ing. Do not imagine, moreover, that it is necessary to wait for a great fire to burn up in your soul, but cherish the little spark that you have got. Above all, never give way to the mistaken notion that you must restrain yourself from prayer in order to go through all the thoughts suggested by your book, or because your prayer does not appear to have a close connection with the subject of your meditation. This would simply be to turn from God to your own thoughts or to those of some other man.
To meditate means in general nothing else than to reflect seriously on some subject. Meditation, as mental prayer, is a serious reflection on some religious truth or event, united with reference and application to ourselves, in order thereby to excite in us certain pious sentiments— such as contrition, humility, faith, hope, charity, etc. — and to move our will to form good resolutions conformable to these pious sentiments. Such an exercise has naturally a beneficial influence on our soul and greatly conduces to enlighten our mind and to move our will to practise virtue.
"Meditation," writes Madame Cecilia, in her admirable work " At the Feet of Jesus," " consists in occupying ourselves mentally and prayerfully with some mystery of the faith. We call to mind the chief facts, ponder over them, and then stir up our will to regulate our conduct in consequence. Hence, meditation is an exercise of the faculties of our soul — memory, understanding, and will. Some persons are also aided by the imagination; to others it is a hindrance. Do you complain that you can not meditate? Well, let me ask you: Have you ever received an affront that cut you to the quick? Then, perhaps, you did meditate; you thought over it for an hour or more. Memory recalled the facts, imagination supplied extra details and coloring, the intelligence discussed the motives, such as ingratitude, jealousy, pride; it considered the baseness and the unexpectedness of the insult; finally, the will took a firm resolution to avoid
