Meditation is a commonly misunderstood term. Most people do not know what this is or if they even have the ability to meditate, or whether what they do can be called meditation.
In his book “In our meditations on the Rosary mysteries”, Fr John Proctor presents a rather simple approach to understanding meditation within the context of the Rosary.
He writes:
Let no one say, “I cannot meditate.” As well might he say, “I cannot think and I cannot love”; for meditation is simply thinking and loving. First comes the thought, and from the thought the fire. Meditation enlightens the mind, and the spark from the enlightened mind sets the heart on fire. It was so in St. Dominic’s days; as St. Pius V., a son of St. Dominic, expresses it : “Christian people inflamed by these meditations and prayers became changed into other men, the darkness of heresy disappeared, and the light of the Catholic faith was revealed” (Consueverunt, Sept. 17th, 1569). So may it be in our day and in our land, if only we meditate and pray. We can all meditate; we all do meditate every day and almost all the day. Only we do not concentrate our thoughts; we let them “go astray after divers things”; and when we do concentrate our thoughts, our eyes are not lifted up to God.
