Here I would like to mention two things which I have learned from my great master, John of the Cross–one on the method of meditation, and the other on the book to choose.
The Method: Saint John divides it into three parts, and up to this point there’s nothing new.
- Imaginative reflection on the mystery which one wishes to meditate.
- Intellectual consideration of the mysteries represented. (Here too there’s nothing new).
- (And this is important.) Loving and attentive repose in God, to make sure we are fully prepared for that moment when the intelligence opens itself up to God’s illumination.
This exercise of love, which is deeply human, results in a serene and devout repose before God. It must be meditation clearly directed towards simplicity and interior silence.
The Book to Choose: Above all other books, choose the Bible. If you like, read as many books of meditation as possible, but that isn’t essential. It is essential to read and meditate on the Scriptures. Christianity without the Bible is a contradiction in terms. Preaching not anchored in the Scriptures is equally impossible. There is no true religious formation which is not based on the Gospel. The Bible is the letter which God himself wrote to men in the thousands of years of their history. It is the long drawn out sigh for Christ (Old Testament) and the account of his coming among us (New Testament). When the temple of Jerusalem was burning, the Jews abandoned all its treasures to flames but saved the Bible. Paul knew the Bible by heart, and Augustine said, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” The Bible is the word of God, the Word made flesh is the Eucharist. I put them both on the altar and kneel down before them.
–Carlo Carretto, Letters from the Desert