59: An example of "Spiritual Direction"

Dear N., 

you did very well in telling me all these details about your “spiritual life” during this past week. Don’t worry, you did it better than many others. This clear account helps me help you. Please, keep always this transparent attitude, this will help God help you with greater efficiency. 

You mention in your account various difficulties you face in your practice of the Prayer of the Heart: 

Of course you should continue to receive all the rest of the teaching on the Prayer of the heart. I mean by that that you need to continue to learn it. It is not in one day that you "master it" or "know all about it". Remember that in my Basic Course, I do give at least 7 lessons (14 hours) in order to explain it. You may come each Monday, at the Coptic Catholic Patriarchate where I do teach it and we practice it all together, guided by me, at 6 pm (the whole thing lasts more than 2 hours). 

You did very very well in starting to do the “Lectio Divina” (listening to Jesus through the daily readings of the Bible). Please do insist everyday, when you do it, toward Jesus, for Him to talk to you, to give you "one word", one light (read my book, all of it), and don't leave Him until He gives it to you. But in order for it to succeed, you need everyday to put Him back at the first place... otherwise He remains silent. 

For the Prayer of the heart, you seem very troubled, not knowing what to do, when, etc. The issue is soooo simple, but we are not. Step by step, you'll find your way throughout the day and during this specific moment set up for the Prayer of the heart.

Please do follow the teaching I give on the Prayer of the heart, on my YouTube Channel: Jean0162, lesson 4, in four parts. (see the first part here below:)

When we do the Prayer of the heart the trigger is not “the feeling of love”. It is the act of love you make: "the determined surrender" as you said. 

You trigger His love for you (Him giving himself to you) when you give yourself (surrender in his hands) to Him. 

Your heart is situated in a supra-conscious area, the soul (mind, emotions) and the body (organs of feeling) can't feel it directly. 

You are not supposed to feel anything [if you feel these are like crumbs that fall from your heart (supra-conscious) into your conscious part (soul, mind, brain, feelings, emotions)]. You remain quite, repeating from time to time your act of offering. 

During the Prayer of the Heart, when you don't feel anything, just keep repeating your act of surrender, peacefully, from time to time, especially if you feel you were distracted.

There is no contradiction between the “Prayer of the Heart” and “Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament”. Of course, the songs or any other prayer will probably disturb you. Sadly, people can't just shut up when they should. The cause they can't shut up is the lack of a serious formation in “Prayer of the heart”.

Again, there is no opposition between "Prayer of the heart" and "Adoration": the One who is in the Blessed Sacrament, is the same one who is your heart. If you have Him that far (exposed, few meters away) you'll have anyway to enter in contact with Him, no? And "entering in contact with Him" IS the "Prayer of the heart". Got my point? So, find your way; and it is not wrong at all to do "Prayer of the heart" in His Presence... it is the same, it just helps a bit more to have Him in the Blessed Sacrament.

Prayer stool

I am glad you read the Blog, and please don't hesitate to drop a question in the Blog. The Blog is made for you guys. 

Sometimes, during the "Prayer of the heart", God removes any feelings from us (no emotions) that fall in the soul and/or in the body. Why? It is a meeting we set up (a rendez-vous of love) to be with Him and to love Him. We don't do it to receive feelings but to give Love and receive Love. Receiving Love happens in the Heart (not in the feelings). He sees our act of faithfulness and receives the offering of ourselves to Him, and gives himself to us. 

Keep doing with great faithfulness and perseverance the Lectio Divina, and as well the Prayer of the heart. The Lectio Divina boosts a lot the Prayer of the Heart. Jesus says it in the Gospel: Jn 14:23: "Anyone who loves me will keep my words [lectio divina], my Father will love them [the reason why we do Prayer of the Heart], and we will come to them and make our home with them [Prayer of the Heart]."

There is no need to be stressed with Jesus, and with Mary... the Prayer of the heart is just about putting ourselves in their Hands, and abandoning ourselves after... leaving Him to Work in us. 

Let us give it a try one more week. And then please give me the same quality of account of this one, then we'll see. 

If there is any serious blockage during the week please write to me. Otherwise, just continue; keep doing your best everyday: He is waiting for you. 

Jean