Meditation
Mental prayer or meditation is more than desirable, necessary for the progress of the spiritual life. You said St. Alphonsus Liguori, "sin can exist in us along with other exercises of godliness, but can not cohabit meditation and sin: or the soul leaves or leaves meditation sin."
The friend search friend. Our relationship with God is established through the exercise of the theological virtues: faith, hope and charity. It is they who must establish that divine communication "with who we know loves us" (Santa Teresa). So meditation does not require refined techniques, even if they can help us. "If you love both God, prayer will be as natural as breathing" (St. John Vianney). The ancient monks joined loving God by repetition of ejaculations. However, here are some tips to start.
Preparation
* If your whole life is a search and desire for God, you will always be ready to deal with internally Him So "will pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5, 17), because when they leave the words continue to affect.
* Your ability to meditate proportion to your spirit of mortification, self-denial, inner life, holiness. "Both greater capacity the more faithfully we believe, more strongly so wait, the more ardently we wish" (St. Augustine).
* Meditation requires a suitable place: if you can not go to the temple, you can do in your own house, looking at it the atmosphere and quieter time. Like Christ, pray that fled to the solitude of the mountain or night. But remember that wherever you were, you yourself are living temple of the Holy Trinity as Christ has said: "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him" ( Jn. 14, 23).
* It is essential inner silence, which is the disposition of the heart to try and listen to God, but also must seek the silence outside.
* Where possible engaged in meditation daily half hour of the day when you're more relaxed, you can do it in peace without trouble or anxiety.
* Takes the position that best help you: not as uncomfortable to distract you, not so comfortable that you dissipate. It will also help stare at the tabernacle or in a picture, to better avoid distractions.
* It is very convenient to help with a book as a tool, especially the writings of the saints. But few doses and lots of activity inside. If you can not otherwise, meditative reading beam. But do not turn that time simply reading or study.
Development
* The essence, the soul of prayer or meditation is friendship with God, ie known and considered mutual and mutual love. So Santa Teresa precisely defined: "It is trying to meet with him who loves us." And San Ignacio: "As a friend speaks to another, or a servant to his master, either asking some grace, either blaming himself for a wrong done, whether communicating their things and asking advice in them." From there that has three key elements: "What we talk, who we talked to, who are the ones who dare to speak" (Santa Teresa).
* The language of meditation is the language of the heart. Whether you should use words is because they have soul. But "in faith, hope and charity pray always with the same desire" (St. Augustine). "For me prayer is a surge of the heart, a simple glance directed to heaven, a cry of gratitude and love, in the midst of tribulation and in the midst of joy" (St. Therese of the Child Jesus).
* You must place yourself from the beginning, and you must do it along all the time, in the presence of the Triune God and the whole Church triumphant. All are awaiting you, know you, they see you and love you.
* Before God must be like the beggar at the rich, the creature before the Creator, the servant to the Lord, the friend to the friend, the son before his Father.
* You should know firmly that nothing can without the help of grace, giving us the ability to believe and love. Must be available, ask for it and count on it.
* Let Christ in you and you meditate. Lend your mind and your heart that everything up to the Father through Him, with Him and in Him Likewise, the meditator "before Christ can be represented and used to fall for much of his sacred humanity and bring it with you always and talk to Him, ask for your needs and quejársele of his works, rejoice with him in his happy and not to forget about them, without attempting to compound sentences, just according to your wishes and needs "(Santa Teresa). That is, having a personal and simple with Him
* Rebuild the scene you're going to meditate. If it is a Gospel passage trasládate with imagination to the site, try to put yourself in atmosphere. Upgrade the facts.
* First of all you must awaken the faith with which we address God: "My faith calls you" (St. Augustine). You can go human or divine attributes, the mysteries of the life of Christ, the truths of faith that are in the Creed, the daily events of life analyzed in the light of Providence doing "everything to attend either of the who love him "(Rom. 8, 28). All in the spirit of faith, contemplation, worship.
* We also hope, because in its strictest sense prayer is "the interpreter" (St. Augustine). Hope of eternal life and what leads to it, as the psalm says: "One thing I ask of the Lord, this I seek, to dwell in the house of the Lord for eternity" (S. 26, 4). She is the one that puts me way to heaven. So most exalted prayer, the Lord's Prayer contains seven petitions.
* Primarily stoke charity in acts of love for God, his angels and saints, their providential designs. Loving, looking, enjoying and resting in the infinite goodness and divine friendship. They think "not to think much but to love much" (Santa Teresa).
* You should take any particular point, as a liturgical feast, the gospel of the day or the agenda of a book run. But you must have the freedom to choose a topic that affects you directly at that time as an affliction you are suffering, a decision to make, an event to interpret in the light of faith and Providence. It worked the Blessed Virgin Mary to the events of everyday life of his Son, is said to be "carefully kept these things and pondered them in her heart" (Lk 2, 19, 51), or Christ in the garden, where meditated on the mystery of the Cross at that time his soul was carrying for the Redemption of the world (Mt 26, 36-44).
* In the course of meditation should go specifying any purpose you can fulfill.
* Fear not return to the same points that you have liked and that you get fruit, "not much knowledge that fills and satisfies the soul but to taste something internally" (San Ignacio).
* Some people take fruit meditating on the sky, others on death, others on the Passion of Christ or some other mystery. It depends a lot of people or moments that are living.
* There are multiple ways of praying and meditating. It can be done with a simple aspiration, the slow repetition of the Our Father, the Hail Mary or a prayer leisurely reading of a text, the devout participation of the Holy Mass, the Stations of the Cross or the Rosary, the route with the mind and the heart of some of the truths of faith, a passage of Scripture, an injury sustained or a decision to take, or stop with a "loving look" (St. John of the Cross) in some of these mysteries.
Difficulties
* They are very frequent and inevitable distractions. They are part of our human misery and only when we see God in eternity we can overcome them. But do not take away the fruits of prayer, unless they volunteer. Simply return to the issue as often happens. We must awaken the soul, that we sleep for spiritual things, like the apostles who accompanied Christ in the garden. To overcome them should help with the provisions listed above.
* They also tend to be periods of aridity and dryness that apparently God does not hear us, do not feel no devotion, seems to have receded, with great difficulty concentrating, unwilling to advance or enthusiasm for the things of God ... Do not worry. Just check for repeated serious or minor sins behind this. If not, you're at a more propitious time to deal with God when you were full of consolation and enthusiasm. These are the times to grow in the spiritual life and to dilate the heart. All efforts are worth more then do because the beams by the God of consolations, while in those moments of fervor you did for yourself, for the consolations of God.
