Basics of the Spiritual Life
Stages in the Spiritual Life
purgative – rising above a life of sinful acts
- striving to eliminate sinful behaviors
- strong temptations to sin remain
illuminative – rising to a life of holy thoughts
- striving to eliminate sinful thoughts
- temptations to sin are less persuasive or enticing
unitive – rising to a union of wills with God
- sinful acts, thoughts, and temptations almost absent
- great acts of self-sacrifice and charitable love evident
- Two additional stages involved in the ascent:
- Dark Night of the Senses – spiritual dryness, loss of good feelings from prayer; opportunity to practice unselfish love
- Dark Night of the Soul – loss of all sense of God’s presence, feelings of abandonment, thoughts that no afterlife awaits and God does not exist; a share in Christ’s abandonment on the cross
Levels of the Soul
- External identity/surface – transitory emotions, spontaneous thoughts and desires
- Psychological identity/personality – persistent moods, deep-seated desires, paradigms, sexuality
- Spiritual identity – relationship to indwelling Holy Spirit, movement of spirits related to intellect, emotion, and will, level of discernment
Discernment – practices aimed at perceiving God’s will for oneself in certain circumstances or in a life’s vocation
Sources of Thoughts and Emotions
- God – inspiration, enlightenment, direction
- Good Spirits – encouragement, exhortation, reproof for sin
- Evil Spirits – discouragement, enticement to sin, dissuasion from virtue
- Self – self-esteem and self-image, reasoning, temperament, physiology
Method of praying with Scripture
- Preparatory Prayer – ask for God’s assistance: “that all my intentions, actions, and operations may be directed purely to the service and praise of His Divine Majesty.”
- Reading (lectio) – read the passage of Scripture
- Imagination (imaginatio) – picture the place where the topic of your prayer occurs or is located, for example, the wilderness of Israel, the Temple, the Jordan River
- Prayer (oratio) – ask God for the grace you wish to receive in this prayer
- Meditation (meditatio) – use your mind to think about the subject. Books about the Scripture passage are helpful
- Contemplation (contemplatio) – time of quiet listening to the Lord. Try to feel the Lord’s presence and message with your “inner senses”
- Colloquy – A closing prayer “as one friend speaks to another, or as a servant to his master; now asking some grace, now blaming oneself for some misdeed, now communicating one’s affairs, and asking advice in them.”
– Often a triple prayer first to Mary, then the Son, then the Father, finishing with a formal prayer after each; for example, “Hail Mary,” “Soul of Christ,” and “Our Father”
Journaling
- A journal is a record of your spiritual life to help you look back and see how you have changed and grown over time.
- Try to write in your journal every day or week.
- You can write in your journal about the things that happened to you that day, your emotions, or your interactions with other people.
- The most important part of your life to write about is your relationship with the Lord. Write how your prayer went that day or week. Did you feel any encouragement from the Lord, any message?
- A good time to write in your journal is just after you pray, so that you can record any insights you had.
Getting Ready for Prayer with Scripture
- Find a place to pray where you will not be disturbed. Praying in the presence of Jesus at adoration or in the tabernacle is best, but you can pray in your room or any comfortable place.
- Make sure your surroundings are quiet to let you focus on prayer. You may like to listen to calm music without words or with words in a language you do not understand. Using headphones may be helpful if you are in a noisy place.
- Either sit or kneel in a way that you are comfortable but will not fall asleep too easily.
- If you are able, you may want to light a candle. Make sure you have enough light to read.
- Get a Bible you can easily use and any other books to help you read the Bible.
- Select a passage to read that is not too long.
- You are ready to begin.
Rev. Eric Culler