For Chinese Catholics: Praying with St. Ignatius (2)
The space, the position, silence, questioning the Spirit, contemplation. The simple and concrete steps of how to meditate on the Gospel. Serving the spiritual formation of Chinese Catholics, and those worldwide.
Rome (AsiaNews) – Part II of a book on the Holy Hour: an Introduction to the Method of Prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola. The simple suggested arrangements are actually rich and effective instruments of ecclesial tradition: a fraternal resource for the formation of bishops, priests, laity in China, requested by them.
Praying with St. Ignatius
Since this booklet has an eminently practical purpose, following our general considerations on the practice of the holy hour, we would now wish to provide a general pattern for prayer, adapting the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius to our purpose. We have already mentioned how we can approach prayer at this time, but here we would like to develop more detail on some points, which then the individual will have to, so to speak, mold to suit. Everything is useful, nothing is indispensable, and everyone should act as he or she feels, in the freedom of the Spirit. In the words of St. Ignatius, knowledge itself does not sate and fill the soul, that is, long digressions and considerations, for example, on the biblical text, rather it is feeling and savoring it intimately. In short, you do not need to know or say many things, just a few, even one or two, but the essential thing is to open up our heart to pacify it, fill it, transform it.
Finally, after providing a general scheme, adaptable to each passage of Scripture, we will present some excerpts of prayer, somehow connected with the various liturgical times.
The scheme
St. Ignatius teaches us to begin with a preparatory prayer: I enter the room or place of prayer and I stop. In the right position, which is not necessarily the most comfortable, but the one that helps me to be still, I begin to enter the presence of the Lord, considering what I mean and why I am there. I invoke the Holy Spirit, which moves my heart and my intellect, I recall the words of Jesus, that teach me to pray; I can offer this time in reparation of my sins, prefiguring in some way to offer love to the Lord, to keep watch and pray with Him; I can remember the people or categories of people I want to pray for.
So I look back on the events that I want to contemplate, quickly and succinctly. Here we could introduce a point of passion from any Gospel: one week you can focus on one pericope, the following week another, as you prefer. It should be neither too long nor too short, especially at the beginning. Read the story, I try to imagine the scene as if I were entering it: I depict the places, the people present, the temporal development of what is narrated; Within myself in the place I contemplate, making me one of the present. Then I watch people, listen to what they say, contemplate what they are doing, and try to garner some fruits: I say "some," not all possible fruits. I try to enter into the details, not striving, but simply allowing them to speak to me and tell me something. Here we are right in the heart of the Ignatian prayer, which is characterized by this ability to descend deeply, and this is always not through a hasty and superficial contemplation, but rather calm and attentive. It's important to be still, take the time, there is no one behind us, and we can safely stay there with Jesus, in front of Him.
Finally, talk: I speak with Jesus, or with his Holy Mother, or with the Eternal Father, according to how I feel intimately moved. The duration should be long enough, as the preceding phases prepare us for this, a kind of fuel that lights our inner engine, the fire of the Holy Spirit. And so, at the end of the conversation, I emerge from the prayer gently, returning to my usual occupations, by reciting the Our Father or another prayer, slowly, never in haste. I will arise, I will give thanks for the gifts received, I will make with the sign of the Holy Cross and I will leave the space.
This is the fundamental pattern that everyone will learn to live and live according to their own personality. For convenience, I propose some examples of this way of praying, that may a bring our holy hour closer to the liturgical time of year: all pious practices should in someway strive to be part of the liturgy, and in the liturgy find inspiration and vigor. In fact, private devotion can not and should not be detached from the for a of public prayer, and liturgy is the source and culmination of personal prayer, that is to say, that it leads to it and begins from it. These two poles illuminate and exalt each other, and between them, in a continuous referral, is our entire life of prayer.
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12/02/2016 15:14
