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Part III - St. Ignatius Imaginative Prayer Training
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What is Imaginative Prayer?
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The Spiritual Exercises are a compilation of meditations, prayers, and contemplative practices developed by St. Ignatius Loyola to help people deepen their relationship with God. The Ignatian tradition offers another method for praying with Scripture.
This method uses all our senses and imagination to immerse us in a Scripture passage. Ignatius says that we should see, hear, smell and touch each facet of the event.
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Imaginative Prayer can be used for individual meditation or can be used in a group.
Prepare- Find a quiet place to help remove yourself, in both mind and body, from the busy world around you.
- Place yourself in the presence of our loving God by contemplating His mercy, love and unending desire to be with you.
- Begin with asking God for a specific grace and by making your needs known to the Father.
Pray- Choose a scripture passage and read it.
- Using all five senses, IMAGINE the setting as vividly as you can. Insert yourself into the scene as completely as you are able to do.
- Ask sensory questions like, “What do you see, hear, feel, taste and smell?” How do you react and interact with this scene in Scripture?
- Is Jesus there? Talk to Him and listen to what He offers to you in that moment.
- When ready, give thanks and close with a prayer of thanksgiving to God.
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Contemplation is a gaze of faith, fixed on Jesus. "I look at him and he looks at me": this is what a certain peasant of Ars in the time of his holy curé used to say while praying before the tabernacle. This focus on Jesus is a renunciation of self. His gaze purifies our heart; the light of the countenance of Jesus illumines the eyes of our heart and teaches us to see everything in the light of his truth and his compassion for all men. Contemplation also turns its gaze on the mysteries of the life of Christ. Thus it learns the "interior knowledge of our Lord," the more to love him and follow him. - CCC 2715
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As the Gospels are rich in imagery and emotions, Imaginative Prayer is a perfect way for individuals, families and various other groups (i.e. Knights of Columbus, Knights of Peter Claver, Legion of Mary, Parish Council) to break open God’s Holy Word and discover what it is that He is saying to you.
This is Imaginative Prayer – The practice of placing yourself into the story and using all of your senses to BE THERE and experience what God is teaching us in His Word.
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1.) Page adapted from Gulf Pine Catholic Article featured Sep 4 2020 | Volume 38 No 1. (https://biloxidiocese.org/gulf-pine-catholic)
2.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignatius_of_Loyola (Page top image)
3.) Image used: "Supper at Emmaus" by Mattias Storm, 1601
4.) https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p4s1c3a1.htm
5.) Photo Courtesy of Juliana Skelton
6.) Imaginative Prayer Handouts
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