Meditation on the Creed

Authors:

Marianist District of Mexico

Translator:

Roser Williams

Blessed Chaminade offered to his disciples a “prayer method based on the Creed.”

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[Editor's Note: This work is the English version of Guía de Oración, a publication of the Marianist District of Mexico, November 2011. Translated by Roser Williams. Copyright © NACMS, 2012. NACMS, 4435 E. Patterson Road, Dayton OH 45430-1083]

I. Introduction

“Whoever wishes to participate in the ways of prayer should start with mixed mental prayer on the Apostles’ Creed.” — Blessed Chaminade

Prayer is the breath of faith. We experience the “living God” through prayer. Each time we use silence and go to encounter Christ, we strengthen our faith in his resurrection. It is possible to find Christ because he rose from the dead. Prayer is the dialogue with Christ who is ever present in history and in the depths of the human heart. Blessed William Joseph Chaminade wanted to form a Family of believers and of missionaries of Mary. Their distinctive trait would be living out their faith with sincerity … not a speculative kind of faith, but rather a committed faith involving their whole life. A believer is one who takes the truths of faith into her or his heart and life. To help in this process, Blessed Chaminade offered to his disciples a “prayer method based on the Creed.” It is a prayer exercise that seeks to incarnate the faith and to transform it into a living faith.

In this booklet, we offer some outlines or prayer models to meditate on the Creed following the Chaminadean method. After using these, each person can fill in the different parts with his or her own ideas and personal feelings. After going through the outlines and experiencing them, one can go back to those areas that were not as nourishing. There, we can take up again the ideas that touched us most, or we can simply repeat the prayer response from the heart, which is like the culmination of the method. We will discover that the spiritual wealth of the Creed is truly inexhaustible.

“The content of the Creed is enough to keep a man occupied throughout his entire life. What am I saying? There is enough there to keep us occupied throughout eternity because the saints in heaven are eternally occupied in contemplation of the divinity.” — Blessed Chaminade

II. Presentation of the Method

The current prayer outline may be used either in community or individually. For community prayer, a guide should be chosen to lead the group in prayer. Each outline indicates, in parenthesis, what needs to be done by the guide. It is important to read the various parts of the outline out loud and in a clear, measured way, giving time to the members of the community to follow the directions and to live out the contents. For the individual exercise of the method, it is recommended to read the “silent exercise” ahead of time and to be able to follow it without looking at the paper. Then, the booklet can be picked up again to continue with the other parts of the method.

Development of the Method: Each prayer outline consists of two parts:

Placing Oneself in God’s Presence
Meditation on the Creed

1. Placing Oneself in God’s Presence

The prayer will start with the sign of the cross. Then, one of the “silent exercises” may be used, from the appendix in the booklet. These exercises will help to quiet the mind, body, and feelings to create an inner silence. In community prayer, this exercise will be lead by the “guide.”

We will then invoke the Virgin Mary with the following or similar words: “Virgin Mary, Mother of Silence, help me to listen to God.” In community prayer, the guide will say this out loud and the rest will repeat it to themselves. It would be good here to quote the very words of Blessed Chaminade: “Union with Mary is an essential disposition for prayer” (Método de Oración sobre el Credo, p. 80)

We then fill our silence with our love for God and with his presence. We will repeat, “My Lord, my God,” trying to follow the rhythm of our own breathing.
Blessed Chaminade placed great importance on this first moment of prayer: “We would have made a good prayer if we had spent the whole time in this holy exercise of the presence of God because we would have done all that is required for a good prayer” (Blessed Chaminade, op. cit., p. 70).

2. Meditation on the Creed

Recitation of the Creed: It shall be done slowly and with silent pauses. Everything included in the text from here on will be read by the prayer guide. The Creed will be recited out loud by the guide alone.
Selection of one of the truths from the Creed: One of the outlines shall be chosen.
Time for reflection: This is the most appropriate time for using our intelligence in prayer. It is a matter of praying by reflecting on the contents of the Creed. The text will be given in short sentences to allow silent pauses.
Applications: This is the time to compare our own life with the truths of faith. By responding interiorly to the suggested questions, we can make a resolution regarding our life, if appropriate. Let us now read how Blessed Chaminade presented this moment: “Thus, I question my faith. I compare Jesus’ behavior with my own behavior. Then I see through my behavior how miserable and imperfect my faith really is” (Blessed Chaminade, op. cit, p. 40).
Prayer response from the heart: Drawing close to God with love and repeating the short prayer presented in the outline, we search again for inner silence and mental quiet. The repetition helps to feel more what is said in the prayer each time.
End the prayer with the sign of the cross.

III. Prayer Outlines

Outline 1