Meditation Makes Saints
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There are many types of prayer and all are acceptable to God. But meditation is a form of prayer that is strongly encouraged for growth in the spiritual life. For the saints it was the way to pray. Meditative prayer, or mental prayer as it is often called, is a stage in the progression of prayer that begins with vocal prayer, and progresses to meditation. From there a soul progresses gradually to what is called contemplative prayer, which is remaining in silence in the presence of God. Contemplative prayer is the highest form of prayer and requires the most discipline to achieve.
All of these forms of prayer depend on God’s grace—the power is not ours to advance in prayer. But God works through nature, and it is by honing our human nature and conforming our nature to God (discipline in actions or regimen, discipline in quieting the mind and heart, etc.) that we cooperate with where the Holy Spirit wants to lead us in all things, particularly in the interior life (prayer)
The Saints and the Church Lead the Way
St. Ignatius of Loyola describes meditation as, “calling to mind some dogmatic or moral truth, and reflecting on or discussing this truth according to each one’s capacity, so as to move the will and produce in us amendment.” If you’re anything like me, that sounds confusing and hard to achieve. But in practice it quickly makes sense, and even feels natural. Another form of meditative prayer that Ignatius describes employs the imagination, where we imagine, and “play out” a scene in scripture, analyzing every detail, focusing on, and thinking about something that stands out. There’s a lesson that the Holy Spirit wants to teach you, even in a seemingly insignificant detail of any event in scripture.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC),
“meditation is above all a quest. The mind seeks to understand the why and how of the Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking” (CCC, 2705). The practice of meditation is described by the Catechism as utilizing, “thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. This mobilization of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt the conversion of our heart, and strengthen our will to follow Christ” (CCC, 2708)
Meditation comes in many forms and can be nourished by Scripture, the writings of the saints or the Church fathers, holy images, or other types of spiritual writings. There are many methods of meditation and many books are available detailing its practice. The writings of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, both Carmelite doctors of the Church, are preeminent sources of instruction on setting out on the way of meditation and contemplation. What is most important to remember is that the goal of meditation is knowledge of the love of Christ and union with him.
Many other of the saints stress the importance of meditation for growing in the spiritual life. St. Padre Pio describes meditation as being like checking our reflection in a mirror:
“Whoever does not meditate is like someone who never looks in the mirror before going out, doesn’t bother to see if he’s tidy, and may go out dirty without knowing it.”
Read the rest of this article, and also watch the full video of my story about what I experienced when I started exploring meditative prayer, by becoming a member of The Saint Foundry. It’s FREE!
