
Recollect the presence of God: this does not mean you need to try to “feel” God’s presence; just acknowledge with faith that He is there.
Use (name removed by moderator)ut from Scripture or other spiritual reading as a basis for meditation.
Response: conversing with the Lord about it; adoring, loving, praising, thanking, and sorrowing with inner, quiet words.
Resolution: determine to do something specific beginning today about what we have been pondering; resolving to change and grow so that our actions may match our prayer.
You can read more here: Chapter 8: Meditation from Prayer Primer: Igniting a Fire Within by Fr. Thomas Dubay
DISCLAIMER: Catholic Answers has turned over the archive to Catholic-Questions.org and no longer owns, manages, or moderates the forums. For additional apologetics resources please visit www.catholic.com.
yeah so I’m really stuck between a rock and a hard place right now as far as distractions go because I have no control over them.