Grade 2: Meditation

Rev. Jordan Aumann succinctly sums up the fundamentals of meditation as follows: "Meditation can be defined as a reasoned application of the mind to some supernatural truth in order to penetrate its meaning, love it, and carry it into practice with the assistance of grace." (Spiritual Theology, p.318) "Regardless of method, all mediation can be reduced ultimately to a basic framework containing all the essential parts of meditation: consideration of some supernatural truth, application of that truth to one's life, and the resolution to do something about it." (Ibid., p.322)

It is important to know that The Interior Castle is St. Teresa's best synthesis of her spiritual doctrine and prayer experience. The nine grades of prayer and the seven mansions mentioned there are regarded by St. Teresa as intrinsically inseparable from each other. Accordingly, on the eve of Trinity Sunday, 1577, God showed her in a vision the infrastructure of our soul. It is like a crystal castle in which there are seven mansions, The Most Holy Trinity lives in the centre or the seventh mansions in the greatest splendour. These different mansions represent hence various stages in spiritual growth or journey of prayer. Outside the castle all was darkness, with toads, vipers and other poisonous vermin. (cf. O. Rodriguez and K. Kavanaugh, trans. The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, vol. 2, pp.267-269)

We are all called to eventually enter the centre -- the Heaven on earth -- to be united with our Creator. According to the three steps of spiritual growth (purgative, illuminative and unitive), we can remain permanently either outside of the castle or in the first three mansions if we do not allow God to lead us through the Dark Night of active and passive purgations. In varying degrees, all three purgative, illuminative and unitive aspects tend to appear in each mansions or grade of prayer. Where there is no greater purgative experience, there are no greater illuminative and unitive fruits in the mansions or grades of prayer to come. (cf. ibid., pp.263-452)

God is clearly calling us to go through Purgatory on earth in constant prayers. In this way, not only would countless unholy energies within us be purgated, but that our immune system (as a defense system against their ceaseless unholy influences or effects) would also be increasingly restored as we let God's Divine Energy buried deep within and around begin to sanctify us. Further, we might even be able to skip the real Purgatory which, according to countless canonized mystics, is much worse than the purifying or sanctifying experiences on earth.

In this context we may better recognize the functions of meditation. Indeed, meditation can help us penetrate certain spiritual truth, know ourselves, repent of our sins, correct our faults, discern God's will, understand others, realize the situation, refocus our life, and make a firm resolution to spend our time, energy and resources fruitfully for our love for God and others. As St. Teresa points out, meditation consists not so much in thinking a great deal but in loving a lot. Yet love cannot be idle. It constantly urges us to action. (cf. Spiritual Theology, p.319)

For further inspiration on meditation, click here.