Page:Withgodbookofpra00las.djvu/129

 us above  all  meditate  upon  the  Passion  of  Christ." This  saint,  the  great  "Doctor  of  prayer,"  has  given  us a  beautiful  work  on  "The  Passion."

St. Teresa  tells  us  that  in  her  meditations  she helped herself  with  a  book  for  seventeen  years. By reading the  points  of  a  meditation  from  a  book,  the mind is  rendered  attentive  and  is  set  on  a  train  of thought. Further to  help  the  mind  you  can  ask  yourself some  such  questions  as  the  following:  What  does this mean? What lesson  does  it  teach  me? What has been  my  conduct  regarding  this  matter? What have I  done,  what  shall  I  do,  and  how  shall  I  do  it? What particular  virtue  must  I  practise? But do  not forget to  pray.

Do not  imagine,  moreover,  that  it  is  necessary  to wait  for  a  great  fire  to  flame  up  in  your  soul,  but  cherish the  little  spark  that  you  have  got. Above all, never give  way  to  the  mistaken  notion  that  you  must restrain yourself  from  prayer  in  order  to  go  through all the  thoughts  suggested  by  your  book,  or  because your prayer  does  not  appear  to  have  a  close  connection with the  subject  of  your  meditation. This would simply be  to  turn  from  God  to  your  own  thoughts  or to  those  of  some  other  man.

To meditate  means  in  general  nothing  else  than  to reflect  seriously  on  some  subject. Meditation, as mental  prayer,  is  a  serious  reflection  on  some  religious truth or  event,  with  reference  and  application  to ourselves,  in  order  thereby  to  excite  in  us  certain pious sentiments,  such  as  contrition,  humility,  faith, hope, charity,  etc.,  and  to  move  our  will  to  form  good resolutions conformable  to  these  pious  sentiments. Such an  exercise  has  naturally  a  beneflcial  influence on our  soul  and  greatly  conduces  to  enlighten  our  mind and to  move  our  will  to  practise  virtue.