An Easy Way to Become a Saint - September 21

Continued from yesterday...

Chapter 9. Meditation

...An easy way to meditate.

Here is a simple and easy method of meditation, which all may use with advantage.

a) As we said when speaking of reading, we must choose for the purpose of meditation a book that we like, that suits us, that has a personal appeal to us; Each one chooses the book he likes best.

b) We begin our meditation by praying to the Holy Ghost for light and guidance. For ordinary Christians a very easy and beautiful prayer to the Holy Ghost is the Third Glorious Mystery of the Rosary. This in itself is a little meditation. We see how timid, how fearful the Apostles were, how rude, how slow in understanding Our Lord's teaching; above all how weak they were even after Christ's Resurrection. They remained ten days waiting and praying for the coming of the Holy Ghost. They had the doors closed in fear of the Jews.

Then the Holy Spirit descended on them, resting in the form of fiery tongues over their heads and gave them all His gifts and graces.

They were completely changed. No longer afraid, they went into the midst of their enemies and preached Jesus, the Son of God, whom these had crucified. They were no longer rude and ignorant, but full of wisdom and knowledge. They confounded the philosophers of Greece and Rome, they feared neither sufferings nor tortures, and were even pleased to suffer for the Name of Jesus.

These men who had been so timid, so rude, so weak were now able to convert the world.

This lesson is most encouraging, for we see what we too can do with the help of God, no matter how weak we are.

c) After saying this Mystery fervently, let us take up our book and read a little - slowly, carefully, attentively, turning over in our minds the meaning of what we have read, applying the lesson to ourselves. Then we pray, asking God to help us to understand what we have read.

Again we read a little, and pray a little, a second, a third time, each time applying the truth to ourselves.

d) Then we make a practical resolution, which we must bear in mind during the day.

e) Lastly, we must pray fervently to God to pardon our past faults and give us strength to avoid them in the future. What could be easier?....

[Continued tomorrow]
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From An Easy Way to Become a Saint
by E. D. M. (1949)
The Catholic Printing Press
Lisbon, Portugal
With Ecclesiastical Approbation
13th June 1949