Meditation Guidelines

I.  PREPARATION

I believe, my God, that You are here with me; You surround me with Your Loving Presence. Please, forgive me my sin; please forgive that I only love You a little bit. You know me better than I know myself. Lord, You know I cannot pray just by myself. I ask You, Holy Spirit, for the gift of prayer.

 II.  MAIN PART

Adoration - Jesus before my eyes
(try to imagine yourself in the presence of Jesus)

•         I read the passage/text
•         I present to my mind’s eye – using the imagination, as though watching a film – the feelings, words and actions of Jesus.
•         What does Jesus want to tell me by these words?
•         I try to engage my will and heart as I read and reflect on the words.
•         I try to evoke feelings of adoration, awe, worship, thanksgiving, love, happiness, and the like. This requires familiarity with the Gospel.
•         I remain in silence for a long time to enable these supernatural feelings to penetrate my soul and, in this way, to open me up to the action of the Holy Spirit.

The emphasis is on a personal relationship with the Divine Persons, so adoration takes up a significant portion of the time.

Communion with Jesus - Jesus in my heart
(try to accept the Spirit who comes to your soul)

•         I try to internalize the words I have prayed over, to identify with Christ by evoking in myself the feelings, desires and motivations discovered in Him in the previous stage.
•         I wait for Jesus to come and plant His words in my life.
•         I reflect with simplicity, faith and piety on how noble God’s example is.
•         I try to look at myself, to see how far away I am from His example. I try to express my contrition for my past, shame for my current attitude, and my desire in relation to the future.
•         I humbly and trustfully ask for the motivations of my actions and feelings to be the same as they were in Christ.
•         I try to participate in His feelings, His desires:

 Jesus, I want Your feelings, thoughts, and suffering to become mine. Come into my heart, take my will. I want to give You my heart. I want to disappear in You and for You.

 Cooperation - Jesus in my hands
(try to become dependent on the Spirit in accepting His will)

•         The words I have experienced with Jesus should bear fruit.
•         I try to make a concrete resolution regarding the transformation of my life. It should be humble, brave, detailed, and should concern the current affairs in my life.
•         The words I have heard should become flesh.
•         This resolution should be implemented right away.
•         I should submit to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit and try to answer for myself, “What would Christ do in the concrete situation in which I currently find myself?”

Holy Spirit, please help me to cooperate with Your Grace. I can neither change nor convert by myself. I want to answer Your call. I want to do it with You and in You.

III.  CONCLUSION

The crowning of the entire Sulpician method is to choose a simple, brief thought from the meditation text, and frequently return to it throughout the entire day, to actualize my resolutions.

Thank You, Lord, for the grace of meditation and for receiving Your light. Please forgive me for all my deliberate distractions during this prayer. Mary, I entrust the fruits of this prayer to you through your care and intercession.