Meditation, contemplation, prayer

See also: To Pray, Prayer, Supplication.

---

Jesus withdrew at night to the mountain to pray - James Tissot, Brooklyn Museum.

Contemplation of God is like a spark that flies out from the strike of flint against the firestarter and produces Fire and light. It is a Purification by Fire that consumes the opaque and always impure matter and transforms it into a luminous and pure flame.

In "The Gospel as it was revealed to me"

• The need for meditation (prayer) and its effect on the Soul: the practice of Mary.
• We have considered the truth, contemplated God in His goodness, All this is prayer. Now let us sing a psalm of praise, for the joy that is in us.
• It is visible that Jesus prefers to be silent, to isolate Himself in a meditative silence that can last for several hours unless interrupted by someone who questions Him. He lifts His head from time to time to look at the sky, the countryside, the people, the animals. To look, I must say: to love. For it is a smile, a smile of God, that flows from those pupils to caress the world and the creatures, a love-smile. For it is a love that transpires, that spreads, that blesses, that purifies the light of His gaze, always intense, but extremely intense when it comes out of recollection...
• For the Souls, continuous study is needed, the habit of meditation which enlightens more than a long reading of fixed texts. The book a master and physician of Souls must study is the Souls themselves.
• Throw yourself into the furnace, into the flames of contemplation. Contemplation of God is like a spark that flies out from the strike of flint against the firestarter and produces Fire and light. It is a Purification by Fire that consumes the opaque and always impure matter and transforms it into a luminous and pure flame.
• (The Apostles) burden Him with questions. Their affection is sometimes tiring. But Jesus is patient... and patiently He answers: "You know it! For Me prayer is rest. And tiring to be among people when I am not there to heal or to evangelize. So I will go to the mountain, where I have gone other times. You know the place."

Notes and references

Note: Quotations from the work of Maria Valtorta on this page currently use machine-translated text and will gradually be replaced by the official English translation. Until then, the official translation may be consulted through the reference link provided with each quotation.