Meditation

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MaryRita85

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I am hoping to get some help.I’m a brand new Catholic, brought in on the Easter Vigil. Since then, my enthusiasm has not faded and I’m so happy to be home. I have a very dark past and has made a HUGE transformation. Never in a million years would I have ever thought I would be where I am now, and many others feel the same. God is so good:)I attend Mass once on the weekend and once through the week, I go to confession bi-weekly and I try to spend 20 minutes or so a day praying.
I want to begin meditating during prayer. The Priest told me that meditation would be good for me and I agree. Honestly, I am so tense all the time, I just can’t relax. Is there any music or any techniques to help? I have tried slowing down my breathing and I can’t seem to do it. Any advice would be appreciated, I believe it would help me spiritually and physically as well.
 
Lectio divina, I think, would be good for you.

Here’s a website with an explanation, general instructions. There are tons of books written about it—just google it.

Lectio divina
 
Thank you,
That was very interesting, I will admit that would be a challenge but I definitely am interested.
 
“Among the many fruits of this biblical springtime I would like to mention the spread of the ancient practice of lectio divina or “spiritual reading” of Sacred Scripture. It consists in pouring over a biblical text for some time, reading it and rereading it, as it were, “ruminating” on it as the Fathers say and squeezing from it, so to speak, all its “juice”, so that it may nourish meditation and contemplation and, like water, succeed in irrigating life itself.”

~ Pope Benedict XVI Nov 2005

“Note what Saint Jerome said in this regard: “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ” (PL 24,17; cf Dei Verbum, 25). A time-honoured way to study and savour the word of God is lectio divina which constitutes a real and veritable spiritual journey marked out in stages. After the lectio, which consists of reading and rereading a passage from Sacred Scripture and taking in the main elements, we proceed to meditatio. This is a moment of interior reflection in which the soul turns to God and tries to understand what his word is saying to us today. Then comes oratio in which we linger to talk with God directly. Finally we come to contemplatio. This helps us to keep our hearts attentive to the presence of Christ whose word is “a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Pet 1:19). Reading, study and meditation of the Word should then flow into a life of consistent fidelity to Christ and his teachings.”

~ Pope Benedict XVI April 2006
 
(take care not to be too readily keen on anything that is of a non-Christian sort …)
 
The Rosary is an excellent meditation to start and end your day with in the mornings and evenings, and the Jesus prayer is a great way to stay calm and close to Him throughout the day. Repeating the holy name of Jesus constantly has a deeply calming and sanctifying effect. My very favorite meditation is to just sit in the Real Presence, either during Adoration or before the tabernacle, and just sit quietly with my gaze and attention simply fixed on Him. “I look at Him, and he looks at me.”

The important thing is to stay consistent in making meditation a part of your day, every day.
 
In my early days of being a Christian, I use to meditate by listening to Sacred Music.

At the time, the Monks of the Weston Priory had wonderful music, which many of the songs are sung at Mass.

Now I often use John Michael Talbot’s music,

Mostly though, I do Quiet Prayer, using a version of the Jesus Prayer, which was posted my Michael Mayo.

Sitting quietly in a comfortable chair, I close my eyes and place myself in God’s presence, who dwells within.

I then begin to say the Jesus Prayer, slowly and reverently and eventually just saying the words, “Lord Jesus.” Whenever I find that my thoughts have taken my focus of intention away from God, I just return to repeating the name “Lord Jesus.”

At all times, I open myself to God, who is the one who provides whatever I receive.

This prayer is a prayer of love. We seek union with God, in order to be transformed through His grace, in order to be like Him, and that is, to love as He loves.

Jim
 
Michael_Mayo said:
Also the Jesus Prayer
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Maybe we need more clarification on what’s meant by “meditation.” As I understand it, meditation on the mysteries of the Rosary, for example, often involves visualization/imagination. As traditionally practiced, the Jesus Prayer eschews visualization/imagination. They’re different ways of praying. 🙂
 
There is discursive meditation, which is where one reflects on Scripture, the Mysteries of the Rosary, or other devotion.

Then there is interior meditation or contemplative prayer.

This is where one places their entire being in the presence of God, and allows God to reveal Himself as He is, not as we create Him in our minds.

In either case, we should follow St Teresa’s way of Mental Prayer, in that we are aware that we are in the presence of God, dwelling within, and not just sending prayers out into the cosmos somewhere.

As the Catechism says;
2707 There are as many and varied methods of meditation as there are spiritual masters. Christians owe it to themselves to develop the desire to meditate regularly, lest they come to resemble the three first kinds of soil in the parable of the sower.5 But a method is only a guide; the important thing is to advance, with the Holy Spirit, along the one way of prayer: Christ Jesus.
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Jim
 
aspirant said:
Maybe we need more clarification on what’s meant by “meditation.” As I understand it, meditation on the mysteries of the Rosary, for example, often involves visualization/imagination. As traditionally practiced, the Jesus Prayer eschews visualization/imagination. They’re different ways of praying. 🙂
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It’s not technically what most would consider a meditation, but OP did speak of a desire to learn to relax and not be so tense all the time, which the Jesus prayer is great for in the same way that meditation is. So it’s definitely still worth recommending IMO.
 
Forkfoot said:
the OP did speak of a desire to learn to relax and not be so tense all the time, which the Jesus prayer is great for in the same way that meditation is. So it’s definitely still worth recommending IMO.
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I recommend the Jesus Prayer to any and all comers! I just wanted to clarify that this isn’t what many Western Catholics would consider “meditation,” and so it may or may not be what the priest had in mind. 🙂
 
Forkfoot said:
The Rosary is an excellent meditation to start and end your day with in the mornings and evenings, and the Jesus prayer is a great way to stay calm and close to Him throughout the day. Repeating the holy name of Jesus constantly has a deeply calming and sanctifying effect. My very favorite meditation is to just sit in the Real Presence, either during Adoration or before the tabernacle, and just sit quietly with my gaze and attention simply fixed on Him. “I look at Him, and he looks at me.”

The important thing is to stay consistent in making meditation a part of your day, every day.
Click to expand...
I second this! At mass yesterday father had mentioned how many of us in this day and age never get to sit in silence, and just listen to what god truely wants to tell us. As I had been told God speaks through silence.
 
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