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Double Vision: Imagination and Visualization in the Catholic and Protestant Traditions.

ISBN: 978-1-5323-6071-8

Copyright: 2017

Published by: LionFace Publications LionFacePub.com Cover: Nicolas Poussin (1593-1694) c. 1665.

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PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

PERMISSION TO QUOTE NASV: Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are from the NASV Bible (New American Standard Version). Citations to scripture are made by “Permission to Quote” from the Lockman Foundation, copyright 1977.

Because there are many quotations of scripture, all scripture quotations are printed in bold text rather than with quotation marks and citations are generally provided in the footnotes as to their book, chapter and verse number.

Comments at: www.LionFacePub.com.

i

Double Vision: Imagination and Visualization in the Catholic and Protestant Meditation Traditions

By: David Prince

ii iii

CONTENTS

Chapter ______Page

Introduction ...... 5 1. The Miracles of and Imagination...... 12 2. Imagination in the Bible...... 15 3. Looking for Detail ...... 18

4. Wake-Up! ...... 19 5. Imagination, Memory and Love ...... 21 6. Christianity as Memories ...... 23 7. Imagination and Memory in Practice...... 24 8. Sensitizing the Imagination...... 26 9. A Model for Communion with God ...... 28 10. by Transcript ...... 30 11. Sifting Out Spiritual Errata...... 35 12. Synthesis...... 37 13. Conclusion...... 39 Appendix I: Excerpts of The Spiritual Exercises, By Ignatius de Loyola...... 41

iv Introduction

Meditation, as a practice, has a large and growing footprint in Western culture. It seems to be everywhere. Contemporary corporate cultures are pushing it, Doctors are prescribing it,1 politicians are advocating it in their political platforms,2 Swamis ubiquitously hawk their special brand of TM (Transcendental Meditation) in bookstores, seminars, webinars, corporate workshops and in the village square. It’s become the cool and upbeat thing.

Conversely, meditating on the bible has come to be viewed as mundane. Can you imagine your doctor prescribing you to meditate on your bible? Yet it is perfectly acceptable in sophisticated society for a physician to recommend meditation for your stress which implicitly is understood to be an eastern style of meditation. Equally odd, despite meditating on the bible no longer being the cool thing to do, Jesus Christ Himself maintains a very good reputation in the culture as a good and venerable teacher of the ancient world. Jesus is good but Eastern meditation is cool. Sadly, it is the miniscule few who are interested enough to follow Jesus’ practices in prayer and meditation on the Bible.3 Thus, according to the culture, Eastern meditation techniques are in, meditating on the Holy Bible is out. The reason is because the bible is perceived by contemporary culture as an old fashioned and historically backward literary work with no clear and distinguishable value. The truth is, however, the Bible is very cool and Western culture has been weakened by turning away from the blessings and benefits of a culture that values the word of God.

Worse, the church is being gently and subtly wooed over to a false form of meditation. For many years “culturally sensitive” and “seeker friendly” churches have been slowly shifting toward a form of prayer that is nothing more than warmed over TM (Transcendental Meditation). The code name that has been adopted for this soft form of TM is called “centering prayer.” A pleasing, gentile and reasonable sounding title, yet it is a

1 A May 2011 joint medical study by the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and the Harvard Medical School gathered information from about 23,000 U.S. households and discovered that 6.3 million Americans were referred by doctors to practice activities like meditation. Also google “doctors prescribing meditation” and see how many hits you get. 2 Sound unbelievable? John Hagelin, a former physics professor at Maharishi University of Management (MUM), was the National Law Party candidate for President of the United States in 1992, 1996 and 2000. The party platform proposed that political problems could be solved through alignment with the "Unified Field" of all the laws of nature through the use of Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs. The NLP later merged with the Reform Party and ran Ralph Nader as their Candidate in 2008. 3 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it, Matthew 7:14. 5 wolf in sheep clothing. Transcendental Meditation has substantially captured the culture under the slick and cosmopolitan sales job that it will help you relax, reduce stress, lower your blood pressure, increase your productivity, bring you success and enhance your sex life. Meanwhile, stunningly little is said in the public square about the benefits of meditating on the holy scriptures and how that is far and away the best life enhancement that money can not buy.

It is useful here to define some terms. Biblically based meditation is a mystical method of communicating and communing with God. It is rooted in scriptural teaching such as verses like Joshua 1:8 which states:

This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night.

Joshua 1:8 is not the cold and dogmatic command that some would like to believe and claim. Rather it is a codex pointing to profound spiritual truths and it is a spiritual prescription with a promise:

Then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.4

How cool is that? The clear and unmistakable message is that if you meditate on God’s holy word then you will be prosperous and successful. Do you lack success? Do you lack prosperity? If yes, then the prescription for you by Dr. Jesus is to meditate on your bible. Do you know if this will work? Can you say that you know it will not work? Note the fabricated ersatz which all the self-help gurus and TM proponents make regarding success and prosperity. They ubiquitously claim practicing some form of TM will bring you success. Yet they are spiritual counterfeiters who merely mimic the promises in the word of God. God does promise true success and prosperity pursuant to Joshua 1:8, but the counterfeiters fail to deliver the complete message – it is the God of the holy scriptures that brings the success, not the technique and process in and of itself.

The Hebrew word for meditate here is, “Hagah” which means to:

“murmur, to ponder, imagine, meditate, mutter, speak, study talk, utter.”5

The idea is simple enough. Joshua 1:8 tells us to take the holy inspired word of God and record it into our mind like a software download and ruminate on it over and over again. David, the Psalmist, reminds us to practice Joshua 1:8 at Psalm 77:11-12:

11 I shall remember the deeds of the Lord; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.

4 Joshua 1:9. 5 Strongs Exhaustive Concordance. 6 12 I will meditate on all Your work And muse on Your deeds.

Biblical meditation calls for the disciple to think about God’s word, ponder it, visualize it and yes, pray it right back to God for our own benefit and for the good of mankind. Conversely, and make no mistake about it, attempting to engage in a mind-numbing mental silence to achieve an undefined cosmic consciousness or oneness with an impersonal universe will accomplish nothing for you in seeking to know the Lord, and it may in fact be harmful to your spiritual wellbeing.

The issues here can be very (very) subtle. Biblical meditation is spiritually different from the Eastern religions’ style of meditation and there is no warning label to alert the casual user. Not knowing what you are doing while you play with spiritual fire can be dangerous. A good example of the danger being described here is demonstrated by a pair of venturous young brothers named Nadab and Abihu. These young men, the sons of Aaron the Priest under Moses, were two brothers who decided to go on a spiritual departure and burn some “strange fire” before the Lord. In the end, they got burned.

Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the Lord spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.6

One might be tempted to think these young fellows were just innocently burning some incense before the lord and were very harshly treated by God for doing something that wasn’t clearly in error. However, Nadab and Abihu’s violation was not merely in exercising un- prescribed spiritual practices but also in being familiar with the holiness of God. It was therefore a direct violation of God’s holiness. Always remember, when dealing with God’s holiness, caveat emptor. Three verses down, in Leviticus 10:8, we find a clue as to one element of the issue was that destroyed Nadab and Abihu:

The Lord then spoke to Aaron, saying, ‘Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you will not die—it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations.’

6 Leviticus 10:1-3. 7 Incense, by the way, is a biblical symbol for the prayers of the .7 Arguably, therefore, if you pray or meditate “strangely” before the Lord, He is not going to be responsible if you fail to connect with Him and you wind-up tangled in another Kingdom by unintended consequences and, in the end, you get burned.

Prayer and Meditation under the Biblical model is a mentally active exercise. It involves faith,8 it is done with the mind,9 it is done in the Holy Spirit,10 it is done at all times in the Spirit,11 it is done with devotion,12 with fervent laboring13 and without ceasing.14 This kind of active, conscious, energetic and focused activity that the ascribes to prayer and meditation is not consistent with the passive, thoughtless, (i.e. silencing the mind), emptying, disconnecting and intellectually mindless and ultimately selfish methods involved in the Eastern meditation techniques, including Transcendental Meditation (TM) and other similar styles of Eastern meditative prayer. The fundamental goal of Transcendental Meditation, and to an equal degree of “centering prayer,” is to lose one’s personality in the “Oneness of God.” This sounds good in the ear15 but it is not consistent with biblical notions of meditation. In fact, losing one’s personality into a vague and ill-defined “god consciousness” is not God’s way at all, rather, this is really just a form of self- hypnosis that endangers the practitioner of altering their consciousness and thereby being opened to forces and spirits that are not from God. Submission of the self, the will, including the thoughts of the mind to Christ is biblical. By submitting the thoughts and faculties of the mind to Christ the disciple takes every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.16 Silencing all thoughts into a self-hypnotic, mindless, thoughtless and selfish void of consciousness is a pagan meditation style that will not bring you closer to the God of the Bible. You must decide who’s voice you wish to obey.17

The founder of Transcendental Meditation, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, authored the popular book “The Science of Being and the Art of Living” (1968). In his work, Maharishi Yogi says:

7 When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. Revelation 5:8. Also see Revelation 8:4-5. 8 James 5:15. 9 1 Corinthians 14:15. 10 Jude 20. 11 Ephesians 6:18. 12 Romans 12:12 13 Colossians 4:12. 14 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Romans 1:9. 15 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires. 2 Timothy 4:3. 16 2 Corinthians 10:5. 17 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness, Romans 6:16. 8

“Being is the presence of god, the reality of life. It is the eternal truth. It is the absolute in eternal freedom.”

This groundless assent unto divinity and spiritual groping in the dark is being distributed, accepted and practiced in a growing number of Western church prayer forums. This is particularly true where these ideas are presented covertly as associated with the deception and spiritual canard of “centering prayer.” These churches will typically mix Christian and New Age ideas and concepts, the New Age part being merely a shill for TM and its related false meditation affiliates and false eastern spiritualism. Eastern meditation gurus unanimously claim access to the divinity absent biblical revelation and any true . Jesus said, no one comes to the Father but through me.18 An excellent exhibit of church leadership promoting this kind of “Ichabod” spirituality is exemplified in the following, so called, Christian writing:

When we begin to accept our inner plurality, we get less frightened of others who manifest a different tribal mix. Some of us feel that there is an emerging tribe–the global soul–that is able to see religion as a great work of the human imagination. Seeing it as a work of the imagination doesn’t make it any less true. Religion becomes a collective enterprise of cooperation between us and the unknown. Some of us identify the unknown with Spirit. Others leave it as the unknown. But we all participate in the same work of imagination.19

Citing this passage is not to single out any particular priest or pastor, there are many exponents within the contemporary church who are promoting this kind of spiritual error in varying degrees and volume.

By contrast, there are available today very effective methods and technologies for connecting with God that are validly sourced in biblical notions of prayer and meditation. These biblically based methods are superior to TM and its various permutations. An excellent historical proof that demonstrates the superiority of biblical methods, as contrasted with worldly methods, is the initial confrontations of Moses before Pharoah. Moses instructed Aaron to put down his staff in front of Pharoah and, as promised by God, it became a serpent.20 When Pharoah’s magicians put down their staffs, they also became serpents. However, the Serpent made from Moses staff swallowed up all the other (spiritually fake or imitation) serpents. At the end of the confrontation, Moses picked his staff back up. The magicians of Pharoah no longer had any staffs. They had been

18 John 14:6. 19 Alan Jones, Reimagining Christianity: Reconnect Your Spirit without Disconnecting Your Mind (2005) XVII-XVIII 20 Exodus 7:10-12. 9 swallowed up. They were left empty handed, shamed and defeated in their magic arts.

In this ancient and amazing historical lesson of magic verses power there is an obvious superior, and inferior. There was a representative of the god of this world (Pharoah), and a representative of Almighty God (Moses who was a type of Christ). There was an authentic spiritual manifestation that was followed by a spiritual replication or false spiritual manifestation. The method and performance of Pharoh’s magicians was clearly inferior. Pharaoh’s magicians (read spiritual counterfeiters) were shamed and befuddled before Moses and Aaron. It is the enemy of our souls who has a persistent habit of copying God’s methods and resources. They are typically bad knock-offs.

Accordingly, this writing seeks to explore, elucidate and popularize the biblically valid methods of meditation by use of the God created imagination and visualization of the mind. These methods are not new but harken back to Joshua 1:8 the cornerstone for all biblically valid meditation. True meditation is centered on the word and works of God. The saints of old, the Prophets and seers of the bible, were highly adept and sensitive to communicating with God by and through the medium of imagination and vision. Sadly, it is something the church in the West has not emphasized and the Western church has substantially suffered for lack of attention to it. has a long and illustrative history that should have been better carried forward through the orthodox traditions. Originally, it was founded on the lives of the Apostles, such as Peter (who had visions), the Apostle Paul (who had visions), the Apostle John (who had visions) and many of the Prophets of old,21 (who had visions).

There is some important and informative history here. Down the long centuries of medieval Catholicism there was a significant tradition of mysticism, much of which remains today. This mystical tradition was carried forward by recognizable saints such as (105-165), Basil the Great (330-379), Augustine (354- 430), (1182-1226), St. (1224-1275), Ignatius de Loyola, (1491-1556), Juan de la Cruz, (1542-1591), to name a few. Rehearsal of a more comprehensive list, as developed at Wikipedia,22 is helpful and encouraging to see as a reminder of those many saints of God who have gone before in the standard of the faith: Christian Mystics and Movements in the Early Church 1. (c. 35-c.107) 2. St. (c.69-c.155) 3. Justin Martyr (c.105-c.165) 4. (c.125-c.202) 5. (c.155-c.222) 6. St. Antony (c.251-356)

21 Generally: Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, etc. 22 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_mysticism. 10 7. Basil the Great (c.330-379) 8. Augustine (354-430) 9. St. Gregory I the Great (b. 540; d. 604) Catholic Mystics in the Mediaeval Church: 1. William of St.-Thierry (c.1085-1148) 2. (1091-1153) 3. (1098-1179) 4. Hugh of St. Victor, (b. 1096; d. 1141) 5. Richard of St. Victor, (d. 1173) 6. Francis of Assisi (John Bernardone) (1182-1226) 7. (1206-1280) 8. (1200-1268) 9. (1207-1282) 10. (John Fidanza) (1217-1274) 11. St. Bonaventure, Minister General of the Friars Minor (b. 1221; d. 1274) 12. St. Thomas Aquinas (1224-1275) 13. (c.1248-1309) 14. St. Gertrude, a Benedictine (b. 1256; d.1302) 15. Jan van Ruysbroeck (1293-1381) 16. (1295-1366) 17. (1300-1361) 18. (1300-1349) 19. Birgitta (Brigida) Suecica of Sweden (1302-1373) 20. (d. 1395) 21. (1342-1413?) 22. (1347-1380) Famous Catholic Mystics 15th to 19th Century 1. St. (1447-1510) 2. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) 3. St. (Juan de Yepes) (1542-1591) 4. Venerable Luis de Lapuente (b. 1554; d.1624) 5. St. (1567-1622) 6. (1774-1824) 7. Catherine Labouré (b.1806 d. 1876) Twentieth Century Mystics 1. Saint Faustina 1905 – 1938 2. Saint Pio – b.1887

Then came the Protestant .

The Protestants, along with their many objections to doctrinal errors and abuses in the church, were skeptical of Catholic mystical practices. developed a critical against mysticism, even to the degree of animosity toward it. This was true despite the founders of the Reformation having been immersed in the mystical traditions of the themselves. Examples begin with Martin Luther himself who was a Dominican influenced Monk and followed Dionysian mysticism. Similarly, was influenced by Jean Gerson and the movement, emphasizing piety as a method of spiritual growth. Protestants eventually developed their own mystically sensitive movements exemplified in the Quakers, the Holiness movement, the Pentecostals and Charismatic Renewal.

Seeking God by mystical practices is not wrong or spiritually invalid. Paul often spoke of mysteries. He referred to: 11

the mystery of Christ, the mystery of the faith, the mystery of godliness, the mystery of the , the mystery of God’s will, the mystery of lawlessness.

Clearly, there are many mysteries in God. Seeking to know God is, in and of itself, a mystery. No one has a corner on this market. Therefore, seeking to know God by mystical means is reasonable. What is not reasonable is to consciously subvert New Testament truth with a lie about claims of knowing a secret way to God when it is in fact an occult practice based in pagan religious rituals and practices. Jesus said I am the door; if anyone enters through me he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. He who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, is a thief and a robber.23 Therefore, to claim you know a secret way into God’s paradise when in fact you are “sneeking in” by “some other way” makes you a trespasser. This is yet another mystery. The mystery of evil. The scripture speaks directly to the mystery of evil: what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?

The Catholic Church has in fact offered a probing critique on centering prayer at the leadership level. This is remarkable in so far as it was the Catholic Church who is substantially, if not entirely, responsible for the introduction and popularizing of centering prayer in the church.24 It is no less than Cardinal Ratzinger, (later Benedict), who issued the following warning on centering prayer and its various iterations:

[Christian prayer] is defined, properly speaking, as a personal, intimate and profound dialogue between man and God. It expresses therefore the communion of redeemed creatures with the intimate life of the Persons of the Trinity…. Thus, Christian prayer is at the same time always authentically personal and communitarian. It flees from impersonal techniques or from concentrating on oneself, which can create a kind of rut, imprisoning the person praying in a spiritual privatism which is incapable of a free openness to the transcendental God. Within the Church, in the legitimate search for new methods of meditation it must always be borne in mind that the

23 John 10:1, 9. 24 The modern Centering Prayer movement in Christianity can be traced to several books published by three Trappist monks of St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts in the 1970s: Fr. William Meninger, Fr. M. Basil Pennington and Abbot Thomas Keating. (Cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centering_prayer.) 12 essential element of authentic Christian prayer is the meeting of two freedoms, the infinite freedom of God with the finite freedom of man.25 /emphasis added/.

As for biblically valid mystical practices, the school of the Prophets has been with us since the time of Elijah the Prophet.26 The office of Prophet lives on in the New Testament era and encouraged us to earnestly desire the greater gifts.27 This includes prophecy, miracles, healing, tongues, interpretation of tongues, etc. Being sensitive to dreams, visions and using the imagination as a means of communicating with God are important spiritual practices. Have we come so far, are we now so sophisticated and become so wise and mature with all our secular knowledge and technology that we no longer need these foggy, dreamscape forms of experience with God? This work seeks to explore and answer this question. God is there and He is interested in talking with you. Would you like to have a conversation with God? Would you be willing to use His methods and technology in order to do it. Give it a try, you may like it.

CHAPTER 1

THE MIRACLES OF JESUS AND IMAGINATION

The Miracles which Jesus performed on earth are a gift from God that have value beyond the mere static historical event or the inspiration the reader may receive from reading about them. The supernatural and spiritual dramas that each miracle of Jesus represents are charged with a further supernatural potential that is available to us today. Nearly the entire text of the and literally hundreds of passages in the Old Testament, particularly the supernatural events and miracles themselves, may be committed to our imagination as a vehicle for God to speak to us, touch us directly, and commune with us personally and powerfully. Using our imagination is a golden key to opening a whole new level of prayer, meditation and relationship with God that the Churches have failed (in general) to recognize and propagate. Therefore, taking a closer look at human

25 Cardinal Ratzinger, LETTER TO THE BISHOPS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ON SOME ASPECTS OF , Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, October 15, 1989. 26 2 Kings 2:2-15; 2 Kings 4:1, 38. 27 1 Corinthians 12:31. 13 imagination, specifically in reference to the life of Christ and His miracles, is a rich and fruitful field in the pursuit of God in a mystical way. It is an analysis that has escaped the masses, it is a pursuit of well-being, a higher of life and spiritual living and a means to bring out your inner spiritual genius.

Jesus, the ultimate mystic,28 left us many paths to seek God in a mystical way. For example, He venerated, obeyed and adhered to a studious and literal reading of the scriptures, leaving us an example to do the same. He gave us the Lord's Prayer and prayed (or meditated) persistently and passionately. He told us parables, gave us revelation and spiritual truths, and of course, performed many miracles. In creating and committing these many gospel scenes to the memory and imagination of the mind, one mystical belief is that God may speak to and even commune with you, in a living and life changing way. As one author states it:

The process of Bible meditation, as God designed it, involves us imagining a Bible story (i.e. to "imagine" is part of the biblical definition of the word meditate), allowing God to speak to us out of the midst of the scene (created by the word) that is before our eyes. When the vision within our hearts comes alive, we may encounter and interact with heavenly beings in the vision.29

Another author puts it simpler still:

In [imaginative prayer] you 'compose the place' by imagining yourself in a scene from the Bible, or in God's presence, and then taking part in it. It's a way of allowing God to speak to you through your imagination.30

The purpose of using imagination in prayer is "to transform the will of the subject from attachment to his own self, as center and origin of all action, to attachment to the will of God, as origin and foundation of all action, and in this manner to guide one’s life."31 In short, the purpose is to live one’s life for the greater glory of God. This was the great and famous moto of Ignatius Loyola,32 whom, not coincidentally, championed these ideas in his written work, The Spiritual Exercises. The essential thought here sounds attractive, simple and straightforward however it can be difficult and some guidance is well advised. This is particularly true in the context of a sophisticated, complex, and religiously

28 “Mystic” is defined for purposes of this work as "a belief in a direct spirit encounter with God", Cf. Supra, Virkler, p. 56. 29 Mark Virkler, 4 keys to Hearing God's Voice, (2010), p. 190. 30 James Martin, The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything, (2010), p. 145. 31 Antonio T. De Nicolas, Powers of Imagining, A Philosophical Hermeneutic of Imagining Through the Collected Works of Ignatius De Loyola, (1986), p. 36. Also see, Ignatius Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, Exercise #23. 32 Founder of the Order of the Jesuits, which was approved by Pope Paul III in 1540. 14 fragmented world where many voices are speaking to us, some even seeking to mislead us, and creating general confusion about using your imagination to experience God's voice in your life.

In presenting the use of imagination in prayer and communicating with God, this work will compare two authors who each specifically write about the use of imagination and meditative prayer in their respective books that they have authored. One author is a fundamentalist Protestant and Charismatic, the other follows the Roman Catholic faith and is a member of the Jesuit order. An analysis of these author’s ideas will be made, followed by a synthesis and some concluding thoughts and suggestions. The first author is Antonio T. De Nicolas, S.J., in his work "Powers of Imagining," (1986). The second author is Mark Virkler, Ph.D, a Protestant believer and prolific author, who’s primary work on prayer and imagination is titled, "4 keys to Hearing God's Voice" (2010).

A modern discussion of imagination in prayer and meditation should reasonably begin with Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the , also known as, the Jesuit Order. While Ignatius did not invent this style of prayer, he certainly was an inspirational and popularizing force by "giving it center stage in his Spiritual Exercises." Ignatius converted to a life of faith after being wounded in battle (defending a castle against the French at in 1521). During his year-long convalescence recovering from a severely wounded leg, he defaulted to reading devotional books on the life of Christ and of the Saints for lack of other available reading materials. This event in his life brought him to dedicate his life to following Christ, to self-discipline, education and, as he put it, "helping souls." Ignatius, over time, developed his principle work titled, "Spiritual Exercises" in which he provides "rules" by which instructors may lead others in godly living, and, importantly, what he termed, "composition of place." It is this methodology and mystical exercise that is sometimes called the composition of place, or imaginative prayer or contemplative prayer. This idea is therefore, loosely, of Jesuit origination. Loyola’s Composition of Place is essentially the act or discipline of imagining in one’s mind the scenes of the life of Christ including His many miracles.

The "Spiritual Exercises" are the key or secret to the success of the Jesuits. The Spiritual Exercises were for a long time kept secret and closely protected by the Jesuit order and only released publically as late as the 1890's. The Exercises contain very practical guidance for spiritual discernment in one’s life by using such techniques as "indifference,"33 and humility, each for the purpose of "seeking and discovering the divine will for one's life...."34 Nonetheless, any Jesuit will tell you that

33 Supra, Martin, p. 145. 34 Ignatius Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, #179. 15 the Exercises’ principal component is the use of imagination in prayer.

What Ignatius gave us, in simplest reduction, is an approach to discovering God's will or plan for your life by envisioning or imagining the scenes of the life of Christ. How are these two things related? It’s the power of love. You show your interest, your intellectual investment, your love and adoration for Him by focusing on His life and the things that are important to Him and He gives His best for you. Given that He is God and you are mortal means this is a really sweet deal for you. And, as it turns out, this is a very powerful means for hearing God's voice because, in imagining the scenes of the life of Christ, one may experience “signs,” or “consolations” as Ignatius refers to them, i.e. the deep inner confirming pathos of God, His love for you and, in the end, a genius plan for your life. God really does have a genius plan for your life. This plan will help you to make a difference for Him in this world. That plan is, again, in simplest reduction, to live for the greater glory of God.

CHAPTER 2

IMAGINATION IN THE BIBLE

Imagination as a concept is not absent from the Bible. However, the precise idea of imagination is somewhat inconspicuous due to “lost in translation” issues. Looking briefly at the relevant verses, the scriptures most directly speak of imagination in the context of the heart of man being bent toward evil. The Lord is described as lamenting over His creation because the imagination of Man’s heart is evil from his youth.35 The Prophets echo this thought many times.36 In contrast to Man’s imagination being bent on doing evil, it is the Prophets of God who received visual images (visions) and dreams of God. Visions and dreams are, in their essence, a function of imagination. Apocalyptic visionary experiences by men of God abound in the scriptures. Some examples are the life of Joseph in both dreaming and interpreting dreams;37 the Prophet Isaiah in seeing the throne of God and the Deity Himself in His majesty in a vision in his mind,38 or Ezekiel, (probably the most mystical of all the Prophets), who saw visions of God's glory and the “Living Beings” who carried the

35 Genesis 6:5; 8:21. 36 Jeremiah 7:24, 9:14, 16:12, 18:12; Lamentations 3:60; Nahum 1:9. 37 See Genesis 37 and 40-41. 38 See Isaiah 6. 16 Deity, (i.e. Ezekiel's "whirling wheels").39 Daniel is another great example of a Prophet, who “saw” in visionary form, the entire history of the world and of the Nations,40 and one cannot omit the Apostle Paul, also a Prophet, who had open visions of the heavens wherein he was “caught up” to the third heaven.41 Finally, there is the visionary extraordinaire himself, the Apostle John, who most impressively received his massive, opus, vision and “revelation of Jesus Christ” in his mind and wrote it down in what we now know today as the . Many, many, other examples could be cited and added to this list.

Were these great men of the scriptures just a bunch of subjective fantasizers suffering over active imaginations? Or does imagination have something to do with our ability to communicate with God? The objective of this work is to persuade you that it does, that it is substantially connected to communicating with God, and that imagination and visualization are a key way that God desires to speak with us. On these claims, it is offered that the practice and discipline of developing your imagination (plus a little bit of instructive information), is the only thing that separates you from a profound new experience of knowing and hearing God in a direct, personal and powerful way.

Why is this information not better known and propagated in the churches? And why does Western culture seem to ignore and remain so disinterested in this important paradigm and perspective of life. The answer is that there are powerful forces working against the dissemination of imagination based communication with God. The institution known as the Western scientific method has forced down upon Western culture its “scientific method” which has been ever working to displace man as, (or emancipate him from), a true and direct source of thought and imagination. Modern science, since the time of the Enlightenment, has persistently sought to deny Western culture the experience and intelligence of imagination by grounding western thought in cognitive skills that eschew a right brain hemispheric development and practice. The Western scientific model essentially rejects the world of imagination and its connection to the supernatural. Moreover, modern science misapplies the use of the so called “Ocham’s razor”42 in order to shave away metaphysical (spiritual) truth and reality. William of Ocham, (1287-1347), a Franciscan Order friar, theologian and philosopher and the originator of this theory stated his rule with relative elegance by affirming that when you have two competing theories that make exactly the same predictions, the simpler, less complex theory is the better one. Isaac Newton restated Ocham’s rule to say, “we are to admit no more causes of natural things than such as are both true and sufficient to

39 See Ezekiel 1 and 10. 40 See Daniel 7, 8, 9 and 11. 41 See 2 Corinthians 12:2-6. 42 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razor. 17 explain their appearance.” This reasonable restatement of Ocham’s razor was reworked by Physicist Stephen Hawking who took Newton’s modification to a whole new level in his work, A Brief History of Time, wherein Hawking says:

"We could still imagine that there is a set of laws that determines events completely for some supernatural being, who could observe the present state of the universe without disturbing it. However, such models of the universe are not of much interest to us mortals. It seems better to employ the principle known as Occam's razor and cut out all the features of the theory that cannot be observed."43

Happily, the mystics44 know more than Hawking does.

The mystic believes that the "primordial images of creation are encoded in our brain and tissues in such a manner that imagining always involves a transformation that is holographic or holomoving in power."45 The mystics, which would include all of the biblical characters identified above, and all of their spiritual progeny, have received images from God in their mind. So, the question comes, will God speak to you too? The answer is an unequivocal “yes”! Read on and learn how you can communicate with God by use of your imagination.

On an inner "screen" by which we all “see” images in our mind, God can and will speak to you. For example, try this: close your eyes and imagine your parents; now imagine your spouse; now your child or sibling. Did you see these people in your mind? Right there, with images like you just saw in your mind, God will speak to you. How simple and subtle it is. Now, just so you don’t miss this, try it again. See yourself sitting in your car, see yourself sitting in your church, see yourself sitting in your eighth-grade classroom. Now go in reverse order as fast as you can. See yourself in your classroom, in church, in your car. Do you see how fast, easy and fluid this process is? Incredibly, neither time, nor distance has any margin of influence here. “Seeing” by imagination in your mind is very easy and it transcends space and time. In the above exercise, you brought up images from your memories – i.e. what your parent, spouse or child looks like. But you can also create images out of nothing. You can create any scene that you can think of, or hear of. Like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden or Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. You can meet with Jesus Christ on the beach in Galilee46 or on your favorite beach. It is yours to create and imagine.

43 Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time, 2001. 44 See footnote 19. 45 Ibid., De Nicolas, p. 69. 46 Matthew 13:1. 18 More impressively, God can put images in your mind. This is usually called a vision. Nearly all the prophets of the Bible received some, if not many, of their messages from God in this way. The next question is, what if you create scenes of the Bible in your mind, carefully building a detailed visual image on your inner screen. Does that in any way prevent God from using or speaking to you through that image? Speaking to you in the language of created images? Moreover, can God add to or move the image that you create in your mind holographically, (i.e. like a movie or video game), after you create it? And who created imagination? The fact is, God is already in your imagination at an intimate level.

You understand my thought from afar.… And are intimately acquainted with all my ways47

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight48

Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?49

These are the building blocks of imaginative prayer. You must be the judge of whether this is a valid and authentic means of communication with God.

CHAPTER 3

LOOKING FOR DETAIL

An highly useful technique to consider in working with your imagination and a means by which many of the Prophets handled their visions and dreams or visual communications from God, is the idea of "looking."50 When the Prophets received a vision they were not casual about its appearance on the mind's inner screen. They actively focused on them and pressed for detail in these images. They looked and kept on looking until they saw everything, each and every detail they had received, on their mind’s image screen. A great example of this concept is found in Daniel chapter 7 where Daniel receives a major revelation (imagination/vision) from God about the future. As Daniel received these visions in [his] mind51 about four beasts representing

47 Psalm 139:2-3. 48 Psalm 19:14. 49 Matthew 9:4. 50 Supra, Virkler, p. 182. 51 Daniel 7:1. 19 the rise and fall of four empires (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and ), Daniel says:

I was looking in my vision (v. 2) I kept looking (v. 4) I kept looking (v. 6) I kept looking (v. 7) I kept looking (v. 9) I kept looking… I kept looking (v. 11) I kept looking (v. 13) I kept looking (v. 21)

Exactly nine times in chapter 7, Daniel states that he “kept looking” at the vision in his mind, a vision from God, a mental image existing solely within his imagination. He kept looking until he had seen and registered everything he could see of that visual image. Daniel remained focused, exercising great patience and discipline to get all the information that was given to him at this special moment in his life. Daniel’s mental discipline must have been extraordinary to sustain his attention as long as he did in the vision. We are told that at the end of Daniel’s similar visionary experience in Daniel 8, that “Daniel was exhausted.”52 He was also “astounded” by the vision.

The Prophet Ezekiel and the Prophet Zechariah use the identical language of Daniel to express their visionary experiences which they received from God. Ezekiel says in chapter 1 of his book that he saw “visions of God”:

As I looked, behold a storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually…53

Now as I looked at the living beings, behold, there was one wheel on the earth beside the living beings, for each of the four of them (v. 15).

Prophet Zechariah uses this same particular language in his visions.54 The essential point here is that these Mystics practiced the art of “looking” intently at the images or visions in their mind. They focused on it until they mastered it, had it all, and were able to make it useful for the glory of God. Antonio De Nicolas’ observations on this point are highly instructive:

This strategy of Ignatius, then, which is so demanding, rests more on the actual technologies of imagining than on images. Thus, his insistence on technology: concentration in order to bring out the pure image, the uncontaminated image, the image in perfect solitude, the original image, the divine image. One cannot borrow it, one must

52 Daniel 8:27. 53 Ezeiel 1:4 54 Cf. Zechariah 1:18, 2:1, 5:1. 20 create it. The image created in meditation is the only image that will gain currency. In this creation all other images are automatically excluded. The whole technology developed in the Exercises has one aim: the perfect image, for it is in it and through it that God’s signs will appear. The image will turn to language and return to the public domain.55

CHAPTER 4

WAKE-UP!

What the New Testament experience is intended to be for every believer is, in part, a visionary one. You are supposed to have visions. Shifting to a visionary focus and expectation in one’s life is 'ground zero' to opening up a new level of communication with, and experience with, the Deity through His Spirit. The Holy Spirit is an active participant in your vision and imagination adventure. An important part of this process is "waking- up" (if you will) to experiencing God in dreams and visions:

Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.56

The book of Acts says:

I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams.57

We are instructed to:

"look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."58

Plainly, New Testament believers are to be led by the Spirit and look for visions. Believers should therefore be encouraged to practice the use of their right-brain faculties of vision and imagination in order to come into deeper communication with God and be led and guided in our lives by the Spirit interacting on our inner visions and imagination.

55 Supra, De Nicolas, pg. 41. 56 Ephesians 5:14. 57 Acts 2:17. 58 2 Corinthians 4:18. 21 Moreover, waking and sleeping are somewhat interchangeable. What we see in our physical world is tangible and real and the laws of Newtonian physics must be applied and obeyed. However, biblical revelation presupposes that what is spiritual is primary and real over and above physical reality. Jesus Christ proved this over and over again by His miracles. Ironically, it is when we sleep that we in some sense awake to the spiritual world in dreams and visions. In this foggy, surreal, dream world we can interact and communicate with the spiritual world, i.e. the other real world. The Apostle Paul had this experience in Acts chapter 22. The scriptures say:

It happened when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I fell into a trance, and I saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’ And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in You. And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him.’ And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.59

Note that Paul, in a transient, subconscious catatonic state, has an open, express and intelligent dialogue with Jesus. Thus sleeping, (in a trance), and envisioning therein, Paul awakes to ultimate reality and engages in a direct intellectual exchange with Jesus. A private conversation with Jesus that had direct and immediate significance to his life. The only thing we are told that Paul was doing just prior to falling into the trance was praying. Perhaps he was imagining himself with Jesus in conversation?

This prayer process may begin by "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith."60 One way to fix your eyes on Jesus is to close them and imagine yourself sitting on the beach right next to Jesus:

That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea.61

Just take a minute and imagine yourself sitting right next to Jesus on the beach. Look directly at Him and smile big right at Him. Tell Him whatever is most important on your mind. Be patient, watch, look, and see what happens next. The results will be quite remarkable if you try this.62 This technique could not be safer or more

59 Acts 22:17-20. 60 Hebrews 12:2. 61 Matthew 13:1. 62 Supra, De Nicolas, p. 41. “The exercises have one aim: the perfect image, for it is in it and through it that God’s signs will appear.” 22 highly recommended. The idea of imagining as a method of communication with God has been the secret of the Jesuits since Ignatius Loyola developed his Spiritual Exercises in the Sixteenth century. The Holiness and Pentecostal movements of the early 20th century and the Charismatic renewal of the early 1960’s have been slowly building into this concept but have failed to articulate it clearly and directly until the more recent works by Dr. Virkler. So, let's take a closer look at the works of De Nicolas and Virkler and analyze, (left brain), the elements of imagination and vision in the life of a believer, (right brain), who desires to create a deeper connection with God through the right brained use of their faculties in prayer, imagination and seeking God.

CHAPTER 5

IMAGINATION, MEMORY AND LOVE

Antonio De Nicolas' work titled “Powers of Imagining” is a 90 page, upper-tier literary work that should not be tackled by the academically faint of heart. De Nicolas is a first order philosopher and a Jesuit, deeply convicted of the spiritual values found in Ignatius' Spiritual Exercises. In his work "Powers of Imagining," De Nicolas presents various radical thoughts about imaginative prayer, some of which are staggering in scope, and are described in part below. To persuade you to agree with all of what De Nicolas has to say about the use of the imagination in prayer is not the objective of this writing. An introductory dialectic between Catholic and Protestant ideas on imaginative prayer is, and with the hope of distilling some spiritual practicum useful for the reader.

With that objective in mind, it was the express belief of De Nicolas that “imagination, memory and love are the cornerstones to fire the imagination with the images that flow from the will of God,” the will of God to include: the creation of the cosmos out of nothing and the creation of the earth and all its life forms. Likewise, it was the will of God that decided upon and brought forth the incarnation of the second member of the Trinity, the Son, Jesus Christ, onto the Earth and in time. This experience, says De Nicolas, is the experience of the Trinity, the God of the Creation. This experience, in turn, may be recovered or accessed, by action of love, and by using imaginative prayer. It is love that enables you to tap into the memories of the Deity in His creative acts from time immemorial. As De Nicolas says it: 23

Imagination, memory, and love form the cornerstone for gaining this experience which, because it does not appear in time requires the ability to create out of nothing, to fire the imagination with images not yet born.63

In clarifying De Nicolas' moody and poetic prose, what he is saying is that the memory of every soul is stored in the human mind and consciousness. Moreover, because we humans are "neurophysiologically connected [and] form a neural community,"64 we may therefore, in essence, gain access to God through the use of our living conscience, a conscience which is connected to the conscience of God in the man Jesus Christ. Remember, Jesus was fully human. His humanity is our door of access to the consciousness of God. Jesus said, I am the door. Therefore, we have access to God. Through Jesus we have access to the intelligence of God. We have the mind of Christ. 65 One way we can access all of this is by and through the act of imagination.

This idea may be a mouthful, but is arguably true on the grounds that our human community includes the man Jesus Christ, who is not dead, but is a living soul in heaven, a Man alive, back from the dead. He is the second member of the Trinity, and it was He that personally reconnected man with God, and it is His memories that may be accessed in the Spirit. This shocking thought must be true, for the scriptures clearly state that we have the mind of Christ. What else could this verse be said to mean? And assuredly, as De Nicolas points out, seeking to commune with the thoughts of God cannot be done with cavalier. It is a holy communion that can only be approached in love and humility and reverence. Pride has nothing to do with this communion and will not be allowed access. The forces of darkness and all their agents are identified, blocked and classified as: “Access Denied.”

This postulation of probing into the thoughts and memories of God may sound radical and fanciful, it may sound scary, but it is not without biblical support. At the time of Christ’s crucifixion, the veil of the temple that separated the holy of holies from the holy place was inexplicably torn in two.66 Thus, the Old Testament’s iconic symbol pointing to the wall of separation between man and God was split in two and an unobstructed way opened for Man to go back unto the holy presence of God. We now, in pure theological theory, have access to God, the spiritual ability to enter the holy of holies and symbolically return to God in the Garden of Eden. So enter in. You have been granted access through the door of Jesus Christ. You may now go back into the Garden and see it. You may experience it.

63 Supra, De Nicolas, p. 34. 64 Supra, De Nicolas, p. XX. 65 1 Corinthians 2:16. 66 Matthew 27:51. 24 So where is the access? Where is the door?67 Jesus said “I am the door”.68 If De Nicolas is to be believed, this gate of access includes communion with the mind of God, the very memories of God in the acts of creation,69 salvation and redemption. The result of practicing this imaginative faith is a sort of "secret communion of the saints"70 who dare to explore the available relationship and mind of God in the visual realm of your imagination. De Nicolas believes that the veil over the full and complete catalog of human memories can be lifted and memories can be observed in and through the act of imagination. Deeper still, De Nicolas speaks of imagining in community and, at the end, makes a significant discussion about the existence of an accessible public domain of memory. Thus, in De Nicolas’ mystical theory, the experience of creation may be remembered, the life of Christ may be remembered, the communion of the saints across the Church age may be imagined and remembered. Most will agree only that this is a radical paradigm of understanding. But it offers much to be considered, including a neurophysiological connection to all of life and, inscrutably, access to the mind of God.

CHAPTER 6

CHRISTIANITY AS MEMORIES

The idea of memory is larger than the mere personal history of mentally stored experiences of the individual. Proof of this is laid out in the fact that Christianity itself lives on in history only as a result of the power of memory. Yes, if De Nicolas is correct, not only could there be no Christianity without the life of Christ in the world, but neither could there be a Christianity without the memory of it transferring from disciple to disciple, and by extension, from generation to generation. Jesus said, do this in remembrance of me.71 Jesus also said, The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.72 Clearly, a multi-generational memory of Christianity lives on in our lives and will be transmitted to the lives

67 John 10:1-9. 68 John 10:7. 69 Jesus, the God-Man was the agent who created the world; e.g. “He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” John 1:2. 70 Supra, De Nicolas, p. xx 71 Luke 22:19. 72 John 14:26 25 of future generations. More intriguing, if humans are in fact "neurophysiologically connected” and we form a “neural community"73 there can therefore be shared memories, a public domain of common and shared memories, if you will.74 Again, this is a radical idea, but if we have the mind of Christ according to 1 Corinthians 2:16, what exactly does that mean? Do we have the mind of Christ but not share His memories? If we share His memories can we share each others? Perhaps we share just some of them. Close your eyes, imagine, and see.

Jesus was incarnated from His prior existence in eternity as the second person of the Trinity. Once incarnated, He became human and joined the community of humans. So when did Jesus, during His incarnation, come to access His full pre-existing eternal, omniscient mind? We can only speculate. Perhaps He did not. Perhaps the Holy Spirit, after His baptism at the Jordan, downloaded to His human mind on a real-time basis what He needed on a minute-by-minute basis. An uplink to the divine Godhead in heaven. Again, we will likely never know this information. Nevertheless, not knowing this does not change the fact that Christianity is an organization based fundamentally, and in part, on memories, including the memories of Christ’s life here on Earth which, if you choose to believe De Nicolas, are available to us through imagination.

It is through memories that we can come to know Christ more deeply, the things that He did on Earth, the entire life of Christ. And, importantly, we can have our lives changed, improved, healed and guided by the "active- present power of the memories of the past," (e.g. the resurrection of Christ), through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

CHAPTER 7

IMAGINATION AND MEMORY IN PRACTICE

"Memory mediates all human action: it is language, and it is divine human life."75

One important role of imagination is to connect us to memories. Thus, perhaps oddly, it is in the act of imagining that memories are accessed. Christianity is

73 Ibid., De Nicolas, p. XX. 74 Ibid., De Nicolas, p. 61. 75 Supra, De Nicolas, p. 36. 26 founded, quite fundamentally, on memories. Without dispute, Christianity is first and foremost the memory of the life of Jesus. All the things that He said, all the things that He did. It is no leap in the dark to claim that virtually everything that could be remembered about the life of Christ was orally reported by His disciples to everyone they could express those memories to. Jesus said, “do this in remembrance of Me.”76

Let’s explore the act of imagining memories. By creating an imagination in your mind, say of Jesus healing the blind man Bartimaeus,77 one must start the creative process and decide on the image that meets the criteria of the biblical scene. In deciding on a particular image of what Bartimaeus looks like, or what he is wearing, one necessarily excludes all other possible images. In the words of De Nicolas:

“This image born of faith, concentration and love of God is the most powerful image. It is not borrowed or constituted from some other source, it is made out of the sheer power of one's imagination.”78

Thus, the images in the imagination must be created by the mystic himself. It is therefore the mystic's pure image, uncontaminated and perfect. It is original in concept and the only image that will gain currency in connecting the individual soul to the memories of Christianity. Remember the Psalmist’s prayer: Let the … meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight. God is involved in the process. This memory, if you will, then also becomes an experience with God if the Mystic operates in humility and love. This process, done in sincerity, integrity, discipline, love and humility will connect the mystic to the supernatural love of God and signs will inevitably manifest for the believer.

The mystic's reward for engaging in the considerable work of creating the biblical scenes in imagination, the story line and the details of the life of Christ, is the visual access to these memories of Christ’s life and experiencing the supernatural signs that will manifest personally for the believer. Therefore, it is in creating these imaginations that God will certainly speak to the believer. Moreover, and incredibly, the scenes created in the imagination may take on a life of its own and become interactive.79 Many practitioners of this discipline can engage in two-way communication with God, including two-way conversation, such as relating directly with Jesus in scenes created in the imagination. It really just depends on the maturity of the practitioner, i.e. can you handle a two-way conversation with Jesus? De Nicolas recommends that you build yourself into the scene as one of the disciples or a bystander. In this way one can, at the right moment, or potentially as a

76 Luke 22:19. 77 Mark 10:46-52 78 Supra, De Nicolas, p. 41. 79 Acts 22:17. 27 spontaneous event in the imagination process, have direct interaction with Jesus Christ. This can be, as may be obvious, a deeply moving experience for the practitioner mystic. At minimum, the believer is looking for "signs" according to the parlance of Ignatius Loyola.80 Signs from God may be in the form of “desolation” (which according to Loyola, means negative, disturbing and disquieting feelings or senses), or “consolation” (positive, uplifting, joyful and happy feelings or senses), but that's not all. A mystic in conducting imagination exercises may be surprised to find very personal, specific information from God, profoundly moving or directional for one’s life. And this of course is the ultimate point and goal, to connect with God, discover more specifically and specially His presence and relationship with you and, by His grace, His divine guidance to His perfect will for your life. This is without question the golden key of life, to connect with God and know your destiny and therein achieve the greatest glory for God in your life.

CHAPTER 8

SENSITIZING THE IMAGINATION

A very important element in making imaginative prayer exercises a successful experience is to "sensitize" the image. More specifically, to “sensitize” the image means that once you, “the mystic,” create in your mind the desired imaginatory scene, you replay in your mind the entire sequence of events, again and again, each time adding into the scene one of the five sensory perceptions. For example, after creating the imaginatory visual sequence of Jesus healing blind Bartimaeus outside the city of Jericho - replay the imagination sequence again. This time, however, add into the imagination all things that could possibly be heard, such as the voices in the story line being spoken, background crowd noise, background chatter, birds chirping, other animal noises that the imaginer sees, wind noise, water noise, worker noises if any - add in virtually all possible noise that might be present in the scene. Exactly which noises are yours to create, you may add in any noise that adds to the imaginary scene and does not deviate from the biblical “screen play” if you will.

After adding in every detail that may be heard, create another layer by replaying the scene again in your mind

80 Supra, De Nicolas, p. 53-56. 28 and this time putting in every appropriate sense of smell. Follow this sequence again by adding in every sense of touch and physical feeling. Once again, add in any prospective sense of taste (with Bartimaeus’ scene there may not be much in the way of taste, however, in the miracle at Cana you might experience the smell and the taste wine for example). The last layer you may add in is the sense of emotion. What do you feel by way of emotion in the scene. What do you sense that others are feeling by way of emotion. After you have added in each layer of sensory perception you may run all the layers together and simultaneously.

By sensitizing the imagination sequence in this manner and running the imaginary scene separately as to each sensory perception, the image may begin to "articulate" for the mystic. It will speak to the mystic and signs will appear, whether of joy or confirmation, tears of love or sorrow, boundless happiness perhaps. When you experience this kind of emotional reaction it is at minimum a reasonable belief that there is confirmation that God is communicating with you. As expressed by De Nicolas:

“It is the exercise of imagining that makes possible the appearance of images and signs and the articulation of both as a language, .... Imagining ... if performed in all its purity will create signs and articulate itself into a language. It will force sensible signs to appear in the act of sensitizing the image of meditation.”81

For the Jesuit this is the ultimate goal. A communion with the Deity that is validated with “signs,” and which will guide the mystic into a life lived for the greater glory of God.

The mystic is always encouraged to perform the imagination exercises in association with an experienced guide who will be adept at helping the neophyte mystic recognize and "read" the signs presenting through the practice of imagination. Saint Ignatius' Spiritual Exercises were in fact written to the adept guide or instructor who will administer the exercises to the mystic disciple. The instructor will assist him in "reading" or understanding the signs that present, or possibly to help them get the signs to start flowing. Signs are the 'sine qua non', or test, as to whether the spiritual exercises are in fact working and are effective for the mystic. It is the guide or instructor who helps "read" the signs, as Ignatius put it. Discernment here is very important. You do not want to misread any signs or manifestations of the Lord. It is why Ignatius always emphasized having an instructor to assist in guiding one through the exercises. A talented guide will assist the neophyte mystic to understand any emotion, manifestation or vision so as to better know the will of God for his life.

81 Ignatius Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, #316, 317. 29

A final important thought to discuss in reference to working with your imagination and sensitizing the imaginatory scene, etc., is that this is not a form of idolatry when guided by the Holy Spirit. The book of Psalms points out that idols can do nothing. They are dumb. They do nothing. Psalm 115:4-8, says:

Their idols are silver and gold, The work of man’s hands. They have mouths, but they cannot speak; They have eyes, but they cannot see; They have ears, but they cannot hear; They have noses, but they cannot smell; They have hands, but they cannot feel; They have feet, but they cannot walk; They cannot make a sound with their throat. Those who make them will become like them, Everyone who trusts in them.

In creating a divine imagination, the images can do everything that one may do in the natural physical world and of course, much more than this. For example, flying in the dream state is a fairly common experience. At minimum, in the imaginatory realm, the images can speak, see, hear, smell, feel, walk and make sounds. Thus, by contrast, whatever dead idols cannot do, the imagination can. What the imagination can do, the idol cannot. [God] is not the God of the dead but of the living.82 The imagination is a living and fertile ground of communication and action. What happens in the imagination is closely connected to your destiny. What you see is what you can do. What you can imagine, you can achieve. Many a self-help guru will tell you this. The imagination is powerful. Everyone should be instructed to work with their imagination. It is not idolatry to use your imagination as a means to communicate with God.

CHAPTER 9

A MODEL FOR COMMUNION WITH GOD

Having considered the thoughts and writing of Antonio De Nicolas on imagination and prayer, it is of equal interest and value to consider the writings of Dr. Mark Virkler who has also written extensively on the subject of imagination and prayer in the context of communicating with the Deity.

82 Matthew 22:32. 30

Dr. Mark Virkler and his wife Patti, are founders of the ministry known as Communion with God Ministries.83 Dr. Virkler has developed a biblically based mystical model for communication with God and, as he puts it, “dialoging with God.” Dr. Virkler is also the founder and director of a budding University, Christian Leadership University84 an internet based University.

Dr. Virkler points out in his works that John 10:27 says: "My sheep hear My voice."85 This of course raises the question, ubiquitously asked by masses of the faithful who want to hear His voice, "how exactly do you do that?" Virkler's easy answer is, "hearing God's voice is as simple as quieting yourself down, fixing your eyes on Jesus, tuning to spontaneity, and writing"86 down what you hear and see in your heart and mind. Dr. Virkler's flagship book (of over 50 books authored) titled "4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice," (2010), presents a through paradigm of biblically based meditation in which left- brain faculties and function (man's analytical reason) is sublimated, if not dismissed, for a right-brain emphasized mysticism. In Virkler's view, God speaks to the mystic through the "language of the heart" by means of "flowing thoughts" and "flowing emotions." Virkler says of left-brain analytics:

Man's analytical reason, which is rebuked by Jesus four times in the Gospels, and never encouraged in the Scriptures. Left-brainers must be instructed to turn away from this or they will naturally do it when they seek to come into the Lord's presence.87

The "fuel" identified by Virkler for creating such a mystical and visual smorgasborg is, closely echoing De Nicolas, "faith, hope and love."88 Dr. Virkler's primary means for inviting the mystic to experience these thoughts and visions is appropriately a heavy reliance on the Holy Spirit to help and guide. An idea, which, again, is presented with strong biblical support.89 As with De Nicolas, Virkler is deeply critical of Western style, rationalism based, left-brain analytical thinking in trying to understand and hear from God. Biblical meditation, according to Virkler, is a right-brain, intuitive, heart- sourced, spirit communication with God. By asking the Holy Spirit to speak to you, and opening your heart to receive His divine communication, the mystic may tune to right-brain images, imagination, pictures and spontaneous thoughts in the mind. God's voice can in this way be heard. Dr. Virkler reduces the process down to a simple 4-step procedure:90

83 CWGMinistries.org 84 CLUOnline.Com 85 Supra, Virkler, p. 21. 86 Ibid., Virkler, p. 21. 87 Ibid., Virkler, p. 301 88 Ibid., Virkler, p. 301 89 Cf. John 7:38, 14:26; 16:13; Galatians 5:25. 90 Supra, Virkler, p. 301 31 1. God's voice as spontaneous thoughts and images that light upon the mind. 2. Quiet the mind: Consciously suppress worldly and daily activity thoughts so that you can hear God's voice more easily. 3. Look for vision or images on your inner screen as you pray to God. 4. Write down your prayer to God and the thoughts and images/pictures that light upon your mind.

CHAPTER 10

MYSTICISM BY TRANSCRIPT

Over and above the use of imagination to communicate with God in a direct and personal way, Virkler advises the use of a journal (or what could be considered a transcript) by which the mystic will, after moving through a careful quieting and focusing time, begin to "hear" and write down spontaneous thoughts that come into the mind. These thoughts are then written down as communications from God: God’s voice. Virkler affirms that God will also speak to us in pictures (or images) in our mind. These images may again be understood as God speaking to us and should be written down and described. Questions may be asked directly of the Deity, but the question should be written down first. This helps confirm and harden what the soul is communicating with God in the midst of a deeply subtle process of dealing with thoughts and inner visual images. By this method not only is there a written record (or transcript) of whatever was asked of God, but the response from the Deity is recorded as well. These responses are received by the mystic in the form of spontaneous thoughts coming to the mind. The record (or transcript, or journal) is to be written out "in the Spirit" and not criticized in real time during the meditation time with God; that is, the writing function is to be performed while simultaneously operating the mind and the heart solely through right-brain, intuitive, heart faith and love all working simultaneously under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Using this multifaceted protocol, according to Virkler, a pure record or transcript may be obtained, which may later be subjected to biblical and advisorial scrutiny after the fact. More specifically, the Mystic may critique (left brain) the transcript later with questions going to issues of biblical consistency and other authenticity tests in order to test and validate that the record is in fact divinely inspired and not merely sourced in the self. Critical analysis (left brain) should not be performed during the meditation (right brain) time as it will break down the meditation and 32 communion time with God. This process, when practiced, tuned and refined, will enable the mystic to "hear" the Deity speak, move one's emotions and even alter your entire life plan to be in sync with the will of God. This idea is not dissimilar from the expressions of De Nicolas relating to “signs” and living a life for the “greater glory of God.”

Dr. Virkler also indicates that there are caveats and traps to beware of in using this meditation process. A major point of warning that Dr. Virkler emphasizes is the question of what voice are you hearing? He specifies that:

• Spontaneous Positive Thoughts: are generally believed to be from the Holy Spirit. • Spontaneous Negative Thoughts: are generally believed to be from Satan/demons. • Analytical Thoughts: are generally believed to be from the Self.91

Interestingly, on this particular point, there is profound agreement with Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises. Loyola writes:

I presuppose that there are three kinds of thoughts in me: that is, one my own, which springs from my mere liberty and will; and two others, which come from without, one from the good spirit, and the other from the bad.92

Moreover, this analysis is closely related to another tri- part insight of Virkler, (if his method of meditation is accepted), which is that the inner screen of our mind (the screen on which we see images) is apparently an open-access network. Dr. Virkler affirms that there are three (3) separate sources that can produce images on our inner screen. Redundantly, they are: God, Satan and the Self.93 This may be a little bit unnerving to think of Satan instilling all manner of evil thoughts in our mind, but intuitively, this does check out. After all, where do you think all those evil little suggestions really come from? God perhaps?

This problem leads to Virkler's most intriguing method for tuning to and receiving images and spontaneous thoughts only from God. Dr. Virkler has identified the model of the Tabernacle of Moses in the wilderness as a metaphorical template for coming into the presence of God. Specifically, the layout and equipment and furniture in the Tabernacle of Moses in the wilderness are, not surprisingly, a deeply symbolic configuration that when meditated upon will help prepare ones heart and attitude to come into the Presence of the Holy Father and hear His voice speaking to you (John 10:47).

91 Ibid., Virkler, p. 303 92 Ignatius Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, paragraph 32, (1529). 93 Ibid., Virkler, p. 301-302 33 The Tabernacle, incidentally, is laid out from East to West. That is, as you enter from the East side and walk toward the West, you reach at the far end of the journey, the Ark of the Covenant representing the presence of God. The entry at the East side of the Temple is symbolic of reentry into the Garden of Eden from the East side - where Adam and Eve had previously exited the Garden.94 Man was sent out (excommunicated) of the Garden and a Cherubim was stationed at the East side of the Garden (our point of reentry when readmitted) with a sword drawn to prevent any unauthorized reentry. In the Garden, man had direct communion and fellowship with God,95 which is expressly re-opened to Moses at the Mercy Seat, i.e. from the top of the Ark of the covenant - and under the out stretched wings of the Cherubim on top of the Ark.96 Thus entering into the Temple from the East is a symbolic reacquiring of the status in the Garden of direct fellowship with God. Today all believers have direct access to God through Christ and no longer through Moses and the Priests. This is the point of the torn curtain in Temple at the moment of Jesus death on the cross. Today, every believer may enter the Tabernacle of Moses through imagination and see each article in the Tabernacle. Meditation on these objects can be used to seek and hear God’s voice, just as Moses did before the ark of the covenant.97

The particular items in your path, as you walk from East to West, through the tabernacle, toward the Ark of the Covenant, are in order:

1. The Altar 2. The Laver 3. The Table of Shewbread 4. The Golden Lamp Stand 5. The Altar of Incense 6. The Ark of the Covenant

Six steps toward the presence of God, Six items in your path. In biblical numerology, six is the number of Man. The Ark of the Covenant, representing the presence of God is of course behind the veil separating it from the other furniture. The veil symbolized the break in fellowship with God by Adam's rebellion by eating the forbidden fruit and the subsequent ejection from the Garden. Dr. Virkler's insight is that each piece of furniture is a spiritual metaphor and symbolic step for

94 Genesis 3:24. 95 Genesis 3:8 96 There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel. Genesis 25:22 97 Whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent; and the Lord would speak with Moses… Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. Exodus 33:9,11.

34 specific heart and mind attitude requirements in the approach to the holy presence of God. These requirements must be met in order to approach (reacquire) the direct presence and intellectual and emotional fellowship of God. This is a stunning insight. The symbolic meaning of each of the different pieces of furniture according to Virkler are as follows:

The Alter: Represents the sacrifice of Christ which must be accepted by faith and results in salvation. Absent the salvation of Christ by confession and belief,98 the mystic can proceed no farther into the presence of God. This is the core doctrine of the New Testament foreshadowed by the Old Testament sacrificial system involving the Brazen Alter. More specifically, it points to the sacrificial Passover lamb, the Lamb that was slain.99 At the Alter, the mystic must surrender the self totally to Christ and be crucified with Him - and identified with His death.100

The Laver: This is the place where the Priest washes his hands to cleanse himself ritually before going further into the Temple. The washing of the hands with water represents the word of God washing and cleansing us in all our daily actions;101 sanctification overtakes us as we become "doers of the word." The mystic before the laver must reflect upon a lifestyle of reading and obeying the word of God and, in turn, receiving sanctification thereby in order to proceed deeper into the Tabernacle (i.e. deeper into the presence of God).

The Table of Showbread: In the Tabernacle is a golden table which had twelve (12) loaves of bread on it, (the loaves are round and pancake shaped). According to Virkler, this bread is made from wheat grain that is crushed into fine flower and represents lost souls becoming saved souls. He bases this upon the parable of the sower.102 It therefore symbolizes, according to Virkler, our human will being crushed and thereby conformed to the will of God. The mystic must be willing to abandon his own will, i.e. have it crushed, in order to conform to the will of God and thereby proceed deeper into the Tabernacle.

The Showbread may also represent Christ in connection with the last supper and our sharing communion with Him. Jesus said I am the bread of life and equated eating his flesh (the bread of heaven) to having eternal life. Jesus said, truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. Jesus also said, give us this day our daily bread, invoking thankfulness and gratitude to God in our daily provision of necessities. This is

98 Romans 10:9-10. 99 Revelation 5:6-14. 100 Galatians 2:20. 101 Ephesians 5:26. 102 Matthew 13:18-23. 35 also reflected in Jesus' feeding of the five thousand including the final result of not merely 12 loaves of bread leftover, but 12 baskets of leftovers in "broken pieces."103 (i.e. symbolic of the 12 loaves on the table of showbread), We must be thankful for all God’s blessings and abundant provision.

The Golden Lamp Stand: The lamp stand provided light in the temple by burning olive oil - a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Every mystic needs to be filled with the illumination of the Holy Spirit to successfully proceed deeper into the Tabernacle.

Absent the indwelling and infilling of the Holy Spirit that comes through the baptism of the Holy Spirit,104 the believing mystic is but a candlestick having no oil to burn in their life in order to cause illumination. This is a fundamental and core doctrine of the New Testament.105

The lamp stand is therefore a place of reflection on being filled with the Holy Spirit and asking for the this infilling. The mystic must review their life to see if they are walking in the spirit.106

The Alter of Incense: This is the final piece of furniture in the path to the ark of the covenant. In the Old Testament the Priest burned incense every morning and evening on this alter, representing the worship and prayers of the Saints before God.107 It is possible for us to offer a continuous sacrifice of worship and praise to God108 through the infilling of the Holy Spirit. This brings our emotions under the control of the Holy Spirit and provides peace and balance when we are in the presence of God. The mystic must therefore be in a posture of worship in order to proceed deeper into the Tabernacle.

The Ark of the Covenant: The Ark symbolizes the direct and immediate presence of God and the full and complete fellowship with the Almighty Father. It was on the mercy seat (i.e. the flat top of the Ark of the Covenant) over which two golden Cherubim angels had spread their wings as a covering that God had promised to meet with Moses.109

Putting it all together under Virkler's visual meditation/journaling program and paradigm, the mystic may approach the presence of God and seek to hear His voice by visualizing each piece of furniture in order and asking the God, our Father at each station to communicate His thoughts regarding the symbolic item being contemplated. Each station prepares the mystic to

103 Luke 9:17. 104 Cf. Acts 2; 8:16-17; 10:44-46; 19:1-5; Ephesians 5:18. 105 Acts 10:44-46. 106 Romans 8:4; 2 Corinthians 12:8; Ephesians 2:2, 4:1 107 Revelation 8:3-4. 108 Hebrews 13:15. 109 Exodus 25:10-22 36 enter into fellowship with God. The mystic may ask the Holy Spirit at each step what the Holy Spirit wishes to say to you about that symbol and what is going on in your life about that symbolic issue. The mystic may get images, a word or thought, perhaps a verse of scripture comes to mind. The mystic may thus be instructed by God and or respond to God at each piece of furniture and imaginatively move closer to the desired objective as the Holy Spirit gives leading. Finally, when one reaches the Ark of the Covenant, and directly engages the full presence of God, the mystic will be in direct communion with God and express that in direct questions to the God by the journaling process. A virtual conversation with God, a time of fellowship and fireside chat, complete with a verbatim transcript will result. Dr. Virkler's literary work is full of sample journals of students and others who have experienced this dynamic mystical model successfully. Dr. Virkler's many additional helpful points of analysis in mystically approaching God by imagination and right-brain intuition based journaling is a compelling presentation.

CHAPTER 11

SIFTING OUT SPIRITUAL ERRATA

Successfully approaching the Heavenly Father to have direct, real-time conversation is an enormous spiritual achievement with great reward associated with it. This is not an unrealistic pursuit. The bible is largely about people who had a direct, bilateral conversation with God. Many today are partaking conversationally with the Lord. This method of imaginative prayer is in some sense a soft entry into achieving a true and visceral fellowship with God. Practicing these techniques will at minimum put you in a place of heightened confidence, faith and assurance in walking in God's plan for your life. Because of this truth, the enemy of our souls does not want you to be successful in this pursuit. He will seek to push you off this path, confuse you, delude you, trouble you and make you think these mystical methods and technologies are a lot of psycho-babble and fantasy and entirely meaningless.

Moreover, caution is warranted. Stepping off the true and biblical spiritual path of meditation can result in the experience of Nadab and Abihu in offering "strange fire" before the Lord.110 Remember that they got burned.

110 See Ftn. 5 above. 37 Touching the Ark without proper care and authorization can be a very dangerous business.111

Dr. Virkler points out a vital distinction in dealing with spiritual matters in contemporary culture, which is differentiating Christian mysticism from counterfeit mysticism and specifically that of the New Age. The New Age movement "embraces ideals and values that are very similar to Christianity" and therefore the differences between Christian and New Age mysticism should be carefully scrutinized, identified and marked for heightened awareness and attention. Dr. Virkler points out that the New Age movement is very interested in intuitive, heart sourced, visualization as well as other methods that are discussed and practiced in his Christian mystical method. This includes his journaling technique. Unfortunately, the New Age movement has no sacred text (i.e. the new age accepts virtually any so called sacred writing). For the reason that they lack a specially identified sacred text, like the bible, they therefore also lack an ultimate standard by which to guide and protect against error or danger which Satan, the great counterfeiter of the faith, may present. This is not to say that New Age followers lack any text; as stated, they have a very large body of literature and many sacred and venerated scriptures produced by many a guru and eastern-style holy man, yet they have no central sacred text by which any coherent, standardized epistemology may be formed. New Age-ism is therefore a broad, free flowing, unbounded, (many times self- contradicting) form of spiritualism. They lack a clear and centralized epistemology. They certainly do not have any fealty to the person and work of Jesus Christ, “the author and perfecter of faith.”112 The failure of the New Age to present an identified spiritual ground upon which to stand and discern spiritual error prevents them from any secure and ultimate basis to protect against evil.

Christians are interested in connecting with God (and only God) through the power of the Holy Spirit. New Age followers are open to almost any kind of spiritual being or practice without a filter of discernment as to whether they are sourced in good or evil. All spirit beings are presumed to be good in the New Age and they are inevitably subject to dealing with both. In developing a methodology of Christian mysticism both Dr. Virkler and De Nicolas expressly warn and caution of the subtleties and deceptions of Satan, and no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.113 Saint Ignatius spoke directly to this issue in his Spiritual Exercises as early as the ,

111 But when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out toward the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen nearly upset it. And the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God. 2 Samuel 6:6. 112 Hebrews 2:12. 113 2 Corinthians 11:14 38 (Spiritual Exercise No. 332-334). Ignatius says in relevant part:

[332] ... it is characteristic of the evil spirit, when he transforms himself into an angel of light, to go in with the devoted soul's way, but come out his own way. At first he will suggest good and holy thoughts that are in conformity with the disposition of a just soul; then, little by little he strives to gain his own ends by drawing the soul into his hidden deceits and perverse designs.

[334] ... when the enemy of human nature has been felt and recognized by his colorful serpent's tail, and the bad end to which he leads, it is useful for the person so tempted to examine at once the course of the good thoughts that were suggested to him by the devil. Let him consider their beginning and how the enemy set about little by little lowering that soul from the state of sweetness and spiritual joy it had, up to that point when he finally brought it to his perverse designs. With this experience and knowledge thus acquired and remembered, one may better guard himself in the future against the customary deceits of the enemy.

CHAPTER 12

SYNTHESIS

That there is profound congruity between the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises’ style of imaginative prayer and Dr. Virkler's method of hearing God through imagination coupled with intuitive, spontaneous thoughts being written down, hardly needs to be said. However, pointing out some common ideas and concepts may be useful for the reader in gaining a better grasp of the dynamics in working with imaginative prayer. Here are some take away thoughts agreed upon by both De Nicolas and Virkler:

1. For purposes of meditation, and particularly of imaginative prayer, dismissing Western rationalism’s left-brain domination of the mental faculties, indeed, sublimation of all left-brain analysis (e.g. speech, math, logical reasoning and analysis) is necessary. Visual and imagination based Meditation is a right- brain function and exercise. To get the process moving in the right-brain hemisphere the believer should consider using music, particularly worship music, to get the spiritual process started. Read a 39 favorite verse of scripture and try to visualize the image of each word in the verse, step by step. If the verse is not conducive to images, pick a different verse.

2. Consciously and expressly affirm your commitment to God, the creator, revealed in the Holy Scriptures. Expressly affirm your commitment to His purpose for your life. Expressly ask for guidance from the Holy Spirit.114 It is imperative that you move with humility and love into the presence of God.

3. Quiet your soul by seeking solitude, even silence, in your external environment (i.e. physically enter into your prayer closet) and consciously quiet the memory of daily activity and worldly thoughts in your mind. Virkler instructs to dismiss all thoughts of the day like the fact you forgot to pick up the dry cleaning or fill the car with gas. Turn your thoughts to being with Him and relating to Him in real time. A very easy way to begin relating to God is to envision yourself at the beach with Jesus right there next to you, see Matthew 13:1.

4. Love, faith and humility are necessary to move closer to God - it is love for God and serving Him that should be motivating you to proceed. Faith is already active by seeking to proceed forward in the mystical path. Deep humility is required. It is manifested by the submission of your will (i.e. by giving total control of your life to Christ at the Brazen Alter) to the perfect will of God.

5. Imagine as God leads. The reader may follow the highly organized and regimented series of biblical scenes in the life of Christ and of His miracles as prescribed by Ignatius' Spiritual Exercises, or you may allow spontaneous images and thoughts to come to your mind as you meditate on the word of God. Virkler’s imagination path through the Tabernacle of Moses may be used. Or the reader may present a specific pressing question that has been written down and submitted to God through imagination and meditation under Dr. Virkler's model. In each of these methodologies, imagination and visualization are core conceptual elements that can be used to connect you to God.

When an image comes to your mind in meditation, or you create a visual picture by imagining a biblical scene, look closely at it, see as much detail in it as you possibly can. You are looking for little details, little distinctions, subtle things like color, location, identification of individuals, virtually any information, inference or symbolic association that can be made by looking for these details.

114 John 14:16-17, 26; 16:8, 13-14, 23 40 Be patient and see the image in your mind. Be open to it, let it come to you, have a feeling for it and see it. This takes effort and concentration. It takes patience and courage. You must rely on the Holy Spirit to guide you. Have love for God. It is not easy, which is why it is rewarding.

6. Caution and Beware. There is an "angel of light" who is actually an enemy and an imposter. Post meditation critique is important. Discernment is important. Finding biblical agreement with all your spiritual experience is a mandatory part of the exercise. Getting an idea or image in meditation and running with it unchecked is not wise.

7. Find a spiritual mentor or guide or instructor who can assist you in doing your spiritual exercises. Find someone mature in the Lord, someone you are comfortable with to share the intimate things that happen in prayer and meditation about your life. Find someone who is mature in the word of God and faith in Christ. The wisdom of this cannot be overstated.

8. Look for “Signs.” Signs of God's presence should manifest. Commonly, one should experience tears of joy or great release. Perhaps tears of repentance, relief from guilt bringing peace, a deep inner sense of peace. God may give you revelation of His will in your particular situation. Having an experience with God is an expected part of this exciting and engaging spiritual exercise. If this is not your experience after trying these methods, try again, use discipline, be patient and be serious. God rewards the diligent. If you still get nothing then pray, fast, seek counsel and try again. You will definitely connect with God if you practice these methods as described.

CHAPTER 13

CONCLUSION

When two distinct religious traditions, who are otherwise miles apart historically, liturgically, epistemologically, etc., develop independently a functionally common mystical methodology it probably should be considered as suggestive of something very substantial and important. This kind of validating consonance and agreement may be viewed as highly instructive. This paradigm of visual meditation is not presented as a spiritual panacea or in any way a perfect prayer or ultimate method of connecting with God. It is a method of seeking to hear from God and which will 41 likely enable you to connect with Him. This writing is a literary comment on the use of imagination and visualization in biblical meditation and seeking to communicate with God. At minimum, the persuasive value of the information presented should be considered and will hopefully endear the reader to give serious thought about trying these methods of seeking to hear God’s voice in your life. It is also hoped that those who do make the effort to engage in visual techniques of prayer and meditation will successfully hear God speak to them in whatever trial or concern that is presenting in your life. We pray that you connect with God and hear his voice, find His plan for your life and experience His deliverance in your situation – whatever it is.

It is the sincere belief of this writer that when honestly and diligently applied, using visualization and imagination in your prayer and meditation unto God will be profoundly uplifting. Making this method a practice in your life may very likely benefit you. As a practitioner of all the techniques and information provided in this work, this writer holds deep convictions as to the veracity and effectiveness of these spiritual methods. God is there and He will answer when you call.

When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me.115

115 Psalm 86:7 42 Appendix I

Excerpts from the Spiritual Exercises by Ignatius de Loyola

The following material represents the salient portions of Ignatius Loyola’s literary work, the Spiritual Exercises. Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises contain various styles of theological materials, ranging from good advice for ethical Christian behavior and living, to wisdom style literature and finally, to spiritual exercises in imagination wherein Loyola walks the reader through a very complete gallery of New Testament scenes to imagine, meditate and devote the soul unto God.

The following excerpts (shortened from approximately 100 pages down to 20) provide the reader an exposure to sections of Loyola’s work most relevant to meditation and imagination. The intent of providing these materials by Loyola is to assist in further insight and comparison of imagination practices. Most of Ignatius’ materials that speak to wisdom, sacrificial devotion and a life of spiritual self-discipline are omitted. A modest amount of the wisdom writing of Ignatius is left in so that the reader may have a flavor of this material as well. May the reader enjoy this ancient literature and appreciate what Ignatius Loyola was able to accomplish in this work of approximately circa 1548.

A special note for Protestants who hold objection to some of the ritual and style of the Catholic faith and particularly of the Jesuits. It is suggested for those who struggle with perceived errors of the Catholic faith to check your criticism. Mere literary references to Mother Mary, references to saying the “Hail Mary,” and references to other standardized forms of ritual found in the Catholic faith will not cause you to perish. The ideas presented in this writing and particularly those of Ignatius Loyola have great benefit and insight for the believer that can advance your meditation experience with God and your relationship with Him. It would be unfortunate if minor prejudices against Catholic ritual could be the final block to your own spiritual growth such that this information proves of no value to your faith walk in God.

• • • • •

43

EXCERPTS FROM

The Spiritual Exercises

of

St. Ignatius of Loyola

By: Ignatius de Loyola

IHS

ANNOTATIONS

TO GIVE SOME UNDERSTANDING OF THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES WHICH FOLLOW, AND TO ENABLE HIM WHO IS TO GIVE AND HIM WHO IS TO RECEIVE THEM TO HELP THEMSELVES

First Annotation. The first Annotation is that by this name of Spiritual Exercises is meant every way of examining one’s conscience, of meditating, of contemplating, of praying vocally and mentally, and of performing other spiritual actions, as will be said later. For as strolling, walking and running are bodily exercises, so every way of preparing and disposing the soul to rid itself of all the disordered tendencies, and, after it is rid, to seek and find the Divine Will as to the management of one’s life for the salvation of the soul, is called a Spiritual Exercise.

Second Annotation. The second is that the person who gives to another the way and order in which to meditate or contemplate, ought to relate faithfully the events of such Contemplation or Meditation, going over the Points with only a short or summary development. For, if the person who is making the Contemplation, takes the true groundwork of the narrative, and, discussing and 44 considering for himself, finds something which makes the events a little clearer or brings them a little more home to him -- whether this comes through his own reasoning, or because his intellect is enlightened by the Divine power -- he will get more spiritual relish and fruit, than if he who is giving the Exercises had much explained and amplified the meaning of the events. For it is not knowing much, but realizing and relishing things interiorly, that contents and satisfies the soul.

Third Annotation. The third: As in all the following Spiritual Exercises, we use acts of the intellect in reasoning, and acts of the will in movements of the feelings: let us remark that, in the acts of the will, when we are speaking vocally or mentally with God our Lord, or with His Saints, greater reverence is required on our part than when we are using the intellect in understanding.

Fourth Annotation. The fourth: The following Exercises are divided into four parts:

First, the consideration and contemplation on the ; Second, the life of Christ our Lord up to Palm Sunday inclusively; Third, the Passion of Christ our Lord; Fourth, the Resurrection and Ascension, with the three Methods of Prayer. Though four weeks, to correspond to this division, are spent in the Exercises, it is not to be understood that each Week has, of necessity, seven or eight days. For, as it happens that in the First Week some are slower to find what they seek -- namely, contrition, sorrow and tears for their sins -- and in the same way some are more diligent than others, and more acted on or tried by different spirits; it is necessary sometimes to shorten the Week, and at other times to lengthen it. The same is true of all the other subsequent Weeks, seeking out the things according to the subject matter. However, the Exercises will be finished in thirty days, a little more or less.

Fifth Annotation. The fifth: It is very helpful to him who is receiving the Exercises to enter into them with great courage and generosity towards his Creator and Lord, offering Him all his will and liberty, that His Divine Majesty may make use of his person and of all he has according to His most Holy Will.

Sixth Annotation. The sixth: When he who is giving the Exercises sees that no spiritual movements, such as consolations or desolations, come to the soul of him who is exercising himself, and that he is not moved by different spirits, he ought to inquire carefully of him about the Exercises, whether he does them at their appointed times, and how. So too of the Additions, whether he observes them with diligence. Let him ask in detail about each of these things. Consolation and 45 desolation are spoken of on p. 170; the Additions on p. 22.

Seventh Annotation. The seventh: If he who is giving the Exercises sees that he who is receiving them is in desolation and tempted, let him not be hard or dissatisfied with him, but gentle and indulgent, giving him courage and strength for the future, and laying bare to him the wiles of the enemy of human nature, and getting him to prepare and dispose himself for the consolation coming.

Eighth Annotation. The eighth: If he who is giving the Exercises sees that he who is receiving them is in need of instruction about the desolations and wiles of the enemy -- and the same of consolations -- he may explain to him, as far as he needs them, the Rules of the First and Second Weeks for recognizing different spirits.

Ninth Annotation. The ninth is to notice, when he who is exercising himself is in the Exercises of the First Week, if he is a person who has not been versed in spiritual things, and is tempted grossly and openly -- having, for example, suggested to him obstacles to going on in the service of God our Lord, such as labors, shame and fear for the honor of the world -- let him who is giving the Exercises not explain to him the Rules of the Second Week for the . Because, as much as those of the First Week will be helpful, those of the Second will be harmful to him, as being matter too subtle and too high for him to understand.

Tenth Annotation. The tenth: When he who is giving the Exercises perceives that he who is receiving them is assaulted and tempted under the appearance of good, then it is proper to instruct him about the Rules of the Second Week already mentioned. For, ordinarily, the enemy of human nature tempts under the appearance of good rather when the person is exercising himself in the Illuminative Life, which corresponds to the Exercises of the Second Week, and not so much in the Purgative Life, which corresponds to those of the First.

…

Twelfth Annotation. The twelfth: As he who is receiving the Exercises is to give an hour to each of the five Exercises or Contemplations which will be made every day, he who is giving the Exercises has to warn him carefully to always see that his soul remains content in the consciousness of having been a full hour in the Exercise, and rather more than less. For the enemy is not a little used to try and make one cut short the hour of such contemplation, meditation or prayer. 46

Thirteenth Annotation. The thirteenth: It is likewise to be remarked that, as, in the time of consolation, it is easy and not irksome to be in contemplation the full hour, so it is very hard in the time of desolation to fill it out. For this reason, the person who is exercising himself, in order to act against the desolation and conquer the temptations, ought always to stay somewhat more than the full hour; so as to accustom himself not only to resist the adversary, but even to overthrow him.

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Twentieth Annotation. The twentieth: To him who is more disengaged, and who desires to get all the profit he can, let all the Spiritual Exercises be given in the order in which they follow.

In these he will, ordinarily, more benefit himself, the more he separates himself from all friends and acquaintances and from all earthly care, as by changing from the house where he was dwelling, and taking another house or room to live in, in as much privacy as he can, so that it be in his power to go each day to Mass and to Vespers, without fear that his acquaintances will put obstacles in his way.

From this isolation three chief benefits, among many others, follow.

The first is that a man, by separating himself from many friends and acquaintances, and likewise from many not well-ordered affairs, to serve and praise God our Lord, merits no little in the sight of His Divine Majesty.

From this isolation three chief benefits, among many others, follow.

The first is that a man, by separating himself from many friends and acquaintances, and likewise from many not well-ordered affairs, to serve and praise God our Lord, merits no little in the sight of His Divine Majesty.

The second is, that being thus isolated, and not having his understanding divided on many things, but concentrating his care on one only, namely, on serving his Creator and benefiting his own soul, he uses with greater freedom his natural powers, in seeking with diligence what he so much desires.

The third: the more our soul finds itself alone and isolated, the more apt it makes itself to approach and to reach its Creator and Lord, and the more it so approaches Him, the more it disposes itself to receive graces and gifts from His Divine and Sovereign Goodness. 47

SPIRITUAL EXERCISES

TO CONQUER ONESELF AND REGULATE ONE’S LIFE WITHOUT DETERMINING ONESELF THROUGH ANY TENDENCY THAT IS DISORDERED

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FIRST WEEK

PRINCIPLE AND FOUNDATION

Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.

And the other things on the face of the earth are created for man and that they may help him in prosecuting the end for which he is created.

From this it follows that man is to use them as much as they help him on to his end, and ought to rid himself of them so far as they hinder him as to it.

For this it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things in all that is allowed to the choice of our free will and is not prohibited to it; so that, on our part, we want not health rather than sickness, riches rather than poverty, honor rather than dishonor, long rather than short life, and so in all the rest; desiring and choosing only what is most conducive for us to the end for which we are created.

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GENERAL EXAMEN OF CONSCIENCE

TO PURIFY ONESELF AND TO MAKE ONE’S CONFESSION BETTER

I presuppose that there are three kinds of thoughts in me: that is, one my own, which springs from my mere liberty and will; and two others, which come from without, one from the good spirit, and the other from the bad.

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FIRST EXERCISE

IT IS A MEDITATION WITH THE THREE POWERS ON THE FIRST, THE SECOND AND THE THIRD SIN

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48 Prayer. The Preparatory Prayer is to ask grace of God our Lord that all my intentions, actions and operations may be directed purely to the service and praise of His Divine Majesty.

First Prelude. The First Prelude is a composition, seeing the place.

Here it is to be noted that, in a visible contemplation or meditation -- as, for instance, when one contemplates Christ our Lord, Who is visible -- the composition will be to see with the sight of the imagination the corporeal place where the thing is found which I want to contemplate. I say the corporeal place, as for instance, a Temple or Mountain where Jesus Christ or [Mary] is found, according to what I want to contemplate. In an invisible contemplation or meditation -- as here on the Sins -- the composition will be to see with the sight of the imagination and consider that my soul is imprisoned in this corruptible body, and all the compound in this valley, as exiled among brute beasts: I say all the compound of soul and body.

Second Prelude. The second is to ask God our Lord for what I want and desire.

The petition has to be according to the subject matter; that is, if the contemplation is on the Resurrection, one is to ask for joy with Christ in joy; if it is on the Passion, he is to ask for pain, tears and torment with Christ in torment.

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Second Point. The second is to do the same -- that is, to bring the Three Powers -- on the sin of Adam and Eve, bringing to memory how on account of that sin they did for so long a time, and how much corruption came on the human race, so many people going the way to Hell.

I say to bring to memory the Second Sin, that of our First Parents; how after Adam was created in the field of Damascus and placed in the Terrestrial Paradise, and Eve was created from his rib, being forbidden to eat of the Tree of Knowledge, they ate and so sinned, and afterwards clothed in tunics of skins and cast from Paradise, they lived, all their life, without the original justice which they had lost, and in many labors and much penance. And then to discuss with the understanding more in detail; and to use the will as has been said.

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SECOND WEEK … 49

THE FIRST DAY AND FIRST CONTEMPLATION IT IS ON

THE INCARNATION

AND CONTAINS THE PREPARATORY PRAYER, THREE PRELUDES, THREE POINTS AND ONE COLLOQUY …

Here, it is how the Three Divine Persons looked at all the plain or circuit of all the world, full of men, and how, seeing that all were going down to Hell, it is determined in Their Eternity, that the Second Person shall become man to save the human race, and so, the fullness of times being come, They sent the Angel St. Gabriel to [Mary].

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THE SECOND CONTEMPLATION IS ON THE NATIVITY

… First Prelude. The first Prelude is the narrative and it will be here how [Mary] went forth from Nazareth, about nine months with child, as can be piously meditated, seated on an ass, and accompanied by Joseph and a maid, taking an ox, to go to Bethlehem to pay the tribute which Caesar imposed on all those lands.

Second Prelude. The second, a composition, seeing the place. It will be here to see with the sight of the imagination the road from Nazareth to Bethlehem; considering the length and the breadth, and whether such road is level or through valleys or over hills; likewise looking at the place or cave of the Nativity, how large, how small, how low, how high, and how it was prepared.

First Point. The first Point is to see the persons; that is, to see [Mary] and Joseph and the maid, and, after His Birth, the Child Jesus, I making myself a … slave, looking at them and serving them in their needs, with all possible respect and reverence, as if I found myself present; and then to reflect on myself in order to draw some profit.

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THE SECOND DAY

Second Day. For first and second Contemplation to take the Presentation in the Temple and the Flight to Egypt as into exile, and on these two Contemplations will be made two repetitions and

50 the Application of the Five Senses to them, in the same way as was done the preceding day.

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THE THIRD DAY

Third Day. How the Child Jesus was obedient to His Parents at Nazareth, and how afterwards they found Him in the Temple, and so then to make the two repetitions and apply the five senses.

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THE FOURTH DAY MEDITATION ON TWO STANDARDS

The one of Christ, our Commander-in-chief and Lord; the other of Lucifer, mortal enemy of our human nature.

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His standard; and Lucifer, on the contrary, under his. …

THE FIFTH DAY

Fifth Day. Contemplation on the Departure of Christ our Lord from Nazareth to the River Jordan, and how He was baptized.

First Note. This Contemplation will be made once at midnight and a second time in the morning, and two repetitions on it at the hour of Mass and Vespers, and the five senses will be applied on it ….

THE SIXTH DAY

Sixth Day. Contemplation how Christ our Lord went forth from the River Jordan to the Desert inclusive, taking the same form in everything as on the fifth.

THE SEVENTH DAY

Seventh Day. How St. Andrew and others followed Christ our Lord (p. 142).

THE EIGHTH DAY

Eighth Day. On the Sermon on the Mount, which is on the Eight Beatitudes.

51 THE NINTH DAY

Ninth Day. How Christ our Lord appeared to His disciples on the waves of the sea.

THE TENTH DAY

Tenth Day. How the Lord preached in the Temple.

THE ELEVENTH DAY

Eleventh Day. On the raising of Lazarus.

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THREE TIMES

FOR MAKING, IN ANY ONE OF THEM, A SOUND AND GOOD ELECTION

First Time. The first time is, when God our Lord so moves and attracts the will, that without doubting, or being able to doubt, such devout soul follows what is shown it, as St. Paul and St. Matthew did in following Christ our Lord.

Second Time. The second, when enough light and knowledge is received by experience of consolations and desolations, and by the experience of the discernment of various spirits.

Third Time. The third time is quiet, when one considers, first, for what man is born -- namely, to praise God our Lord and save his soul -- and desiring this chooses as means a life or state within the limits of the Church, in order that he may be helped in the service of his Lord and the salvation of his soul.

I said time of quiet, when the soul is not acted on by various spirits, and uses its natural powers freely and tranquilly.

If election is not made in the first or the second time, two ways follow as to this third time for making it.

THE FIRST WAY

TO MAKE A SOUND AND GOOD ELECTION

It contains six Points.

First Point. The first Point is to put before me the thing on which I want to make election, such as an office or benefice, either to take or leave it; or any 52 other thing whatever which falls under an election that can be changed.

Second Point. Second: It is necessary to keep as aim the end for which I am created, which is to praise God our Lord and save my soul, and, this supposed, to find myself indifferent, without any inclined or disposed to take the thing proposed than to leave it, nor more to leave it than to take it, but find myself as in the middle of a balance, to follow what I feel to be more for the glory and praise of God our Lord and the salvation of my soul.

Third Point. Third: To ask of God our Lord to be pleased to move my will and put in my soul what I ought to do regarding the thing proposed, so as to promote more His praise and glory; discussing well and faithfully with my intellect, and choosing agreeably to His most holy pleasure and will.

Fourth Point. Fourth: To consider, reckoning up, how many advantages and utilities follow for me from holding the proposed office or benefice for only the praise of God our Lord and the salvation of my soul, and, to consider likewise, on the contrary, the disadvantages and dangers which there are in having it. Doing the same in the second part, that is, looking at the advantages and utilities there are in not having it, and likewise, on the contrary, the disadvantages and dangers in not having the same.

Fifth Point. Fifth: After I have thus discussed and reckoned up on all sides about the thing proposed, to look where reason more inclines: and so, according to the greater inclination of reason, and not according to any inclination of sense, deliberation should be made on the thing proposed.

Sixth Point. Sixth, such election, or deliberation, made, the person who has made it ought to go with much diligence to prayer before God our Lord and offer Him such election, that His Divine Majesty may be pleased to receive and confirm it, if it is to His greater service and praise.

THE SECOND WAY

TO MAKE A GOOD AND SOUND ELECTION

It contains four Rules and one Note.

First Rule. The first is that that love which moves me and makes me choose such thing should descend from above, from the love of God, so that he who chooses feel first in himself that that love, more or less, which he has for the thing which he chooses, is only for his Creator and Lord. 53

Second Rule. The second, to set before me a man whom I have never seen nor known, and I desiring all his , to consider what I would tell him to do and elect for the greater glory of God our Lord, and the greater perfection of his soul, and I, doing likewise, to keep the rule which I set for the other.

Third Rule. The third, to consider, as if I were at the point of death, the form and measure which I would then want to have kept in the way of the present election, and regulating myself by that election, let me make my decision in everything.

Fourth Rule. The fourth, looking and considering how I shall find myself on the Day of Judgment, to think how I would then want to have deliberated about the present matter, and to take now the rule which I would then wish to have kept, in order that I may then find myself in entire pleasure and joy.

Note. The above-mentioned rules for my eternal salvation and peace having been taken, I will make my election and offering to God our Lord, conformably to the sixth Point of the First Way of making election.

TO AMEND AND REFORM ONE’S OWN LIFE AND STATE

It is to be noted that as to those who are settled in ecclesiastical office or in matrimony -- whether they abound much or not in temporal goods -- when they have no opportunity or have not a very prompt will to make election about the things which fall under an election that can be changed, it is very helpful, in place of making election, to give them a form and way to amend and reform each his own life and state. That is, putting his creation, life and state for the glory and praise of God our Lord and the salvation of his own soul, to come and arrive at this end, he ought to consider much and ponder through the Exercises and Ways of Election, as has been explained, how large a house and household he ought to keep, how he ought to rule and govern it, how he ought to teach and instruct it by word and by example; likewise of his means, how much he ought to take for his household and house; and how much to dispense to the poor and to other pious objects, not wanting nor seeking any other thing except in all and through all the greater praise and glory of God our Lord.

For let each one think that he will benefit himself in all spiritual things in proportion as he goes out of his self-love, will and interest.

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THIRD WEEK …

CONTEMPLATION TO GAIN LOVE

Note. First, it is well to remark two things: the first is that love ought to be put more in deeds than in words.

The second, love consists in interchange between the two parties; that is to say in the lover’s giving and communicating to the beloved what he has or out of what he has or can; and so, on the contrary, the beloved to the lover. So that if the one has knowledge, he give to the one who has it not. The same of honors, of riches; and so the one to the other.

CONTEMPLATION TO GAIN LOVE

Prayer. The usual Prayer.

First Prelude. The first Prelude is a composition, which is here to see how I am standing before God our Lord, and of the Angels and of the Saints interceding for me.

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THE MYSTERIES OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST OUR LORD

OF THE ANNUNCIATION OF [MARY]

St. Luke writes in the first Chapter [verse 26-39].

First Point. The first Point is that the Angel St. Gabriel, saluting [Mary], announced to her the Conception of Christ our Lord. «The Angel entering where Mary was, saluted her saying: ‘Hail full of grace. Thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son.’»

Second Point. The second, the Angel confirms what he said to [Mary], telling of the conception of St. John Baptist, saying to her: «‘And behold thy cousin Elizabeth hath conceived a son in her old age.’»

Third Point. The third, [Mary] answered the Angel: «‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to thy word!’»

OF THE BIRTH OF CHRIST OUR LORD

St. Luke speaks in the second Chapter [1-15].

55 First Point. First: [Mary] and her husband Joseph go from Nazareth to Bethlehem. «Joseph went up from Galilee to Bethlehem, to acknowledge subjection to Caesar, with Mary his spouse and wife, already with child.»

Second Point. Second: «She brought forth her first-born Son and wrapped Him up with swaddling clothes and laid Him in the manger.»

Third Point. Third: «There came a multitude of the heavenly army, which said: ‘Glory be to God in the heavens.’»

OF THE SHEPHERDS

St. Luke writes in the second Chapter [8-21].

First Point. First: The birth of Christ our Lord is manifested to the Shepherds by the Angel. «‘I manifest to you great Joy, for this day is born the Saviour of the world.»‘

Second Point. Second: The Shepherds go to Bethlehem. «They came with haste and they found Mary and Joseph, and the infant put in the manger.»

Third Point. Third: «The Shepherds returned glorifying and praising the Lord.»

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OF THE THREE MAGI KINGS

St. Matthew writes in the second Chapter [1-13].

First Point. First: The three Magi Kings, guiding themselves by the star, came to adore Jesus, saying: «‘We have seen His star in the East and are come to adore Him.’»

Second Point. Second: They adored Him and offered gifts to Him. «Falling down on the earth, they adored Him, and they offered Him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh.»

Third Point. Third: «They received answer while sleeping that they should not return to Herod, and went back by another way to their country.»

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OF THE COMING OF CHRIST TO THE TEMPLE WHEN HE WAS OF THE AGE OF TWELVE YEARS

St. Luke writes in the second Chapter [42-51].

56 First Point. First: Christ our Lord, of the age of twelve years, went up from Nazareth to Jerusalem.

Second Point. Second: Christ our Lord remained in Jerusalem, and His parents did not know it.

Third Point. Third: The three days passed, they found Him disputing in the Temple, and seated in the midst of the doctors, and His parents asking Him where He had been, He answered: «‘Did you not know that it behooves Me to be in the things which are My Father’s?’»

OF HOW CHRIST WAS BAPTIZED

St. Matthew writes in the third Chapter [13-17].

First Point. First: Christ our Lord, after having taken leave of His Blessed Mother, came from Nazareth to the River Jordan, where St. John Baptist was.

Second Point. Second: St. John baptized Christ our Lord, and wanting to excuse himself, thinking himself unworthy of baptizing Him, Christ said to him: «Do this for the present, for so it is necessary that we fulfill all justice.’»

Third Point. Third: «The Holy Spirit came and the voice of the Father from heaven affirming: ‘This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.’»

OF HOW CHRIST WAS TEMPTED

St. Luke writes in the fourth Chapter [1-14] and St. Matthew fourth Chapter [1-12].

First Point. First: After being baptized, He went to the Desert, where He fasted forty days and forty nights.

Second Point. Second: He was tempted by the enemy three times. «The tempter coming to Him said to Him: ‘If Thou be the Son of God, say that these stones be turned into bread.’ ‘Cast Thyself down from here.’ ‘If prostrate on the earth Thou wilt adore me, I will give Thee all this which Thou seest.’»

Third Point. Third: «The Angels came and ministered to Him.»

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OF THE FIRST MIRACLE PERFORMED AT THE MARRIAGE OF CANA, GALILEE

St. John writes Chapter 2 [1-12]. 57

First Point. First: Christ our Lord was invited with His Disciples to the marriage.

Second Point. Second: The Mother tells her Son of the failure of the wine, saying: «‘They have no wine,’»and bade the servants: «‘Whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye.’»

Third Point. Third: «He changed the water into wine and manifested His glory, and His Disciples believed in Him.»

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OF HOW CHRIST OUR LORD MADE THE TEMPEST OF THE SEA BE CALM

St. Matthew writes Chapter 8 [23-28].

First Point. First: Christ our Lord being asleep at sea, a great tempest arose.

Second Point. Second: His Disciples, frightened, awakened Him. Whom He reprehends for the little faith which they had, saying to them: «‘What do you fear, ye of little faith!’»

Third Point. Third: He commanded the winds and the sea to cease: and, so ceasing, the sea became calm: at which the men wondered, saying: «‘Who is this whom the wind and the sea obey?’»

OF HOW CHRIST WALKED ON THE SEA

St. Matthew writes Chapter 14 [22-34].

First Point. First: Christ our Lord being on the mountain, made His Disciples go to the little boat. And having dismissed the multitude, He commenced to pray alone.

Second Point. Second: The little boat was beaten by the waves. To which Christ came walking on the water; and the Disciples thought it was an apparition.

Third Point. Third: Christ saying to them: «‘It is I, fear not,’» St. Peter, by His command, came to Him walking on the water. Doubting, he commenced to sink, but Christ our Lord freed him and reprehended him for his little faith, and then, as He entered into the little boat, the wind ceased.

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OF HOW CHRIST OUR LORD GAVE TO EAT FIVE THOUSAND MEN 58

St. Matthew writes in the fourteenth Chapter [13-22].

First Point. First: The Disciples, as it was getting late, ask Christ to dismiss the multitude of men who were with Him.

Second Point. Second: Christ our Lord commands that they bring Him bread, and commanded that they should be seated at the table, and blessed and broke and gave the bread to His Disciples, and the Disciples to the multitude.

Third Point. Third: «They did eat and were filled and there were twelve baskets over.»

OF THE TRANSFIGURATION OF CHRIST

St. Matthew writes in the seventeenth Chapter [1- 14].

First Point. First: Taking along His beloved Disciples, Peter, James, John, Christ our Lord was transfigured, and His face did shine as the sun, and His garments as the snow.

Second Point. Second: He was speaking with Moses and Elias.

Third Point. Third: St. Peter saying that they would make three tabernacles, a voice from heaven sounded, which said: «‘This is My beloved Son, hear ye Him!’» When His Disciples heard this voice, they fell for fear on their faces; and Christ our Lord touched them and said to them: «‘ Arise and fear not. Tell this vision to no one until the Son of Man be risen.’»

OF THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS

John, Chapter 11 [1-46].

First Point. First: Martha and Mary sent word to Christ our Lord of the illness of Lazarus. Knowing it, He delayed for two days, that the miracle might be more evident.

Second Point. Second: Before He raises him, He asks the one and the other to believe, saying: «‘I am the resurrection and life; he who believeth in Me, although he be dead, shall live.’»

Third Point. Third: He raises him, after having wept and prayed. And the manner of raising him was by commanding: «‘Lazarus, come forth!’»

OF THE SUPPER AT BETHANY

Matthew, Chapter 26 [1-14]. 59

First Point. First: The Lord sups in the house of Simon the Leper, along with Lazarus.

Second Point. Second: Mary pours the ointment on the head of Christ.

Third Point. Third: Judas murmurs, saying: «‘For what is this waste of ointment?’» But He a second time excuses Magdalen, saying: «‘Why are you troublesome to this woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon Me.’»

PALM SUNDAY

Matthew, Chapter 21 [1-12].

First Point. First: The Lord sends for the ass and the foal, saying: «Loose them and bring them to Me, and if any one shall say anything to you, say ye that the Lord hath need of them, and forthwith he will let them go.»

Second Point. Second: He mounted upon the ass, which was covered with the garments of the Apostles.

Third Point. Third: They went out to receive Him, strewing in the way their garments and the branches of the trees, saying: «‘Save us, Son of David, blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord: Save us in the heights!’»

OF THE PREACHING IN THE TEMPLE

Luke, Chapter 19 [47, 48].

First Point. First: He was every day teaching in the Temple.

Second Point. Second: The preaching finished, since there was no one who would receive Him in Jerusalem, He used to return to Bethany.

OF THE SUPPER

Matthew 26; John 13.

First Point. First: He ate the Paschal Lamb with His twelve Apostles, to whom He foretold His death. «‘In truth, I say to you that one of you is to sell Me.’»

Second Point. Second: He washed the Disciples’ feet, even those of Judas, commencing from St. Peter, who, considering the Majesty of the Lord and his own baseness, not wanting to consent, said: «Lord, dost Thou wash my feet?» But St. Peter did not know that in that He gave an example of

60 humility, and for this He said: «‘I have given you an example, that you may do as I did.’»

Third Point. Third: He instituted the most sacred sacrifice of the Eucharist, to be the greatest mark of His love, saying: «‘Take and eat.’» The Supper finished, Judas went forth to sell Christ our Lord.

OF THE MYSTERIES DONE FROM THE SUPPER TO THE GARDEN, INCLUSIVE

Matthew, Chapter 26, and Mark, Chapter 14.

First Point. First: The Supper finished, and singing the hymn, the Lord went to Mount Olivet with His Disciples, who were full of fear; and leaving the eight in Gethsemani, He said: «‘Sit ye here till I go yonder to pray.’»

Second Point. Second: Accompanied by St. Peter, St. James and St. John, He prayed three times to the Lord, saying: «‘Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from Me. Nevertheless, let not My will be done, but Thine.’» And being in agony, He prayed the longer.

Third Point. Third: He came into such fear, that He said: «‘My soul is sorrowful unto death,’» and He sweated blood so plentiful, that St. Luke says: «His sweat was as drops of blood which were running on the earth;» which supposes that the garments were already full of blood.

OF THE MYSTERIES DONE FROM THE GARDEN TO THE HOUSE OF ANNAS, INCLUSIVE

Matthew 26, Luke 22, Mark 15.

First Point. First: The Lord lets Himself be kissed by Judas and taken as a robber, to whom He said: «‘You have come out as to a robber to apprehend Me with clubs and arms; when I was daily with you in the Temple teaching and you did not take Me.»‘ And He saying: «‘Whom seek ye?»‘ the enemies fell on the earth.

Second Point. Second: St. Peter wounded a servant of the High Priest, and the meek Lord said to Peter: «‘Return thy sword into its place,’» and He healed the wound of the servant.

Third Point. Third: Left by His Disciples, He is taken to Annas, where St. Peter, who had followed Him from afar, denied Him once, and a blow was given Christ by one saying to Him: «‘Answerest Thou the High Priest so?»‘

61 OF THE MYSTERIES DONE FROM THE HOUSE OF ANNAS TO THE HOUSE OF CAIPHAS, INCLUSIVE

First Point. First: They take Him bound from the house of Annas to the house of Caiphas, where St. Peter denied Him twice, and looked at by the Lord, going forth he wept bitterly.

Second Point. Second: Jesus was all that night bound.

Third Point. Third: Besides, those who held Him captive mocked Him and struck Him and covered His face and gave Him buffets and asked Him: «‘Prophesy to us, who is he that struck Thee?’» and like things, blaspheming against Him.

OF THE MYSTERIES DONE FROM THE HOUSE OF CAIPHAS TO THAT OF PILATE, INCLUSIVE

Matthew 26, Luke 23, Mark 15.

First Point. First: The whole multitude of the Jews take Him to Pilate and accuse Him before him, saying: «‘We have found that this man tried to ruin our people and forbade to pay tribute to Caesar.’»

Second Point. Second: Pilate, after having examined Him once and again, said: «‘I find no fault.’»

Third Point. Third: The robber Barabbas was preferred to Him. «They all cried, saying: ‘Give us not this man, but Barabbas!’»

OF THE MYSTERIES DONE FROM THE HOUSE OF PILATE TO THAT OF HEROD

First Point. First: Pilate sent Jesus, a Galilean, to Herod, Tetrarch of Galilee.

Second Point. Second: Herod, curious, questioned Him much and He answered him nothing, although the Scribes and Priests were accusing Him constantly.

Third Point. Third: Herod despised Him with his army, clothing Him with a white garment.

OF THE MYSTERIES DONE FROM THE HOUSE OF HEROD TO THAT OF PILATE

Matthew 26, Luke 23, Mark 15, and John 19.

62 First Point. First: Herod sends Him back to Pilate. By this they were made friends, who before were enemies.

Second Point. Second: Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him; and the soldiers made a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they clothed Him with purple and came to Him and said: «‘Hail, King of the Jews!’«, and they gave Him buffets.

Third Point. Third: He brought Him forth in the presence of all. «Then Jesus went forth crowned with thorns and clothed with a purple garment, and Pilate said to them: ‘Here is the Man!’» and when the Priests saw Him, they shouted, saying: «‘Crucify, crucify Him!’»

OF THE MYSTERIES DONE FROM THE HOUSE OF PILATE TO THE CROSS, INCLUSIVE

John 19 [15-20].

First Point. First: Pilate, seated as judge, delivered Jesus to them to crucify Him, after the Jews had denied Him for king, saying: «‘We have no king but Caesar!‘«

Second Point. Second: He took the Cross on His shoulders and not being able to carry it, Simon of Cyrene was constrained to carry it after Jesus.

Third Point. Third: They crucified Him between two thieves, setting this title: «Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.»

OF THE MYSTERIES ON THE CROSS

John 19 [25-37].

First Point. First: He spoke seven words on the Cross: He prayed for those who were crucifying Him; He pardoned the thief; He recommended St. John to His Mother and His Mother to St. John; He said with a loud voice: «‘I thirst,’» and they gave Him gall and vinegar; He said that He was abandoned; He said: «It is consummated»; He said: «Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit!»

Second Point. Second: The sun was darkened, the stones broken, the graves opened, the veil of the Temple was rent in two from above below.

Third Point. Third: They blaspheme Him, saying: «‘Thou wert He who destroyest the Temple of God; come down from the Cross.»‘ His garments were divided; His side, struck with the lance, sent forth water and blood.

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OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST OUR LORD OF HIS FIRST APPARITION

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OF THE SECOND APPARITION

Mark, Chapter 16 [9].

First Point. First: Mary Magdalen, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome come very early to the Sepulchre saying: «‘Who shall lift for us the stone from the door of the Sepulchre?’»

Second Point. Second: They see the stone lifted, and the Angel, who says: «‘You seek Jesus of Nazareth. He is already risen, He is not here.’»

Third Point. Third: He appeared to Mary, who remained about the Sepulchre after the others had gone.

OF THE THIRD APPARITION

St. Matthew, last Chapter.

First Point. First: These Maries go from the Sepulchre with fear and joy, wanting to announce to the Disciples the Resurrection of the Lord.

Second Point. Second: Christ our Lord appeared to them on the way, saying to them: «Hail:» and they approached and threw themselves at His feet and adored Him.

Third Point. Third: Jesus says to them: «‘Fear not! Go and tell My brethren that they go into Galilee, for there they shall see Me.’»

OF THE FOURTH APPARITION

Last Chapter of Luke [12, 34].

First Point. First: Having heard from the women that Christ was risen, St. Peter went quickly to the Sepulchre.

Second Point. Second: Entering into the Sepulchre, he saw only the cloths with which the Body of Christ our Lord had been covered, and nothing else.

Third Point. Third: As St. Peter was thinking of these things, Christ appeared to Him, and therefore the Apostles said: «‘Truly the Lord has risen and appeared to Simon.’»

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64 OF THE EIGHTH APPARITION

John, last Chapter [1-24].

First Point. First: Jesus appears to seven of His Disciples who were fishing, and had taken nothing all night; and spreading the net by His command, «They were not able to draw it out for the multitude of the fishes.»

Second Point. Second: By this miracle St. John knew Him and said to St. Peter: «‘It is the Lord!’» He cast himself into the sea and came to Christ.

Third Point. Third: He gave them to eat part of a fish roasted, and a comb of honey, and recommended the sheep to St. Peter, having first examined him three times on charity, and says to him: «‘Feed My sheep! ‘«

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OF THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST OUR LORD

Acts 1 [1-12].

First Point. First: After He appeared for the space of forty days to the Apostles, giving many arguments and doing many signs, and speaking of the kingdom of God, He bade them await in Jerusalem the Holy Ghost promised.

Second Point. Second: He brought them out to Mt. Olivet, and in their presence He was raised up and a cloud made Him disappear from their eyes.

Third Point. Third: They looking to heaven, the Angels say to them: «‘Men of Galilee, why stand you looking to heaven? This Jesus, Who is taken from your eyes to heaven, shall so come as you saw Him go into heaven.’»

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Author: David Prince is a graduate of the Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Virginia, 1992, and holds a degree in theology. Mr. Prince resides in the San Diego and San Francisco Bay Area, California.

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