Ignatian Contemplation (Imaginative Prayer)

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God speaks through our imaginations as well as through our understanding, memories, thoughts, intellect, desires, feelings, and emotions.

Jesus knew how important one’s imagination was, for He taught in parables, for example, the prodigal son, the widow’s mite, the rich young man, the good Samaritan, and the one lost sheep. He asks us to be with the Gospel passage as if it is happening now, for the Word of God has life… His words live eternally in the past, present, and future… they will always be present, alive in the moment.

When praying on a passage in which Jesus is in action, we tend to flow naturally into using our faculty of imagination.

“It prevents prayer from being merely an exercise in abstraction, and it assures that the whole person—body, mind, will, senses, imagination—is involved in the communication with God. It constitutes, I think, one of the greatest gifts Ignatius has given to the spiritual tradition.”

—Bishop Robert Barron, Pivotal Players: St. Ignatius

It is an imaginative prayer where we use our imagination to bring to life the experience of being there, as we allow ourselves to be caught up as in a movie or a book. Jesus used imagination in His teaching on how to live life (for example, the parables); here we imagine (make present) a mystery of Jesus’ life in a way that it becomes real, as it is.

There are two phases of Ignatian Contemplation:

1.     Composition of Place

2.     Application of the Interior Senses

In this prayer time, the Holy Spirit will make present for you a mystery of Jesus’ life in a way that is meaningful for you now.

Note: Some people’s imaginations are very active, so they construct a vivid, movie-like scenario with a Gospel passage. Others will enter the scene, reflect on it, and mull over the activity. Vividness is not a criterion for the effectiveness of this kind of prayer; engagement is.

Composition of Place

To grow more fully in faith knowledge

Ignatius invited us to engage in this type of contemplative prayer. It is different from other traditions that use the term “contemplation” for the stage of prayer in which we are “being with God in silence,” such as in the Prayer of Quiet or at the end of Lectio Divina.

How to Begin

·      Select a passage from one of the Gospels in which Jesus is interacting with others.

·      Close your eyes and reconstruct the scene, as in a movie, using your imagination.

·      Observe what is going on in the scene.

·      What does Jesus look like? How do the others react to Him? What are the people saying to one another? What emotions fill their words? Is Jesus touching someone?

·      As you visualize the scene, note your desire to be there.

·      At some point, put yourself in the scene, perhaps as an observer, as one lining up for healing, or as one helping others to Jesus.

·      As you finish this time of prayer, take a moment to speak person-to-person with Christ, sharing what comes up from your heart. This is called a Colloquy Prayer.

·      Write some notes in your journal.

Application of the Interior Senses

To grow more fully in felt knowledge

This is a prayer form in which one applies one’s senses (seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and smelling) to the Composition of Place in another imaginative way, making the scene more real and alive.

Here we ask Jesus to open our five interior senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. Here we become aware of the life of Christ, the mystery before us, and all that we sense of His creation.

How to Begin

After reading the selected text slowly, enter the scene through your imagination. As above, visualize it as in a movie. Place yourself in the event. There you become aware of all aspects of the scene by imagining and sensing it through your five senses. Then, through inspiration, become an active participant.

·      I see the people and what is going on in the event in the Scripture verses.

·      I hear what the people are saying, the volume and tone of their voices, the noise of the street.

·      I feel the objects around me: the soil under my feet, the breeze, the clothes I am wearing, the sun on my face.

·      I taste the fish that is cooking by the Sea of Galilee; I taste the wine at the wedding at Cana.

·      I smell the sea air and the spring flowers on the Mount of the Beatitudes.

As you finish this time of prayer, take a moment to speak person-to-person with Christ, sharing what comes up from your heart. This is called a Colloquy Prayer.

Contemplation Review Questions

In Composition of Place or Application of the Interior Senses, by imagining the place as in a movie, we come to experience God in action.

·      Where am I in this scene?

·      Where does Jesus want me to be?

·      What do I see, hear, smell, feel, taste?

·      What is this experience like for me?

·      What is God sharing with me?

·      What do I want to share with God?

Write some notes in your journal on what you sensed.