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 Forms of Solitary Prayer

7. REPETITION
Repetition is the return to a previous period of prayer for the purpose of allowing the movements of God to deepen within one’s heart.

 
 
“I will remain quietly meditating upon the point in which I have found what I desire without any eagerness to go on till I have been satisfied.”  (St. Ignatius of Loyola)
Through repetitions, we fine-tune our sensitivities to God and to how He speaks in our prayer and within our life circumstances.  The prayer of repetition allows for the experience of integrating who we are with who God is revealing Himself to be for us.

Repetitions are a way of honoring God’s words to us in the earlier prayer period.  It is recalling and pondering an earlier conversation with one we love.  It is as if we say to God, “Tell me that again; what did I hear you saying?”

In this follow-up conversation or repetition we open ourselves to a healing presence that often transforms whatever sadness and confusion may have been experienced in the first prayer.

In repetitions, not only is the consolation (joy, warmth, peace) deepened, but the desolation (pain, sadness, confusion) is frequently brought to a new level of understanding and acceptance within God’s plan for us.
 
 

METHOD:  The period of prayer that we select to repeat is one in which we have experienced a significant movement of joy or sadness or confusions.  It may also be a period in which nothing seemed to happen, due, perhaps, to our lack of readiness at the time.
+  Recall the feelings of the first period of prayer.

+  Use, as a point of entry, the scene, word or feeling that was previously most significant.

+  Allow the Spirit to direct the inner movements of your heart during this time of prayer.


 
 

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