Nine manners to pray of Dominique - 1st meditation

Published : 31 July 2015

Dans cette première méditation, Sr Catherine Aubin, nous invite à poser un nouveau regard sur les neuf manières de prier de Dominique.

The first friars, those who knew Dominic, all say the same things about his attitude during prayer:
o He cried out and wept
o He did not own a bed: he prayed all night long.
o He used gestures.
The authors of the Rossanius Codex wanted their readers to identify with Dominic’s prayer and to transmit it. What a treasure they left us!
During this retreat, we are invited to learn from these “icons”.

Regarding the nine ways of prayer:

First stage:
1) Bow
2) Prostration
3) The discipline
4) Genuflection, kneeling
Two words summarize this stage: the acceptance of ourselves, of our limitations and shortcomings; the welcoming of God in us, of what we are called to become, as though the Lord were saying: “Free yourself from yourself, and let me enter.” The second word about this stage is a preposition: with—with the Lord, with ourselves, with others.
A verse from the Bible corresponds to this: “Speak, O Lord, your servant is listening.”

Second stage
5) Dominic is standing with an attitude of listening
1) Dominic’s arms are extended in the form of a cross, a stance of life, of face-to-face encounter
2) His uplifted hands signify ecstasy, a standing “outside of self”. He asks for the gifts of the Holy Spirit for his brothers.
The preposition in applies here: in Him.
A bible verse: “I call you friends.” (Jn 15:15)

Third stage
8) Dominic is in constant motion, listening, and involved in loving dialogue
9) Dominic sets out on the road: itinerancy
One word summarizes this stage: the gift.
One preposition applies here: for.
A Bible verse: “Those who remain in me and I in them bear much fruit.”
The goal of these nine ways of prayer is that we discover how to reach our own interior dwelling.
They correspond to this question in Genesis 3: “The Lord asked Adam, Where are you?”
 We are invited to ask ourselves that question. We can begin by considering four great emotions that arise every day: fear, sadness, anger, joy.
Conclusion:
St. Therese of Lisieux compared the human heart to a lyre, a zither with four strings, to help us understand the love of God, others, and ourselves; the four strings correspond to four types of love:
-  Filial string: to love as a child, as a child of God the Father. First stage: to allow ourselves to be loved by the Father
-  String of sisterly love: Second stage: Jesus is our brother; we do the Father’s will
-  Spousal string: husband and wife (8th way of praying). Dominic is the spouse of Christ
-  Parental string: Dominic in the 9th way of prayer becomes a father

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