Meditation (2): Prayers Before and After Meditation (1)

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Prayers Before and After Meditation (1)

To prepare your soul for meditation, recite the following vocal prayers:

Come, 0 Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.

V. Send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created

R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

LET US PRAY , O God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit didst instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant us by the same Holy Spirit a love and relish of what is right and just, and a constant enjoyment of His consolations. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Father. Hail Mary. I Believe in God.

Hail, Heart most holy. We revere Thee. Hail, Heart most meek. We praise Thee. Hail, Heart most humble. We glorify Thee. Hail, Heart most pure. We give Thee thanks. Hail, Heart most devout. We love Thee, Hail, Heart most wise. With all our heart, Hail, Heart most patient. With all our soul, Hail, Heart most obedient. And with all our strength. Hail, Heart most vigilant. We o§offer Thee our heart. Hail, Heart most faithful. We give it to Thee. Hail, Heart most blessed. We consecrate it to Thee. Hail, Heart most merciful. We immolate it to Thee. Hail, most loving Heart of Jesus Receive it and possess it wholly;

and Mary. Purify it, enlighten it, sanctify it,

That Thou mayest live and reign

in it now, always and forever

and ever. Amen

(1). These vocal prayers and acts before and after meditation are taken from a Manual ot Piety compiled by ST. John Eudes.

0 Angel of God, my guardian, enlighten and protect, direct and govern me.

All hail, ye Angels and Saints of the heavenly courts. Deign to intercede for our salvation and for the salvation of the world.

Select one of the methods to be used before meditation and read it, pausing after each paragraph to make the acts suggested. 3 -

First Method(2)

Acts Before Meditation

I

Let us adore God and humble ourselves profoundly before Him, acknowledging that we arc infinitely unworthy to appear before His face or think about His divine Majesty; and that we do not deserve to be thought of by Him or admitted into His presence.

II

Let us annihilate our self-love and our pride at the Saviour's feet renouncing all intellectual curiosity and self- satisfaction, and assuring our Lord that we wish to perform this action, with the help of His grace, for the sake of His pure love and His sole satisfaction.

III

Let us give our minds and hearts to our Divine Lord, supplicating Him to take complete possession of them and guide them in this prayer, according to His holy will.

Let us give ourselves to Our Lord Jesus Christ, that we may enter into the holy dispositions of His continual prayer before His Heavenly Father, and that we may also join in the prayer now being offered by all the holy souls in heaven and on earth, particularly by His Blessed Mother, Saint Joseph, Saint Gabriel and our guardian angels. (2). To prevent routine in this most important art of the Spiritual life, St. John Eudes gives four methods or ways of beginning and ending meditation. cf. "Introduction," p. xxxv.

4 - Meditations on Various Subject

Acts After Meditation

At the end of meditation, read the following paragraphs, pausing after each to make the acts.

Let us thank God for the inestimable graces He has given us and ask His divine pardon for the faults committed in the course of our prayer; let us implore our Lord Jesus Christ to make amends for them and to be Himself our perpetual prayer before His Father.

Let us consider the principal inspirations and resolutions which God has given us in the prayer, that we may recall them throughout the day; and as an ejaculatory prayer, let us say:

Here recall a brief and appealing invocation to God or the saints, taken from Sacred Scripture or the Divine Office, or from one of the Fathers, to serve as an ejaculatory prayer during the day.

III

Let us take care not to rely solely on our own thoughts and resolutions, but rather on the infinite mercy of God; let us place at Our Lord's disposal whatever blessing He has imparted to us i n the prayer, supplicating Him to preserve it and grant us the grace to practise it. Let us also place the same intention in the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Let us implore the Blessed Virgin, Saint Joseph, Saint Gabriel, our guardian angels and all the angels and saints, to make up our deficiencies, continue our prayer for us and admit us as partners i n the prayer which they offer perpetually in God's presence.

Let each one make an examination of conscience in order to foresee customary faults and possible occasions of sin; let him likewise review

Prayers 5

the virtues he is especially obliged to practise, particularly humility, obedience, charity and meekness. Let him resolve to avoid any faults against these virtues and let him beg God for the grace to accomplish this end.

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Second Method

Acts Before Meditation

I

Let us adore God, humble ourselves before Him and give Him our minds and hearts with the desire to perform this act well, for love of Him alone.

Let us make an act of self-renunciation, surrendering ourselves to Our Lord Jesus Christ, that we may offer our prayer in His loving Spirit.

Let us pray to the Most Holy Virgin, the angels and saints for assistance to help us to perform this action worthily.

Acts After Meditation

I

Let us thank God for the graces He has given us and ask pardon for our omissions.

Let us make a selection of the inspiring thoughts and sentiments God has given us; and as an ejaculatory prayer, let us say:

Here recall a brief and appealing invocation to God or the saints, taken from Sacred Scripture or the Divine Office, or from one of the Fathers, to serve as an ejaculatory prayer during the day.

Let us mistrust ourselves and our resolutions, placing all our confidence in Divine Mercy; and let us implore the Blessed Virgin Mary, the angels and saints to help us.

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Let each one make a brief examination of conscience to foresee the faults frequently committed in the course of the day. 8 -

Third Method

Acts Before Meditation

Let each one yield himself to the spirit of God, that he may cultivate the dispositions necessary to prepare his soul for the prayer; and that he may say, to that end, in his heart and with all his heart, what I am about to say.

I

0 my God, prostrate at the feet of Thy infinite grandeur and engulfed in the abyss of m y nothingness, I adore Thee as my Creator and the universal Lord of all things, acknowledging that I am infinitely unworthy to appear before Thy face and even to think of Thee. I do not deserve that Thou shouldst think of me nor suffer me to come within Thy presence. I ask pardon of Thee, my God, for all the sins which have rendered me so unworthy of Thee.

0 my God, at Thy feet I place my self-love and my pride; deign to annihilate them. I desire to perform this prayer as well as possible, with the help of Thy holy grace, for Thy greater glory and my salvation.

My Divine Jesus, I give Thee my mind and my heart. I implore Thee to take possession of them and guide them throughout this prayer according to Thy holy will.

0 Jesus, in complete self-renunciation I give myself to Thee with all my heart, that I may enter into Thy spirit of prayer, uniting myself

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with the prayer Thou dost offer unceasingly before Thy Father and with that of all the holy souls i n heaven and on earth.

0 Mother of Jesus, 0 blessed Saint Joseph, 0 blessed Saint Gabriel, 0 my holy guardian angel, all ye angels and saints of Jesus, implore my God to give me the true spirit of prayer, and grant me fellowship in the unceasing prayer which you offer before the throne of His divine Majesty.

Acts After Meditation

Let each one give himself to the spirit of God, that he may finish his meditation in the dispositions suggested by the following words which everyone should repeat in his heart.

I

0 my God, I thank Thee for the graces Thou hast given me in my prayer, and I ask pardon of Thee for the faults I have committed therein. I implore Thee, 0 my Jesus, to make reparation for them in my name and to be Thyself my perpetual prayer before Thy Father.

0 my Saviour, I trust entirely in Thy boundless mercy, not in my weak and feeble self, nor i n my resolutions. In Thy Heart and Thy hands I place the salutary thoughts and inspirations Thou hast given me in this prayer; deign to preserve them and grant me the grace to bring them to fruition. To that end, 0 Mother of my Jesus, I place them also in thy tender heard

III

0 Blessed Virgin Mary, 0 Saint Joseph, 0 Saint Gabriel, all ye angels and saints of Jesus, supply my deficiencies and deign to continue my prayer for me.

Let each one make a selection of the inspiring thoughts and sentiments that God has given him. As an ejaculatory prayer, let us say:

Here recall a brief and appealing invocation to God or the saints, taken from Sacred Scripture or the Divine Office, or from one of the Fathers, to serve as an ejaculatory prayer during Me day.

Let each one make the customary examination of conscience. 11-

Fourth Method

Acts Before Meditation

After the Veni, Sancte Spiritus, read the following words and then pause for the length of a Miserere to make the acts.

Let each one give himself to the spirit of God, that he may enter into the dispositions customary for beginning the prayer, that is, to adore God, to humble ourselves before Him, to renounce self, to consecrate our being to Our Lord's spirit of prayer, and to invoke the Blessed Virgin, the angels and saints.

Acts After Meditation

At the end of meditation, read the following words and then pause about the length of a Miserere.

Let each one finish the prayer in the usual way, that is, by thanking God, imploring His forgiveness, reviewing the principal thoughts and inclinations He has given us, placing them in the hands of Our Lord and His Holy Mother; by invoking the Blessed Virgin, the angels and saints, and by making the recommended spiritual preview of the day.

Conclude your meditation with the following vocal prayers:

We fly to thy patronage, 0 Holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us from all dangers, 0 glorious and blessed Virgin. - Lord Jesus Christ, we are nothing, . We can do nothing, We are worth nothing, We possess nothing but sin;

12- Imitations on Various Subjects

We are useless servants, We are children of wrath, The last of men and the first of sinners: Upon us be confusion and shame, To Thee be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Blessed be forever the most loving Heart and the sweet Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ and of the most glorious Virgin Mary, His Mother.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

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