Praying with the Senses; Hail, Mary!
The other day as I prayed the Liturgy of the Hours, at the line “God
himself will set me free from the hunter’s snare” suddenly I imagined
myself in the woods with my foot caught in the sharp jaws of a trap. I
felt the pain and the desperation. “Hmm,” I thought. “This is how I
teach people to pray the Gospel stories, by putting themselves into the
scene and letting all their senses come into play.” For some reason it
never occurred to me to apply this method St. Ignatius promoted to other
prayers too.
Let’s experiment with a psalm. Psalm 127:1 is “Unless the LORD builds the house those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain.” For the first sentence see and hear someone hammering the last plank of wood onto a house. But then the house collapses. Hear the deafening sounds. Breathe in the dust. For the second sentence visualize a city with a soldier stationed in the tower but hordes of enemies forces breaking through the walls. Hear the war cries. Continue here.
Let’s experiment with a psalm. Psalm 127:1 is “Unless the LORD builds the house those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain.” For the first sentence see and hear someone hammering the last plank of wood onto a house. But then the house collapses. Hear the deafening sounds. Breathe in the dust. For the second sentence visualize a city with a soldier stationed in the tower but hordes of enemies forces breaking through the walls. Hear the war cries. Continue here.
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