Daily “Sabbath”: an Ignatian-Style Meditation & Prayer Site

Here’s a valuable site: sacredspace.ie.

It provides daily guides for brief meditation and prayer.

I’m not Catholic in background, practice, or inclination; but I have gotten major benefit from studying certain Catholic saints and philosophers.

Ignatius Loyola (founder of the Jesuits) and his approach to spiritual vitality are a rich source. He talked of “consolation” and “desolation” as key indicators and guides the Spirit uses in our hearts. To accurately detect either of those signs requires an attitude of calm and attentiveness before God. And that’s where an Ignatian retreat can come in (a major self-evaluation and a major “Sabbath” break in one’s life). But it need not be a week- or month-long experience.

A few minutes a day can make a huge difference. This Irish Jesuit site offers carefully crafted guidance for a brief time of meditation and prayer each day. Just click on “English” (or whatever language you prefer). This week that takes you to a nice 1-paragraph homily on St Patrick, with a further link to the prayers for the week.

If you are non-Catholic or a disaffected Catholic there will be some quotations or references that might be, as my Dad used to say, a bit “off-putting.” But when we eat fish, we don’t try to eat the bones. And I promise you, there is a lot of good meat in those guided meditations.

AND, in the manner of an Ignatian retreat, it is quite accessible, i.e. well-engineered to achieve its purposes. You’ll have to browse a few minutes to get the feel of it, but once you see how it’s laid out, ten or fifteen minutes can put a different flavor on your whole day, a different color in the light. So, here’s a good therapeutic practice to check out; if it helps, you might want to use it now and then.

 

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