Meditation & Mental Prayer: Catholics Talking To God.

Imagine standing before the throne of God, held accountable for every idle word spoken. This episode journeys through the teachings of Jesus, emphasizing the weight of our words and inviting you to reflect on your own speech. We walk you through the scenes of biblical narratives, pausing to let the poem by Father John O'Brien, 'Trimmings on the Rosary', wash over you, prompting contemplation on family, prayer, and the power of intercession. Let's open our hearts to the profound wisdom embedded in these narratives and poetry, and allow them to nurture our faith.

 'But thou, when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret, and thy Father who seest in secret will repay thee.'
in this episode we follow Jesus when He went alone to pray on the mountain.

Bible verses:  Continuation of the holy Gospel according to
 St Luke, XVIII ((18) 31 - 43

In this episode in our meditation we converse with His majesty as He and His disciples discuss His coming Passion and death.. They are blind to the concept of such a terrible atrocity.  We continue our meditation as Jesus explains to us how the healing of the blind man of Jericho impacts our journey to holiness. I then tell a true story about a large rock outside an old Schoolhouse in Co Kerry. This story is a metaphor for the Catholic Church today.

For a free Lenten Journal eBook go to meditationjournals.com 

and download.   

In this episode we feel the joy and anticipation of the numerous people who awaited the coming of the Savior.  To better prepare ourselves we use an old Irish prayer to St Joseph helping us to become perfect as our Heavenly Father through the piety of the duties of our station in life.  We end with a meditation where we connect with the tiny town of Bethlehem and its great impact on the world through the centuries to our own 'today' .    

For those of you who know about Fatima:- I had the opportunity to meet Fr. Gruner on the Hill of Slane when he visited Ireland  and I asked him: 
"Father when will the chastisement begin, 2025 or 2029 when will the "100 years be up?"
 He considered for a moment then answered "2025."

The Hill of Slane is  the location where St Patrick lit the first Pascal Fire in 433 AD in defiance of pagan King Laoighre, the King of Tara. 

The site later became an important monastery, similar to that at Monasterboice, which was founded by St Erc, and had its own high crosses and round tower. 

This is the result of Meditation moving into mental prayer and listening to the heart of God.

This is a 6 minute guided meditation,  It is deliberately short as this is Holy Week and there are many ceremonies and private prayers to be said. Hoping that it can be fitted into your busy schedule.  

   In this second part in our series Co-Redemptrix -Mary’s part in our redemption we learn the dynamics of the title and how to,  explain it to other people.
Understanding that Jesus could not be born of a woman who would pass on to Him the stain of original sin we examine the logic of the Immaculate Conception.
The titles “The New Eve” and “The True Arc of The Covenant” further help us to understand the logic of the title of the Blessed Virgin being “Co-Redemptrix”

Our Meditation after the sound of the bells considers the graces of redemption that freed the souls of the ancient Israelites  and is available to us today.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

A short description of the term co-redemptrix with a meditation on offering ourselves as co-operators in the plan of salvation.  

Using St Teresa of Avila's method of Mental Prayer we use the Crowning of Thorns for our meditation.  Our Lady of Fatima requested that we attend Five First Saturdays of Confession, Mass and spend 15 minutes meditating on the Rosary.  Obviously one could not say five decades of the Rosary in that short time so we realize that She must have meant us to Meditate upon the Mysteries.  These Meditation and Mental Prayer podcasts will help with an understanding of how that can be done.  

Using St Teresa of Avila's seven step meditation process we enter into mental prayer.  This episode focuses on the scourging at the pillar and the great suffering Jesus suffered of our sins. 

In this episode we will first list the 7 steps of the   Carmelite method of mental prayer without any preamble. 

Then as the bell tolls We will  enter into an example meditation. 

Our meditation today will centre on the 1st sorrowful mystery of the Rosary. The Agony in the Garden.

In this episode:
1.We will examine the Catholic understanding of martyrdom. The  definition has not changed in 2000 years.
2.My personal experience of what constitutes being a martyr
3.The first preparation for martyrdom.
4. Understanding the sin of omission.
5. A short exercise in meditation and mental prayer.

Mental Prayer in Preparation for Martyrdom

MEDITATION & MENTAL PRAYER is a traditional Catholic podcast produced by MeditationJournals.com 

This podcast introduces mystic prayer as practiced by the great saints, priests and people for over two thousand years.

More recent holy men and women have refined the proceedure of Mental Prayer making it easier for us to understand, follow and perform.  
This podcast will examine and expalin different methods of Catholic meditation and mental prayer leading to Contemplation. 

Ultimately we will consider the prayer of quiet.
The “prayer of quiet” describes how the soul experiences and extraordinary peace and rest accompanied by delight or pleasure in contemplating God as present.  

In this episode we take the Gospel warning of Jesus to His disciples:
"Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death.
And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to be mocked, and scourged, and crucified" Matt 20 18,19

Considering the martyrdom looming we consider necessary mental prayer is to give us the strength to stay faithful in the years ahead.  

In this episode we meditate on the Calming of the Storm.  
We look at how we might meditate on the Gospel history and how our meditation would carry us into a deeper relationship with Jesus.

For Meditation & Mental Prayer Journals go to:
https://meditationjournals.com/
There is an offer of a free meditation journal to download.

The Gospel of John chapter II 1-11
And the third day, there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee: and the mother of Jesus was there.
And Jesus also was invited, and his disciples, to the marriage.
And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus saith to him: They have no wine.
And Jesus saith to her: Woman, what is that to me and to thee? my hour is not yet come.
His mother saith to the waiters: Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye.
Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three measures apiece.
Jesus saith to them: Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
And Jesus saith to them: Draw out now, and carry to the chief steward of the feast. And they carried it.
And when the chief steward had tasted the water made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the waiters knew who had drawn the water; the chief steward calleth the bridegroom,
And saith to him: Every man at first setteth forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse. But thou hast kept the good wine until now.
This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee; and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him.
After this he went down to Capharnaum, he and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they remained there not many days …

The Ignatian seven steps in doing mental prayer

1.  PREPARATION
The preparation is simply the intention and action of putting ourselves in the Presence of God.
Using thoughts of Him and about Him.

2.  READING 
In order to convince ourselves that God loves us it is best to choose a piece of scripture.
The saints advise us that It is best to begin with the Passion and Death of Christ. 

3.  REFLECTING ON WHAT WE READ
Now reflect deeply what you are reading.  

4 COLLOQUY : It is a descendant of Latin loqui, meaning "to speak."  a high-level serious discussion : conference
The colloquy is the part of Mental Prayer where we tell God how much we love Him.  It is important to be spontaneous.  Important to allow your emotions to flow toward God.  

You can after finishing this conversation of love finish here and carrying on seamlessly into your everyday life.

That is if you have taken some time aside in your busy schedule to be with God awhile.

On the other hand if this is your important morning meditation it is best to follow Three more steps.

5.  THANKSGIVING RESOLUTION
Because God love you so much and you love Him you want to show your thanks by pleasing Him.  What better way to please Him than following His Will. Carrying out His instructions in the gospel.

We do our best to become perfect,  promising Him to work with His grace eradicating sin from our lives.

6. OFFERING
Making a good resolution to amend our lives. 

7. PETITION
WE IMPLORE GOD’S HELP
we ask for God to give us grace to necessary to do His will. 

At first thought meditating on your inevitable death might seem morbid, negative or unnecessary but all the saints did it.  Thomas a Kempis in the Imitation of Christ has a chapter on meditating on our death. 
 
The aim of this mediation is to cut us free from earthly cares that inhibit our loving God and God alone.

We consider how our bodily cares are transient.  St Teresa of Avila says:
"Remember that you have only one soul, that you have only one death to die, that you have only one life,  If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing."

And this is the goal of St Ignatius Loyola in this  meditation and mental prayer, that is to separate us from our attachment to family and friends and worldly paraphernalia.   This is in order to give us total freedom to know, love and serve God freely. 

Why would St Ignatius want us to meditate on Hell?  God does not send anyone to Hell.  When we commit a mortal sin we take the hand of Satan and say, lead me on.  And on we go with him into Hell.  If we are still holding a demon’s hand when we die: he will lead us down into Hell.  Why would that be so difficult to understand.  That’s justice, we have free will to choose and we chose.  St Ignatius wants us to be in no doubt about the horrors of Hell according to scripture so that we will take better care not to go there.

For meditation journals to to meditationjournals.com

Bible verses in this episode:
Phil 2:12
St Luke 16:28
Isaiah 24:22
Job 10:22
Rev(Apoc.) 21:8
Isaias 30:33
St Luke 16:22
2 Peter 2:4
Matt 23:33
Isaish 1:2

St Ignatius Loyola wants to show us how to become perfect through Meditation and Mental Prayer.  So he begins at the beginning, that is with God and our relationship to Him.  St Ignatius wants us to understand the reality of the grievousness of our sins which are a huge insult to God.
In helping us to understand the magnitude of our offenses, Ignatius shows us the Majesty of the Most High God who as Our Lady described at Fatima, is “…already too much offended.”
To enter into the depth of God in prayer it is necessary to remove the barriers that block our way.  Those barriers are our sins and our faults.  There is no way around them.  They must be removed first.  

Bible references in this Episode 10
Ps xviii 5
Gen Chapters 1, 2 & 3
Ecclus 18: 6
Ecclus 18: 3,4
Ecclus  17: 10,11
Ps 8: 67 
Ps 17: 21
Sirach 17: 3,4,10,11,
Matt 12:36
Hebrew 10:31
In this episode we follow the meditation and mental prayer from St Ignatius Loyola's Spiritual Exercises.  Our Paradise Squandered encourages us to ponder on the greatest mistake of all time and to consider our own position before God.   

This is an Ignatian Meditation.  It lays the foundation of our understanding of our relationship with God.  God's just judgement on the rebel angels who sinned only once and His treatment of man who constantly sins against Him is the food for this meditation and mental prayer.

The Douay-Rheims Bible verses used in this episode:
Psalm.  103:4
Psalm.     8:6
Job.        4:18
Isiah.     14:13
Jude.        1:6
Psalm.    37:5
Dut.       10:17

meditationjournals.com   

In this episode we acquire tools to help us change our world view to experience the reality that this world and every minuscule component and element only exist by God's provenance. We cannot take them away from God by claiming that we own them.  God created all things and therefore owns all things. This is Truth and does not depend on finite man to approve it.  Even the atheist belongs to God and lives by God's good pleasure.

Also I give some examples of how to gain holy indifference from the things we own.  The gate is narrow because only we can squeeze through we cannot take anyone or anything else with us. 

All the saints suffered batterings from Satan because of their journey into holiness through mental prayer.
In this episode I take a look at how active Satan is when he sees us do meditation and mental prayer. Because he knows we are escaping his clutches, he comes after us all the more.


0.00 attracting the attention of Satan

1.04 the temptations of Christ

2.07 keeping ourselves safe in mental prayer

2.30 it takes more than just being near to Jesus to avoid Satan.

3.50  exorcists 

5.00 particular possession

6.37 Can Satan attack during mental prayer?

7.08  Flattery in mental prayer

8.27  St Teresa and visions in mental prayer

The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola are a foundation for Mental Prayer.  In this episode we look at the exercises or steps laid out by St Ignatius that lead the aspirant to holiness.
 

Want to grow in Holiness? Love Journaling?  Then you will appreciate using our book:

“Catholic Journal: Meditation & Mental Prayer”

Or you may prefer a more dedicated Journal:

“Meditation & Mental Prayer: Following Christ to Calvary.  A Catholic Journal”.

For sale on Amazon or on our own site:
meditationjournals.com

Both journals are offered FREE as ebooks.

Saint Teresa tells us that to expedite our faults is our first objective in Mental Prayer.

In this episode I show you how to identify your Predominant Fault which is keeping you from being as pleasing to God as you would like to be.  

Having said that, His Majesty may during your Mental Prayer, point out to you a different fault that you were not aware of and that He wishes you to attend to. 

This is the huge beauty and benefit of Mental Prayer: it is totally yours and your soul to God who loves you but knows you better than you do yourself.  

In this episode on the Predominant Fault I briefly share my own personal struggles and successes in this journey on the road leading through the Narrow Gate.
 

Want to grow in Holiness? Love Journaling?  Then you will appreciate using our book:

“Catholic Journal: Meditation & Mental Prayer”

Or you may prefer a more dedicated Journal:

“Meditation & Mental Prayer: Following Christ to Calvary.  A Catholic Journal”.

For sale on Amazon or on our own site:
meditationjournals.com

Both journals are offered FREE as ebooks.


Mentioned in this episode:

Bible verses in this episode

Matthew 6 v6es  ex  34 v 14

Coming soon to the Meditation & Mental Prayer Podcast

Want to grow in Holiness? Love Journaling?  Then you will appreciate using our book:

“Catholic Journal: Meditation & Mental Prayer”

Or you may prefer a more dedicated Journal:

“Meditation & Mental Prayer: Following Christ to Calvary.  A Catholic Journal”.

For sale on Amazon or on our own site:
meditationjournals.com

Both journals are offered FREE as ebooks.

In this Podcast  I answer the question How to do Mental Prayer and I have laid out the most popular 7 step method of Saint Theresa of Avila.
 
This is not so much about a strict practice of lifting the mind and soul to God - although indeed this is one of the outcomes.  The devotion that unites us to God in this type of prayer is both individual and very personal to you.  You and God.

The outcome for me using mental prayer has been an acute awareness of the presence of God an increase of understanding of my own faults and loads and loads of grace to help me overcome them.


The seven steps in doing mental prayer.First we have the
1.  PREPARATION
The preparation is simply the intention and action of putting ourselves in the Presence of God.
Using thourghts of Him and about Him.

2.  READING
In order to convince ourselves that God loves us it is best to choose a piece of scripture.

3.  REFLECTING ON WHAT WE READ
Now reflect throughly what you are reading. 

This is what is known as Think about the theme of what is in the piece of scripture.

The saints advise us that It is best to begin with the Passion and Death of Christ.

4 COLLOQUY
The colloquy is the part of Mental Prayer where we tell God how much we love Him.  It is important to be spontaneous.  Important to allow your emotions to flow toward God. 

You can after finishing this conversation of love finish here and carrying on seamlessly into your everyday.

That is if you have taken some time aside in your busy scedule to be with God awhile.

On the other hand i this is your important morning meditation it is best to follow Three more steps.

5.  THANKSGIVING RESOLUTION
Because God love you so much and you love Him you want to show your thanks by pleasing Him.  What better way to please Him than fowwowing His Will. Carrying out His instructions in the gospel.

Doing our best to become perfect.  promising Him to work with His grace eradicting sin from our lives.

6. OFFERING
Making a good resolution to amend our lives.

7. PETITION
WE IMPLORE GOD’S HELP
we ask for God to give us grace to necessary to do His will.

For Meditation & Mental Prayer Journals go to: meditationjournals.com


TRANSCRIPT
St. John of the cross tells us without the aid of mental prayer, the soul cannot triumph over the forces of the demon.
[00:00:16] Welcome to the meditation and mental prayer podcast. This is Catholics talking to God. My name is Christabel, and I'm a Catholic teacher and Theologian. This podcast is predominantly about mental prayer and all things that lead to mental prayer. For instance, we'll be talking about living in the presence of God and we'll be examining how best to do that.
[00:00:40] We'll also be talking about meditation and meditation of course, is the first step toward mental prayer.
[00:00:54] This is our first episode. We will examine the structure of mental prayer, but briefly, before we get into that, let's look at what mental prayer actually is and what it does. Mental prayer is absolutely necessary in the spiritual life. Using this mode of being with God, you find yourself moving on a different plane.
[00:01:16] The Important thing is to be spontaneous in that pr