Meditation

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codefro

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Hello everyone,

Lately I have been seeking a deeper prayer life with an aim towards finding some form of Catholic mediation. I love the Rosary, but I am also desiring to experiment with other types in order to see what else there is.

Now, when I was Protestant I used to practice contemplative prayer using the Jesus Prayer. While I loved the practice, I have become aware that even in the Eastern Orthodox Churches that one cannot simply practice the Jesus Prayer without first seeking a Spiritual Director. So I am a little wary to pratice it without some direction. Also, while I firmly believe all that the Catholic Church teaches to be the truth given to us by God, I am fascinated with Eastern forms of meditation. Not for all the aspects of empying self from my body, but as a form of seeking to deny myself for God. I read the letter Aspects of Christian Meditation which somewhat covers the potential dangers if implementing every aspect of Eastern meditation into Catholic Practice.

Now I know Thomas Merton isn’t a canonized saint, but he saw something in Zen meditation that had pull with his Catholic life.

Point being:

I am looking for some type of spiritual meditation that I can practice without moving into any dangerous areas.

Thank you all.

Dominus Vobiscum
 
I’d read St Francis de Sales’ Introdution to the Devout Life and St Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises.

In general, I’d avoid Zen. There are some common touchpoints, but Buddhism and Catholicism differ fundamentally in their approaches.
 
I am also very much drawn to the Jesus Prayer. I have read about a dozen books devoted to this prayer, including a few of the Orthodox with the warnings. In my case, I do not try any sort of altered breathing, and I’m such a scatter-brain that the prayer rarely leaves the surface of my mind, if that makes sense. But I do find that since devoting time to the prayer with consistency, morning and evening, the name of our Lord, the prayer, comes to my mind frequently throughout the day.

I have also read a bit about Christian Meditation as promoted by John Main OSB. I am not always so comfortable with what I read here, as it seems to muddy the waters, in a syncretistic way. It seems as though Merton might have been heading in this direction too. Some say he was, some say he wasn’t. I guess we’ll never know now, but I am inspired by a lot of his writing.

Lots of people will recommend the advice and writings of Thomas Dubay, a Carmelite approach to prayer, or the Ignatian way, using the imagination. These haven’t really “clicked” with me. The Rosary and the Jesus Prayer are where I’m at just now.
 
I second the recommendations given.

I guess I would also suggest reflecting on your motivations behind your wanting to seek out this type of prayer. I used to do different types of breathing meditations. Nothing too out there, but I felt it was something that was taking me away from my praise, worship, and prayer to God.

I love the Rosary, and I have found to have all of the “earthly” benefits that my breathing meditation had - e.g. more relaxed, greater focus, peace of mind, etc. - while also helping me to contemplate the life of Jesus at important points through the mysteries.

In any case, best wishes in your search for deeper spiritualism, and I think looking at especially St. Ignatius’ spiritual exercises may fit the bill for you.

God bless,
Bryan
 
And the Jesus Prayer is CCC approved!

2667: This simple invocation of faith developed in the tradition of prayer under many forms in the East and West. The most usual formulation, transmitted by the spiritual writers of the Sinai, Syria, and Mt. Athos, is the invocation, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners.” It combines the Christological hymn of Philipians 2:6-11 with the cry of the publican and the blind men begging for light. By it the heart is opened to human wretchedness and the Savior’s mercy.

I am also struck by the similarities between this prayer and the chaplet of Divine Mercy (another of my favorites)
 
christofirst said:
I am also struck by the similarities between this prayer and the chaplet of Divine Mercy (another of my favorites)
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Lord, have mercy is Kryie eleison, which is also used in the Roman Catholic Mass (though it may be in your vernacular language rather than in Greek).

The Chaplet of DM also has a form of the Trisagion “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us,” which is from the Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom as celebrated in the Byzantine Rite. In the West, we use the Sanctus.

The expressions may be different, but the underlying reality of prayer is the same. St Francis de Sales recommends that we bloom where we’re planted. 🙂
 
I have a question also. I was fascinated with the praying of the Chaplet of the Holy Spirit. How does one pray this? Can one use a domincan rosary, or does one buy a specific chaplet?
 
codefro said:
I have a question also. I was fascinated with the praying of the Chaplet of the Holy Spirit. How does one pray this? Can one use a domincan rosary, or does one buy a specific chaplet?
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It’s the prayer that is important, not the beads. Pray it on your fingers if necessary. 🙂
 
I cannot tell if you do not understand my question or are being sarcastic.
 
codefro said:
I cannot tell if you do not understand my question or are being sarcastic.
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I guess I don’t understand your question. Perhaps I can expand a bit on what I mentioned earlier.

You don’t need a particular set of beads (rosary, chaplet) to pray a particular rosary or chaplet.

For example. The Dominican rosary is the most common one with its five decades. The faithful use it to pray the Dominican Rosary (which most just call “the rosary” but it’s also known as “Our Lady’s Psalter” and “the beads”), but it can be used for other prayers too (such as the Chaplet of Divine Mercy). You don’t need a physical collection of beads called a Chaplet of Divine Mercy to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, for it can be prayed on a Dominican rosary – or it can be prayed by keeping track of the prayers by using one’s fingers or by some other counting method.

Then there is the Franciscan Crown, aka the Seraphic Rosary, which is used to the Pray the Seven Joys of Mary (it’s also used for the Servite Rosary for the Seven Sorrows of Mary). Instead of five decades, it has seven. If one doesn’t have a seven-decade Seraphic Rosary, one can pray the Seven Joys of Mary on a five-decade Dominican Rosary by just adding two decades.

Even if one doesn’t have a rosary, Dominican or Seraphic or otherwise, one can pray these prayers, even if it means keeping track of the prayers on one’s fingers or by some other counting method.

The prayer is what is important, not the physical beads or the counting method.
 
Splagchnizomai said:
I guess I don’t understand your question. Perhaps I can expand a bit on what I mentioned earlier.

You don’t need a particular set of beads (rosary, chaplet) to pray a particular rosary or chaplet.

For example. The Dominican rosary is the most common one with its five decades. The faithful use it to pray the Dominican Rosary (which most just call “the rosary” but it’s also known as “Our Lady’s Psalter” and “the beads”), but it can be used for other prayers too (such as the Chaplet of Divine Mercy). You don’t need a physical collection of beads called a Chaplet of Divine Mercy to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, for it can be prayed on a Dominican rosary – or it can be prayed by keeping track of the prayers by using one’s fingers or by some other counting method.

Then there is the Franciscan Crown, aka the Seraphic Rosary, which is used to the Pray the Seven Joys of Mary (it’s also used for the Servite Rosary for the Seven Sorrows of Mary). Instead of five decades, it has seven. If one doesn’t have a seven-decade Seraphic Rosary, one can pray the Seven Joys of Mary on a five-decade Dominican Rosary by just adding two decades.

Even if one doesn’t have a rosary, Dominican or Seraphic or otherwise, one can pray these prayers, even if it means keeping track of the prayers on one’s fingers or by some other counting method.

The prayer is what is important, not the physical beads or the counting method.
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Thanks! This was helpful. 👍

If anybody else has (name removed by moderator)ut on the meditation question I am still curious of anyone else’s experience in this field.
 
While I’m all for the tried and true Catholic masters of spiritualty, St. Francis de Sales, Thomas a Kempis, etc., I personally sometimes find the reading a little tedious, and the phrasing a bit archaic. This speaks more to my level of education, but I often find I connect better with a contemporary writer.

I second the recommendation of anything by Fr. Jacques Philippe, and also highly recommend two books by the Augustinian Martin Laird, “Into the Silent Land; A Guide to the Christian Practice of Contemplation” and “A Sunlit Absence; Silence, Awareness, and Contemplation”, both excellent treatises on meditation, from a thoroughly Catholic/Christian perspective (IMO).
 
christofirst said:
While I’m all for the tried and true Catholic masters of spiritualty, St. Francis de Sales, Thomas a Kempis, etc., I personally sometimes find the reading a little tedious, and the phrasing a bit archaic. This speaks more to my level of education, but I often find I connect better with a contemporary writer.

I second the recommendation of anything by Fr. Jacques Philippe, and also highly recommend two books by the Augustinian Martin Laird, “Into the Silent Land; A Guide to the Christian Practice of Contemplation” and “A Sunlit Absence; Silence, Awareness, and Contemplation”, both excellent treatises on meditation, from a thoroughly Catholic/Christian perspective (IMO).
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I actually read Laird’s Into the Silent Land and that was what got me into contemplative prayer using the Jesus Prayer. That still lead me to posting this as I expressed my concern with contemplative prayer.

What I gather from Eastern meditation is that it is the emptying of self, where Catholic meditation revolves around the indwelling of God in the soul. Or Augustine expressed it as going within to find God who is within us. The Aspects of Christian Meditation document touched on that, but added that one does not strictly want to remain within for various potential errors that may arise.

I guess I just wonder if there is a safe way to practice contemplative prayer.
 
codefro said:
I actually read Laird’s Into the Silent Land and that was what got me into contemplative prayer using the Jesus Prayer. That still lead me to posting this as I expressed my concern with contemplative prayer.

What I gather from Eastern meditation is that it is the emptying of self, where Catholic meditation revolves around the indwelling of God in the soul. Or Augustine expressed it as going within to find God who is within us. The Aspects of Christian Meditation document touched on that, but added that one does not strictly want to remain within for various potential errors that may arise.

I guess I just wonder if there is a safe way to practice contemplative prayer.
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I very much share your concern regarding the Eastern (Hindu/Buddhist) way or goal of meditation. And clearly the Church does as well, as shown in the document “Jesus Christ, Bearer of the Water of Life” from the Pontifical Council for Culture & Interreligious dialogue. I’m sure you’ve also seen that this is a touchy subject on these forums; discussion of the types of meditation which draw too much from the non-Christian East are discouraged or no longer allowed, to keep the peace.

There is a tendency in many of us, I see it in myself, to go searching after something new. If my time at prayer ocassionally appears to run dry, instead of simply praying through the dry spell (which would require discipline) I think, “Maybe there is some better way, a way that will really “work” for me.” This led to my exploration, bearing in mind the wisdom and guidance of the Church, as you mention above. True contemplative prayer is a gift which may or may not be granted, God knowing what is best for each of us. So I see my time at prayer, be it the rosary or the Jesus Prayer, as an offering, a devotion. God has blessed me with this time, and I offer it back to Him.

Going back to the classics, have you read the works of St. Teresa of Avila? “The Way of Perfection” and “The Interior Castle” are acknowlegded master works on prayer. I have both, but I’m ashamed to say I have yet to read either! Too busy chasing novelties, I guess.
 
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