How to Deal with Distractions, Dryness, and Trials During Prayer

Meditation for the Morning

Let us adore Our Lord Jesus Christ praying to His Father so perfectly that no distraction turns Him away from it, and, at the same time, often with so much distress that He falls into an agony; but this agony, instead of making Him give up prayer, only excites Him to prolong it all the more (Luke 22:43). Oh, what an admirable example! How happy the soul that is faithful enough to imitate it!

FIRST POINT

Remedy against Distractions in Meditation

Be Thou blessed, my God, who, whilst permitting that we should have distractions in meditation, hast in Thy goodness acquainted us with the remedies we may use against this evil before, during, and after meditation. Before meditation, we must prevent distractions by drying up the sources of them, which are: First, curiosity for news, eagerness about the affairs of this world, an ill-regulated attachment to some occupation of other, a too lively affection for creatures, dissipation of the mind and of the senses; Second, the unhappy habit of allowing ourselves to be carried away by the first thought which is pleasing to us; for instance, a wandering of the imagination, which runs after the past, the present, and the future; Third, carelessness, which will not submit to restraint, or prepare, on the preceding evening, the subject of meditation, or think of it at night during moments of wakefulness, or in the morning from the moment of awakening until the time arrives for making the meditation, or penetrate itself, when beginning, with the sense of the holy presence of God and with the desire of making a fervent meditation. Is it not true that we have left open until now all these sources of distraction? Is it astonishing, then, that we should have such distractions? During the meditation: it is, as soon as I shall perceive a distraction, to humble myself and be ashamed at such a want of respect towards God, to have recourse to Thee, O Lord, saying with the apostles: “Lord, teach us to pray.” (Luke 11:1); to resume my meditation at the point where the distinction took hold of me, and simply to continue it without trouble or uneasiness. Lastly, after the meditation, to carry away with me a deep humility on account of all my distractions; to apply myself to make amends for a meditation so ill-performed by performing in a better manner the actions which follow it, and making a strong resolution to pass the day in a manner all the more holy in proportion to the faulty manner in which I have made my meditation, and thereby repair my defects in this exercise. Alas! I have done nothing of the kind, O Lord, and Thou knowest it. I am confounded in Thy presence, and will do better in the future.

SECOND POINT

Remedy for Aridities in Meditation

How happy I should be, Lord, if I could but imitate David, who, in the midst of abandonments, of obscurities, and of aridities, rendered Thee his homage in prayer with as much fervor as in the season of consolations. (Ps. 62:3) The holy king comprehended that, in the midst of these trials, the Christian soul ought not to retrench aught in its exercises, or be troubled and complain, be sorrowful or discouraged. Make me also understand it, O my God! Enable me to follow in patience and humility the four points of my method of meditation, which are: The study of my subject, the examination of my conscience, contrition, and a prayer for Thy grace to make me execute my good resolutions. If I have no taste for this exercise, it will only be all the more meritorious and fruitful. Thou wilt accept it in expiation of my sins; Thou wilt make of it a ladder whereby to arrive at humility, by convincing me that my evil nature can produce nothing that is good; and thus I shall make better meditations, because I shall come forth from them in a more humble frame of mind. From thence I will raise myself to a greater love of Thy infinite goodness, deigning to love a creature so miserable as I am, for Thy saints teach me that these abandonments are often only an artifice of Thy love to excite my soul to desire Thee with more ardor, to seek Thee with greater zeal, to take hold of Thy grace with more eagerness, and to follow it with more fidelity when it presents itself. (St. Gregory in St. Matt)

Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.