Oct 04 2008
Meditative and Spiritual Reading
Let’s begin by making a distinction between “meditative reading” and “spiritual reading.” Let’s call the kind of reading that is an aid to mental prayer “meditative reading,” and let’s call the kind of reading one does for the sake of spiritual-intellectual edification “spiritual reading.” And I’m using the strange “spiritual-intellectual” phrase simply as a way to indicate that we are speaking about something more than intellectual edification; Paul Johnson’s History of Art certainly edifies the intellect, but it wouldn’t be a very good book for spiritual reading. On the other hand, one could use a book like Abandonment to Divine Providence for both spiritual reading and meditative reading. So, what’s the difference?
Meditative Reading
Here, you are using a book as an aid to mental prayer. Mental prayer has two parts to it: the considerations and the affections. These are fancy words, which you need to know if you want to read books on the spiritual life, that simply mean reflection and prayer. This is how it works. You start with a consideration (or reflection) of some topic — the angels, say. You might reflect on the fall of the angels, the role of the good angels, why God allows the evil angels to tempt us, or even on the great gift of our guardian angel. At some point you will abandon these reflections and start making affections — that is, formal acts of prayer. “Lord, help me have devotion to my guardian angel.” “Lord, help me recognize the temptations of the evil spirit.” “Guardian angel, be by guide.” And so forth.
Now, to help with the considerations (or reflections), books can be used. The Scriptures, particularly the Gospels, should be our first choice. But sometimes our spiritual thirst is quenched by other voices — the Imitation of Christ, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the writings of the saints, and even some books of theology. As the Catechism points out regarding meditation: “We are usually helped by books, and Christians do not want for them” (CCC, no. 2705).
But if you use a book to help with mental prayer, at some point you must put the book down and begin to pray. If your reading doesn’t lead to prayer, then you have not engaged in meditative reading. You would be doing what I’m calling spiritual-intellectual reading.
Spiritual-Intellectual Reading
Fr. Eugene Boylan, in This Tremendous Lover, said that in today’s world daily spiritual reading is almost necessary for one’s salvation. We are bombarded on all sides with anti-Christian and anti-Catholic ideas, and every day we need to recall the great truths of the faith in order not to be duped by some worldly idea. In another book by Fr. Boylan – Difficulties in Mental Prayer – he says that unless a Christian engages in spiritual reading for at least three hours a week, the Christian has little hope to make real progress in prayer and is in real danger of being swept away by truths falsely so-called. Three hours a week translates into about 20 to 30 minutes a day.
So, what is the difference between meditative reading and spiritual-intellectual reading? Whereas meditative reading must end in prayer, one can engage in spiritual-intellectual reading without formal acts of prayer. Yes, one should pray before one engages in spiritual reading, and one should pray after the time for spiritual reading has ended, but during the time spent reading, one does not have to change from considerations to affections, from thoughtful reflection to prayer itself.
But neither is spiritual-intellectual reading pure study. We must avoid getting so caught up with what we are reading that we’ve forgotten the purpose of our reading. Fr. John Hardon, in his Catholic Prayer Book with Meditations, quotes a writer named “Rodriguez” (no first name given), who tells us: “For this spiritual reading to be profitable, it must not be done hastily, or at a gallop, as when one reads stories, but very leisurely and attentively; for an impetuous flow of water [or] a heavy shower does not penetrate or fertilize the earth, but small, gentle rain; so for reading to enter and be drunk in by the heart, the reading must be done with pausing and pondering.”
With pausing and pondering. Now we see why spiritual-intellectual reading is connected with mental prayer, for the pausing and pondering of spiritual reading is nothing less than the considerations/reflections which make up the first part of mental prayer.
Why the Distinction?
Thus, it must be remembered that we are making this distinction for the sake of clarity. In actual practice, there may be no little between meditative and spiritual reading. Some books, such as the In Conversation with God Series, makes it quite easy to move between reflective reading and prayer. Also, you might have a set time for mental prayer — 20 minutes daily, for example. One day, you might spend eight minutes reading and twelve minutes praying, but on another day, you might spend eighteen minutes reading and only two minutes praying.
Why is this distinction necessary? Well, because in the literature of Catholic spirituality, you’ll see authors exhorting you to engage in both mental prayer and spiritual reading, and these same authors will have you use books during mental prayer. If the author is speaking of spiritual reading, nine times out of ten he means what we called spiritual-intellectual reading; and when he speaks of using books during mental prayer, he means what we called meditative reading.
Finally, I’ve found that the most important thing you can do for your spiritual life is to understand what you are doing. “Begin with the end in mind.” If you sit down for mental prayer, that goal will fundamentally change the way you approach a text than if you were to sit down with the same text for spiritual reading. And if you know what you intended to do, you have a better way to gauge whether or not you actually did it.
By way of summary, we can say that the distinction between meditative reading and spiritual reading is, on the one hand, purely academic, but, on the other hand, highly practical. The same book could be used for both kinds of reading — that much should be understood. The key difference is the role of prayer. Are we reading to pave the way for prayer, or are we reading for our spiritual and intellectual edification? That is the question.
