How do you Catholics meditate?

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Curious11 said:
And can a Christian meditate without prayer, sort of like a Buddhist kind of thing but without Om and focusing on God’s word?
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I think if you are quietly contemplating God’s word, you ARE engaging in prayer.

Prayer doesn’t always have to involve words. Imagine having a friend with whom you are so comfortable that you are happy just to be in their presence, even without conversing with them. You can be with God in the same way, and that is prayer. One of my favourite ways to pray is to just kneel in front of the Blessed Sacrament and let God’s presence fill me and overwhelm all of the external distractions in my life.

For me, meditation and prayer are intertwined.
 
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Just to add, I particularly like to read St. Bridget’s writings where Our Lady speaks of the Passion from her perspective. It is heartbreaking, but it never fails to move me toward compassion and helps me to understand better what took place.

http://www.dailycatholic.org/4bridg70.htm
 
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I understand where you are coming from, but this isn’t a universally accepted position. Besides, we wear rosaries as bracelets and rings - they are blessed as an aid to use in prayer, and the construction is simply a convenient way to carry the rosary.

Personally, I think it’s a beautiful witness to the faith and I have difficulty believing God would have a problem with us proclaiming our faith in such a quiet and unassuming way.
 
I wear a 5-decade wrap rosary bracelet, and it is incredibly helpful to me as I go through my day. I only have a few rosaries, and worry about carrying them with me too much in case they get lost (as each has very special meaning), so this is a way for me to keep a rosary with me at all times. When I’m anxious or troubled, I can quickly say a decade or two. I also get asked about it quite often, which gives me a chance to explain about the rosary.
 
I generally have my rosary around my neck when I’m planning to use it, so I don’t lose it.

Today I left the house without my regular one and I used a very cheap plastic one I got free from church and kept in my car for emergencies. It was too small to go around my neck so I put it in my coat pocket.

And I managed to lose it somewhere between the church and my car 😦
Fortunately, it was not blessed, to my knowledge.
 
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I think, if you only had time for one devotional prayer in your day, the Rosary is the best. I’m not sure if you’ve seen The Matrix, but the scene where the Oracle gives Neo the cookie and tells him by the time he’s done eating it he’ll feel better- that’s how the Rosary is. No matter what you’re going through it will help. It’s extraordinarily powerful.
 
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Curious11 said:
Does the rosary calm you down? That’s great!
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It has been life-changing in terms of my ability to manage anxiety. A good friend, who is not Catholic, noticed after I joined the church that I seemed to be coping much better with my anxiety and asked me what the difference was. I told her about the rosary, and sent her a rosary and a book explaining it and now she prays it as well and has seen the same benefits I have.
 
I have seen the matrix. That movie is just great. The allegory of the cave is also great, like Plato
 
It’s one of my favorite films. I’ve seen a ton of times and still catch new stuff in it.
 
Wow I’m so glad for you. I sometimes have moments of anxiety I just hate so I understand you. If your rosary calms you down and brings you closer to your Lord (who is also my Lord) than God bless it!
 
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Curious11 said:
How do you guys meditate?
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By thinking about it, for example meditating on the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, we keep it on our minds, reminding us of the great love for which Christ has for us, which compels us to be more faithful to God.

As for a Rosary, there are many place you can buy one and in some Churches even in my home town they have some free ones up the back where you can take one if you ever want to stop by for some Eucharistic Adoration, where we adore Christ real presence in the Holy Eucharist up the front in the tabernacle, fully present, body, blood, soul and divinity.

p.s. If I knew you personally and that you were looking for one, I would give you one of mine. 🙂 You could even just ask the Priest after Mass, I’m sure he’d have a spare somewhere.

I hope this has helped

God Bless You

Thank you for reading.
 
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