159: Holding your Rosary during the Prayer of the Heart 2/2

Some Spiritual Aspects of the use of the Rosary

during the Prayer of the Heart

1- Mary's Fire, God's transformative Beam

Mary's is purity itself and it is the absence of anything that is not God in Her that precipitates this transformation. She is fully moved by God, the Holy Spirit.

2- Establishing Peace

What is Peace? No obstacles or impurities or any created thing between us and God.

Peace: Jesus is the king of Peace. He established in us and amongst us God's Peace. He purified us, removing all what is not God in us. Peace is the very nature of God. Anything that is not God in us is "war" fighting against God. Peace is to be "from God to God". It is being united to God. It is participating in the very Life of God, breathing from His "oxygen", the Holy Spirit, the Divine Breath. The purer we become, the greater is the Peace of God in us.

The Holy Spirit is the author of this "pacifying" work of God in us. He removes all what is not God from us, and He does it at all levels: the deepest and most hidden one is the roots of our being, our spirit, or heart (the supra-conscious part in us, operating above the level of our conscious rational thought). During the Prayer of the Heart, the Holy Spirit works in that important part of our being - like water that works giving life to the roots of a tree. This action is essential and is allowed to happen when we practise the Prayer of the Heart. So God directs the Beam of His Light and Love, the Holy Spirit, towards our heart and purifies it, introducing a closer communion with him: this creates the Peace between us and God.

3- Apostolate, Mary's Apostolate

Reciting the Rosary, in the form of Prayer of the Heart is a central weapon of conquest (Evangelisation) and the most powerful one. It places us at the front of the "war" of conquest deep in the hearts of our brothers and sisters.

Saying silently and quietly: praying the rosary is like: directing the beam of Mary's Fire on the needs or obstacles of our brothers and sisters, until they are resolved (until it dilutes). St. Therese of the Child Jesus explains what happens when we say it automatically and we don't think of a specific person. (Please see this post commenting quotes from St Therese on intercessory prayer).

It is in the forefront, helping to spread the Peace of God, communion with Him and therefore removing all obstacles between our brothers and Jesus.

Mary Star of the New Evangelisation

4- The Deep Contemplative Way

When we enter in the Prayer of the Heart while holding our Rosary and saying silently the prayers of "Our Father" and "Hail Marys" and "Glory be”, we are in fact entering deeper with Mary into the very life of the Trinity, participating in the Trinity's Being and Life in its operations and acts.

The Trinity has two inner operations:

1. The Father begets the Son,
2. The Father and the Son love one another in one movement: the spiration of the Holy Spirit.

The Trinity has outer operations:

1. The Father sends the Son to each human being (so He grows in him) and
2. The Father sends the Holy Spirit, His love, to each human being.

Practising the Prayer of the Heart with Mary, in Mary, allows

1. God's Being,
2. The inner operations and
3. The outer operation that happens in us and through us, here on earth.

Nobody can see that action, even though it is the most important action, communication, change, on earth, but it happens. Practising the Prayer of the Heart with Mary is participating in the transformation of ourselves and the entire world through us and in us.

This way of praying the Rosary is not an alternative to the usual way of saying the Rosary (meditating Jesus' Mysteries: the Joyful, Light, Sorrowful, and Glorious), it is a complementary way just as there are two parts in the Mass: the Liturgy of the Word - that would be the meditation of the Rosary as it is commonly known, and the Liturgy of the Body and Blood of Christ (the explanation here of Prayer of the Heart). Both are prayed "with Mary and in Mary". They are like two “digestive” processes of the two aspects of the Bread we receive in the Mass (Word and Body of Jesus). Which means: when we we meditate on the daily readings before or fater the Mass, doing Lectio Divina we take time to digest the Word of God given to us during the Mass. When we practice the Prayer of the Heart, before or after the Mass (at any time of the day) in fact we are taking time to digest the grace of our last Communion.

5- Mary is Jesus' Gift to each one of us

Only Jesus is God. But Mary is "flesh of his flesh". Through the incarnation of the Jesus, Mary is the archetype of Jesus' disciple (see Catechism of the Catholic Church numbers: 148-149, 165, 273, 411, 466-469, 484-506-511, 529, 721-726, 773, 829, 963-967-975, 1014, 1172, 2617-2619, 2673-2676, 2679, 2682). In Mary we find the fullness of Jesus. Mary's way of knowing and Loving Jesus is the most perfect gift from God to us giving us access to her life in Jesus Christ. In Baptism God gives us Himself and Faith. In giving us Mary's Faith, we receive both the 'New Wine' and the 'New Wineskin'. God doesn't give us only one thing: i.e. the New Wine, or the New Seed. He gives us two things: not only the New Wine (Himself, the Trinity, Jesus) but also He gives us the capacity to receive him, to know him and to love him. This capacity is embodied in Jesus' principal disciple, Mary. Mary is personally given to us. This is why it was a fundamental act when Jesus was giving himself on the Cross to us, to give us the capacity to receive him, when He said: Behold! Here is your mother (John 19).

Holding the Rosary in our hands is humbly confessing that we receive Mary in our place, in our life, and that we understand who she is in God's eyes.

When we hold the Rosary, we confess the whole totality of our Faith and not just part of it. We hold the most secure understanding and practice of our faith.

6- Conquering Peace

Sometimes when we pray the Prayer of the Heart when we don’t have the gentle peace or the

feeling of the divine grace poured in us, how should we pray? This is when we should hold our Rosary, saying it in this contemplative way of Prayer of the Heart. In doing so, we are akin to directing the beam of the Holy Spirit on the conflict in our feelings of "war". We do so until it subsides and often toward the end of the hour, we find that Peace returns. A battle was won. Did you see or watch any details of this battle? No. It is Mary. We don't need anything more than the presence of Mary.. We just do our part, as faithful soldiers. Mary manages the rest.

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158: Holding your Rosary during the Prayer of the Heart 1/2

We have two ways of praying the Rosary:

    1. As in Lectio Divina: contemplating the different Mysteries of Jesus' life, with Mary's eyes. This is the classical usual way of meditating on the mysteries of the Lord’s life.

     2. As in the Prayer of the Heart: immersed by Mary in Jesus’ Being. This method, can be used during the Prayer of the Heart, and is a more simple, deeply contemplative way of praying the Rosary. Even if it is less known, it is not of lesser importance.

Just as the Mass has two parts and neither excludes the other with both of equal importance, so also it is with the Rosary and both these methods should be used.

In previous posts (82 and 83) I explained the existence of these two ways of praying the Rosary. In this post I would like to speak more about some aspects of saying the Rosary during Prayer of the Heart. If you want to know more about the two methods, please read posts: "Two ways to say the Rosary" I in Post 82 (please click here) and II in Post 83 (please click here). When in this post I will mention the word “rosary” it will allude to the physical rosary and not to the classical prayer we know with the 4 sets of mysteries.

Distractions

In a previous post, Distractions during “Prayer of the Heart”, we mentioned that during the Prayer of the Heart, in order to reduce the influence of the distractions, it is advisable to pray the decades of the rosary after having made the offering of oneself to Jesus, and placing oneself in the hands of Mary. Here the "hands" are very literal; while your heart is raised in prayer, we are holding the rosary which Mary herself has given to us.

Why and how do we do this? First, we will look at the physical rosary itself and how we should view it and use it.

Holding your own rosary

It is advisable during Prayer of the Heart to hold our very own personal rosary, not one belonging to someone else. A rosary is a personal religious item. In one of her apparitions to St Bernadette, Our Lady noticed that Bernadette wasn’t holding her own rosary - in fact someone else had lent her one. Our Lady noticed this and asked her: “where is your rosary?”

Some people have a fanciful collection of rosaries: one for this, one for that, etc. It is better to unify our habits in our prayer life adopting the simplicity of having only one and just keeping and using the same rosary.

Characteristics of Choosing a Rosary

A good choice would be if our rosary had the following characteristics:

Simple: no excess of size, ornamentation or medals attached to it. It is not its price or its beauty that matters, but the real use we make of it. It is usually blessed by a Priest, and as well blessed and made ours by all the prayers said using it.

Discreet: it is between you and God. No noise (as some are quite noisy), not flashy. One with wooden beads and solid string is quite discreet. Some can have very small beads making it more convenient to carry in a pocket.

Solid: many do break, especially during the night, so it is better to choose one with nylon (or similar) strings and strong beads.

The Meaning of Holding a Rosary in your Hands

What does it mean to hold our rosary physically in our hands? It expresses:

1- A sincere outright dependence on Mary, knowing that we have recourse to her prayers, her fire, and her intimate knowledge of the wisdom and discernment of Jesus.

2- It is our personal Rosary and not that belonging to anyone else. Our body prays. It grounds us.

3- It is comparable to physically holding Mary's hands. The Rosary is Mary’s prayer given to us. It is Her way of praying with the quality of the fire of her love.

4- It is like receiving the "Good Soil", the "New Wineskin", the "New Heart of Flesh" and deciding to use it in order to love God. As long as we are here on earth, with our human condition, our body participates in our prayer and we pray as a unit: body, soul and spirit. We are not three persons, or three beings, we are one being, one person, and our body is part of our prayer. Even at the highest point of our prayer - i.e. the point that is touched by God, our spirit - we are one unit. Therefore, we cannot totally neglect the presence of our body. So holding physically our own rosary is a humble but important part of our prayer. It acknowledges that God's action and intervention in the world reaches the most humble part of His creation; the Lord has affirmed that even a hair from our head doesn't fall without God knowing and seeing it (see Gospel Mt 9:30). Therefore by physically holding the rosary, our body confesses that God embraces all that He has created through His Incarnation. All the created world belongs to God. Although we are not angels - heavenly beings - but humans, we are the earthly "mediators" of the work of sanctification, acting for and with Jesus, our real true Mediator.

What is the Meaning of the Beads?

Using the rosary during the Prayer of the Heart, the beads can be seen as:

- Roses sent to God, by the hands of Mary.

- Impulses of Divine Pure Love (by the hands of Mary),

- A more modern comparison we can say that the beads (saying one "Hail Mary") embody our acts of love for God and that they are like: "sparks” of divine energy" sent to God. Remember the ineffable groans of the Holy Spirit praying in us (Romans 8:26 "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.").

For instance, every time we say one "Hail Mary", in fact we send an impulse of love, we make an act of Love, we send an arrow of Love to God. When we say to the Mother of God: "Pray for us sinners" in fact we are asking her to lift us up to God, so our prayers which come from God, through Mary return to God. Lifts us up Mary, so we can love God with your own capacity of Love, with your own Fire of Love.

Pitfalls

There is a danger of transforming the physical holding of the rosary or the rosary itself into idolatry by unconsciously falling into mechanical repetition and not internalising our relationship with Jesus, generating true prayer. The rosary is not an idol or a talisman. Mary’s hand is not an idol. Even Jesus’ body is not an idol. We aim for the entire Jesus, who is God. Only He is God. Holding the Rosary is like holding Mary’s Hand. It doesn’t generate prayer. What establishes the contact with God is the fact that we offer ourselves to Jesus in the Hands of Mary.

Holding the rosary in our hands essentially facilitates the silent quiet repetition of the Hail Marys.

Holding it tighter will not increase the intensity of our prayer.

It should not become too tense or stressful for the hand. We relax and rest in God during the Prayer of the Heart. We abandon ourselves (letting go) to God and in God.

Whilst our body participates in our prayer, it is the heart that prays. God is Spirit. It is in Jesus and in the Holy Spirit that we pray truthfully.

Conclusion

While praying in the company with others, when sincerely they pray to Our Lady, when they hold their Rosary in their hand, when they ask her to "pray for them" (“Pray for us sinners”), I always notice a powerful boost in the connection with the Lord: immersion in Him and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

(See the continuation 2/2 next post)

Note: The Eastern Churches' Rosary (Called чётки - chotki) is used essentially for the Prayer of the Heart - also known as the Jesus Prayer.  It is composed of 33 knots (the years of Jesus' life on earth) or 11 (1/3 x 33) or 99 (3 x 33) knots. In fact the above-mentioned method uses of the the Western Rosary in the same way the Eastern Churches do with theirs.

The repetition of the the Hail Mary goes with the natural rhythm of our breathing. Not faster, not slower.

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83: Two ways to say the Rosary (2)

To say that there are two ways of saying the Rosary might be challenging. It is so, simply because we know only one way (divided in two, one more discursive meditative and one more contemplative (see below *)) of saying the Rosary. Many other ways spread after, based on just repeating this or that prayer or devotion, composing therefore a "new way" of saying it. But basically it is the same, and it might divert our attention from the original genuine inspiration on how to do it.

Indeed, we only know one way to say the Rosary: by "meditating" (or contemplating) the Mysteries (3 x 5 mysteries, and recently made 4 x 5 by Pope John Paul II who very cleverly tried to bring us back to its initial meaning. i.e. his Encyclical on the Rosary).

The more we deepen the two types of nourishment we have in our Christian life ("Jesus' Words" and "His Body and Blood") the more we will understand these two types of food/Tables of the Mass. The more we will understand the reasons why we needed two types and not only one. We have two areas in us: the Soul (conscious mind and will,...) and the Spirit (heart, supra-conscious part). Both need to be nourished, and efficiently.

The best way to understand the twofold part of: 1- the human being, 2- Christ, 3- the structure of the Gospel, 4- our two foods is to practice two things:

1- Daily Lectio divina based on the readings of the Mass (in order not to disconnect lectio from the Mass). During the Mass, we are supposed to receive a Word from Jesus... through the Readings. Jesus is amongst us and speaks to us, not the Priest, or the reader, during the Proclamation of the Word.

2- The Prayer of the heart, or "mental prayer", or Jesus' prayer. Which is the extension of Communion.

The more one practices these two types of prayer, the more he'll enter more and better "in the Mass". The more he'll be able to discern the two different types of Contemplation ("Contemplation" today is hardly heard of).

1- The first type is an understanding of a word coming from Jesus (showing us His will, today) and putting it into practise (so it becomes incarnate in us, it becomes part of us, a new "knowing"). This contemplation is clear to our mind and understandable to our brain. When Jesus speaks to you and explains His will to you, He is clear. Otherwise your lectio is not done properly (we tend to mix lectio and more of a silent prayer today, which is a real shame; each is a proper manducation).

2- The second type is exactly what happens to you when you just received Communion: He is there, He acts, we are immersed in him. We should remain in this state for a longer time, either immediately after Mass or in another time in the day. Theresa of Avila suggests 2 hours, one in the morning and one in the late afternoon. This "contemplation" is Jesus pouring Himself and His Spirit in us. We need that nourishment. (this contemplation is as well very rarely heard of)

Now: we can, we may, we should do both "eating moments" with Mary.

When we repeat "Hail Mary... Pray for us" we are asking Her (see video lesson 2 a and 2 b Course 2011) to lift us, put us in her and give us her heart and her mind in order to contemplate Jesus and receive Him and his Spirit.

So repeating the "Hail Mary" is like having a buoy that maintains us in Mary, at her level, placed in front of Jesus and at His level.

Now, back to our question: the ways of saying the Rosary.

Simple.

One way follows the Manducation of the first Table of the Mass: meditating the Mysteries of Jesus' life.

The other follows the Manducation of the second Table of the Mass: sinking in Him, being immersed in Him, going back to our last Communion (stored in us) and allowing it to continue its effects in us.

I hope that helps. Even if it looks "new", it is not new at all.

Let me take one simple example and you'll understand me:

If you are in Adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament, and you hold your Rosary in your hands, would it be wrong? Obviously not. If you Adore Jesus with the Heart of Our Lady, would that be wrong? Would you need to  meditate any Mystery of his life, or would you just throw yourself in His Arms, since He is lovingly exposed to you, opening the Furnace of His love (His Heart) to you? You don't need at that point any Mystery to meditate (with your mind), you chose the direct way of the heart: He is Here, He is the Mystery of the Mysteries, and you throw all yourself in Him. Wouldn't you do that with Mary and in her? - Yes.

This is what I mean by "the second contemplative way of saying the Rosary". You do not meditate (this would be more of a lectio divina) any of his Mysteries, He is Here in front of you and He is The Mystery of Mysteries.

This is what I do during Mental prayer: I take my Rosary, and, silently, I say it, but I do not meditate, this would be coming out of the Immersion in THE Mystery: Jesus.

There is a time for Lectio Divina

And there is a time for Prayer of the Heart (mental prayer).

Same and parallel to it:

There is a time for meditating the Rosary (as we know it: with Mysteries)

And there is a time for a more silent way of saying the Rosary: in silence, just holding our Rosary, and being immersed in Jesus.

I hope it is clearer now.

We need to deepen the practise of daily Lectio divina, it boosts everything. And we should never forget daily "mental prayer" (Prayer of the heart). Other devotions should proceed from them and not the opposite. Mary is absolutely present in Lectio divina and in the Prayer of the heart, otherwise contemplation cannot work. Meeting Jesus happens always in Her Heart, never outside, this is the Logic of Incarnation.

* Some observations on the actual normal most known way to say the Rosary:

Is it really contemplative or not?

you certainly would have noticed what I mentioned in the beginning of this post. I said: "we know only one way (divided in two, one more discursive meditative and one more contemplative) of saying the Rosary".

What I meant by "divided in two" is that even the way we know to say the Rosary drifts toward a non-contemplative way, more discursive if not simply blindly ascetical/moralistic.

When we say the Rosary, we often focus more on the repetition of the "Hail Mary" and forget that the Rosary is meant to be said: in Mary, with her heart and mind, but focused on Jesus and on one of His Mysteries. The reason we say the "Hail Mary"s is because we need to receive the gift of her mind and heart in order to be placed in her in front of Jesus. The Mystery we have in front of us will ooze, and something from it will be given to us. This is contemplation.

Plus, we tend to use too much our mind, in a more of a discursive meditative way, instead of a "contemplative way". So what we "contemplate" becomes more the fruit of our mind instead of being the supernatural gift of Our Lord.

To me it looks like a person who is holding his Bible in his hand and try to pray:

He or she can do at least two ways of praying: one supernatural (contemplation), and one just with the normal activity of the brain (meditation) under the general light of faith. The difference is simply huge. No comparison. It is the difference between the "General help of the Grace of God" and the "Particular help of the Grace of God". Theresa of Avila says that if we do not understand the difference we can't really dive in Spiritual Life, and that we are missing the point (See Life 14,6). Please see the link to the Forum here.

There is a difference between reading and meditating a passage from the Scripture (like a mystery of the Rosary, i.e. contemplating) and doing so just by reading, meditating, thinking, reflecting, deducing, with the normal light of Faith that is given to us.

Now, listening to God, to Jesus, saying to us a Word that is supposed to change and modify our days, is something very different from just "meditating".

The same applies to the Rosary.

82: Two ways to say the Rosary (1)

Indeed there are two different ways of contemplating Jesus and his mysteries using our Rosary. One is very known but the other is much less known and understood. The reason we have two ways of saying the Rosary is because we have two types of contemplation.

Contemplation is a supernatural action of God where he gives himself to us as a nourishment. 

Each type of contemplation nourishes principally (Lat. “principaliter”) a different area of our being. One nourishes essentially our soul (i.e. conscious mind and will) and the other nourishes essentially our spirit (or heart, i.e. supra-conscious part of our mind and will). These two types of food absoutely complement each other. 

We have these two foods (or “breads”) in the Mass: 

1- the first bread is Jesus’ words for us that are “Spirit and Life”, they nourish our soul (conscious mind and will). 

2- the second bread Jesus offers us is his Body and Blood (and soul, spirit, divinity). 

These two moments of manducation (process of eating) have, related to each one of them, two moments of digestion: Lectio Divina for the first bread and Prayer of the heart for the second one. 

I guess, if you are familiar with the “School of Mary” teaching you would be familiar as well with these clarifications about Spiritual Life, Mass, Contemplation. 

Now, back to the question about the Rosary. The Rosary initially was set up in order to help the poor who can’t read in the MiddleAge to have the possibility to access the Gospel. The Gospel was therefore divided into three sets of mysteries, each one with 5 moments of Jesus life. So, with Mary, the faithuful would be able to remain in contact with the Gospel, Jesus, his mysteries and benefit from them. So the rosary is not a “marian devotion”, it is a Gospel, Jesus, contemplation, listening to. We need to remember that. Of course Mary is fundamental, because she gives us her eyes and her heart in ordet to contemplate Jesus and listen in our conscience to his word for us. 

Note: the majority of people today do read and hear about the lectio divina. So what? Would we then have to cancel the Rosary? I think that we need to learn to practice the lectio divina “with Mary”, this is fundamental. This means that we need Mary’s heart, mind, will, in order to listen to Jesus and put his word into practise.

Is that all about the Rosary? What about the second type of contemplation, of food? Would we just leave it without Mary? 

I do deeply believe that there is a more silent/quiet way of saying the Rosary, closer in its form to the Prayer of the heart. In the Prayer of the heart you have a short prayer that accompanies our movement of lifting our heart. You remember that? I do deeply believe that we could use as a prayer the “Hail Mary”, holding our Rosary in our hands. Therefore, in this case we do not “meditate” (or better: contemplate) one of Jesus’ Mysteries, we are in Jesus, in THE mystery himself, and we do not need to see or hear anything, because God, in this type of contemplation pours himself in our heart, directly, and our mind should remain quiet, in peace.

Note: the Eastern catholic (and orthodox) churches have a different Rosary (chotki), and they use it for the Prayer of the heart (Jesus' prayer).

We can’t go to the Prayer of the heart without Mary. We need to repeat a prayer that has Jesus’ name and/or Mary’s one, so, why can’t we just hold our (western) rosary in our hands and just say it quietly, silently, having Mary in our heart, with us, that receives Jesus, and his Holy Spirit?!

So, conclusion: we do indeed have two ways of saying the Rosary, and they are coherent with the two “Breads” we receive in the Mass, and with the extension/prolongation of this manducation in digestion: Lectio divina and Prayer of the heart. The two ways are not oppposed, or exclusive, they absolutely complement each other. They are both necessary: we need Mary in order to listen to Jesus (contemplate his mysteries in the Gospel) and we need Mary as well in order to be immeresed in Jesus’ being and receive his Holy Spirit. 

I hope that helps, sheds an important light and liberates many people who would like to say – as well – the Rosary with a type of “contemplation” identical to the type of contemplation involved in the Payer of the heart and in Communion.

22: First things first

The aim of this Blog

Hello to you. If you are new to this Blog, welcome to you. I will explain the aim of this Blog. If you are already a good reader of this Blog, well, first: thanks for being faithful, and I am sure you wouldn't mind just reminding ourselves “why are we bothering to gather and come here”.

As you can see, the Blog is focused on "spiritual theology", I share things very openly, deeply, in a constructive way. Sometimes (or often) what books say in the cover is not what they deliver inside. What I teach is "Spiritual Theology", not of a particular 'School of spirituality' or 'Spiritual family', but the Common Treasure of the Church; my choice is to deepen the amazing richness we have in the Church.

This is how I proceed: I start with what the Church believes and then, I go deeper. The richness of the Church is often buried under meters of sand, so one has to unearth it, do a bit of cleaning, explain, present, translate, and make it alive. From years, it breaks my heart to see how superficial we became in our spiritual life, it breaks my heart to see the discrepancy between: from one side the richness, the amazing richness we have, and from the other side, the ignorance we are in, and, as a consequence, a very superficial spiritual life. Good will is not enough. We are all full of Good-Will. Not only that but we are blessed by the fact that today in the Church, lead by the Pope Benedict XVI we are invited to have a spiritual life. Is that enough? Ignorance, to my knowledge, doesn't excuse us.

Ignorance, and lack of real formation lead to dilution, and change of spirit. I am gobsmacked to see the depth of ignorance.

There is always hope, of course! My words don't lead to depression, but to curiosity ('what are these richnesses that we don't know?'), I am trying to wet your appetite...  this is why we work, relentlessly, we sow.

Today, I had a chat with a friend, a chat that you will hopefully appreciate. This is why I decided, with her permission, and after editing it for you, to publish it here.

Remember to practice

Jean: Remember to practice. It is not about learning only. If we do not practice our daily Lectio divina, we achieve a great deal. But I really mean: daily. First things first.

Janet: I start with Rosary, then I go to Mass, I do pray the Liturgy of the Hours daily, then I have my job that I do, but then there is also adoration after, and Chaplet of Divine Mercy, which is my favourite, I say it several times a day.

Jean: you are not doing your lectio divina! There is food for you given in the Mass: the Table of the Word. First things first.

Janet: you mean reading the Bible, I do that too

Jean: "reading" is not "lectio divina". Listening to Jesus who wants to speak to you and give you, through the Readings of the Mass, is a Real Meal everyday.

Janet: that happens at Mass then, doesn't it?

Jean: no, it goes too fast, the same applies to the Eucharist (the Communion)

Janet: i do 30 minutes meditation after Mass for that, because Eucharist does go too fast and I like to spend time with Christ.

Jean: what is meditation?

Janet: Adoration

Jean: you mean "Prayer of the Heart" or "lectio divina"? Is it done “in silence”, or “with the Word of God”?

Janet: both

Jean: both in 30 mins?

Janet: usually is longer more like an hour

Jean: I do not advise to mix them, because they are two different activities, but till today, we do live in this confusion

Janet: usually am quiet before Mass

Jean: you are doing then: Prayer of the heart (mental prayer). Mind you, the two “tables” of the Mass are different (they are one, as Christ is one, but they are two types of good, one for the mind and one for the heart, the spirit).

Janet: but maybe I need to read them again. I can do that. And I re-read the readings after

Jean: it is not about reading, it is about meeting Jesus who wants to speak to you, the difference is huge

Janet: I think He speaks to me when I go to adoration

Jean: see the short video I made about lectio divina. Adoration usually is Adoration (it is of the same family of the Prayer of the heart), not lectio divina. They are two different , distinct, activities (types of prayer) not to be mixed.

Janet: Father taught us to contemplate the Mass readings during Adoration, so that we don't get sidetracked with other things.

Jean: This is why I do study and teach "Spiritual Theology", to avoid confusion and increase efficiency as God planned it for us. He taught us, in the “Our Father” to ask everyday for the Bread, and the Bread, according to his teaching is double: his Word, and His Body. These two beads are not the same. Listening to Jesus is something, and being immersed in Him (receiving his Love) is another. This is why we have to two Tables of the Mass, the two Parts of the Mass, the two types of food. Some will argue that it is only one Table, ok, sure, but there are two forms of good, not to be confused, and not to be either separated. They do communicated deeply, but this doesn't allow us to mix the two moments of the Mass.

Janet: yes

Jean: the Word of Jesus, and then, His Body and Blood (as you notice, adoration and prayer of the heart are the same for me, they are the extension of our Last Communion). Mixing them (which is today's wrong habit) weakens the activity of each, and stops it from making clear sharp fruits. Already trained people don't like that remark because it challenges their actual practice and they don't see why doing so, why changing what they are used to. But, on the other hand, people who are practising the two, in different moments, benefit immensely much more. So, sadly, so each remains in his "belief", and the Church, the faithful loose a lot. We should bother addressing deeply and professionally (theologically) these issues. They are not matters of random choices or “different spiritualities” (as “legitimate”). No, this is the common fundamentals of the Church. I am sure, Brandy, you understand my aim in commenting on these issues: we should reach clarity on these matters and not challenge them by superficial answers like: 'well this is how we do it', or 'this is how they transmitted it to me'...

Janet: I will do that. I'm learning, I know I have much to learn.

Adding clarity and efficiency to our practice

Jean: Janet, it is very simple: look at the Mass itself, God chose to give us two moments: His Word then, His Body. Look at the structure of the Gospel, you have two moments in Jesus' life: three years and a half of Teaching (communicating his Words that are Spirit and Life) and then His Passion, Death and Resurrection. Look at us humans, we have two areas in our being (else than our body) that need food: the soul-body, and our spirit (heart), we need to nourish both areas of our being, the trunk-branches and the roots of the tree. Sun and Water are two different nourishment – of course even if they are distinct, they complement each other.

Till today, the majority of spiritual formations remain in this confusion between meditation (that is in fact neither lectio divina nor Prayer of the heart (mental prayer)), lectio divina, and Prayer of the heart. Confusion between 'meditating', 'reading the bible', 'reading a spiritual book', 'lectio divina', 'mental prayer', 'adoration', 'rosary'. It is all put in one pot, under the same “branding name”: prayer, or meditation.

Not to mention the total incapacity of defining what is Christian Contemplation. Till today. I won't go there now.

They just say: spend 30 mins or 1 hour doing that (as stated by the Canon Law), and it will be fine. This is the general state in the Church, and this is due to some historical facts, but very few study these things, analyse them, and practise them.

Again I am trying to explain myself: the confusion comes from the fact that we do not distinguish between the types of activities... so they loose their efficiency. If you 'jump', in the same hour, from 'meditation', to 'reading', to 'lectio divina', to some 'adoration', to some 'mental prayer', to some 'rosary'.... you can't achieve any of the activities, because each one has its own completion, own supernatural triggering ways, efficiency, quality. And sadly this is today's given advice : - just sit with God, with Jesus, in silence, and read, or adore, or pray, it is all fine... Of course it is better than nothing, because God will act, but is never to be compared to the prayer of a trained formed person.

I was just pointing out that this confusion is generalized in the Church. The real richness of the Church doesn't appear to the faithful. The Church is amazingly spiritually rich. One can't imagine. But it remains hidden, buried. On the more, sadly, what I am point out is not seen as a "confusion" by the majority. It is seen as 'a time for God', for Jesus, 'a time of prayer', 'of meditation'. But in fact, it is confusion. Confusion doesn't help. Our God is a God of order. This is what I am trying to say. Note that nobody would willingly confuse others. No. But ignorance can do so, unwillingly. This is my point. Is ignorance an excuse? Is it a sin? For a Teacher or a Master of Spiritual Life: to which extent is it a sin keeping confusion and ignorance? I leave that to the experts to dig in it. From my part I just say: if you pretend to be a “Master in Spiritual life”, just know that the judgment of God is the heaviest on you. So be very careful about what you say, and the food you give to the people God puts on your way. This is a sacred mission, not to be taken lightly. It is better to take 5 or 10 years of your like now, to deepen these issues than to continue on your track.

It is urgently needed to understand the difference between the different types of “manducation” (act of eating) and increase the technical (art form) of performing them. What is at stake here is the supernatural efficiency of the Grace of God, and teaching people how to receive the Food He wants to give us.

And all this teaching and remarks I am point out to are based on Revelation. But, sometimes, clear things do not appear as such. This is why, prayer, study, analysis are needed, in union with the Church.

The same applies to the Rosary

Again: the structure of the Mass, the structure of the Gospel, the structure of the human being, the 3 of them are in two moments, two parts, like a tree: the visible part and the roots, each has its own central food. Even the Rosary could be said in two ways:

- one way: contemplating the mysteries (so lectio divina type, nourishing the mind and will, the soul)

- another way: more silent deeper way, just being immersed in the Only Mystery of God, Jesus, the Trinity... (nourishing our heart, the roots)

We are taught only the first type, depriving all Christians from receiving with Mary, the deeper food of God. It is simply a crime. Our heart has the right to receive the Rosary, and not only our brain. We forget that we have roots, a heart, the deep part in us, the spirit, the upper part of the soul, that can enter directly in relationship with God.

The actual practice of the Rosary by the Whole Church is: meditate the Mysteries with Mary. But there is another way of saying the Rosary, deeper and complementing the first one we already know. Nobody teaches it, and we loose a lot. Being immersed in Jesus, by the help of Mary, just saying the Rosary, without putting any intellectual or meditative activity into work is of utmost importance as the Prayer of the heart or Communion, because during these precious moments God outpours Himself in us.

'Am I doing something wrong?'

So as a conclusion, in all your spiritual effort you are not doing anything 'wrong': you just can improve, improve, do better, in a more focused way, each activity...

What you are doing today is not your fault, this is how everybody is taught. But my great guess is that : ignorance isn not an excuse and God says very clearly that our first duty is to find the Truth. And the “Truth” here is not only about Faith, Dogma, Liturgy, Sacrament, Moral things, it is first and foremost about learning how the Holy Spirit works in us, and what we are supposed to do in order to receive him, daily: 'Give us this day our daily Bread...'

PS On lectio divina, see as well (click here)