Here are a few useful tips the next time you set aside time for prayerful meditation.St. Francis de Sales, a doctor of the Church and a devout French bishop of the 17th century, wrote an incredibly insightful book on the spiritual life, called Introduction to the Devout Life. The spiritual classic has remained an influential book throughout the centuries and is a beloved resource for anyone struggling in their interior life.
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Here are several useful quotes from this spiritual book, in which de Sales details a few helpful tips for Christian meditation.
Meditating on Our Dear Lord’s First Word from the Cross, you will no doubt be roused to the desire of imitating Him in forgiving and loving your enemies. But that is not enough, unless you bring it to some practical resolution, such as, “I will not be angered any more by the annoying things said of me by such or such a neighbour, nor by the slights offered me by such an one; but rather I will do such and such things in order to soften and conciliate them.” In this way, my daughter, you will soon correct your faults, whereas mere general resolutions would take but a slow and uncertain effect.
When you leave off this interior prayer, you must be careful to keep your heart in an even balance, lest the balm it has received in meditation be scattered. I mean, try to maintain silence for some brief space, and let your thoughts be transferred gradually from devotion to business, keeping alive the feelings and affections aroused in meditation as long as possible.
Amid your affections and resolutions it is well occasionally to make use of colloquies, and to speak sometimes to your Lord, sometimes to your guardian Angel, or to those persons who are concerned in the mystery you are meditating, to the Saints, to yourself, your own heart, to sinners, and even to the inanimate creation around, as David so often does in the Psalms, as well as other Saints in their meditations and prayers.
Take a book, and read attentively till such time as your mind is calmed and quickened; or sometimes you may find help from external actions, such as prostrating yourself folding your hands upon your breast, kissing your Crucifix,—that is, supposing you are alone.
When walking in a beautiful garden most people are wont to gather a few flowers as they go, which they keep, and enjoy their scent during the day. So, when the mind explores some mystery in meditation, it is well to pick out one or more points that have specially arrested the attention, and are most likely to be helpful to you through the day, and this should be done at once before quitting the subject of your meditation.
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How to use your imagination during prayer, according to St. Francis de Sales
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How to place yourself in the presence of God, according to St. Francis de Sales
