Day and night: Wrapping the day in prayer

We get up in the morning and we go to bed at night. A lot of stuff happens in between.

How do you handle it all?

Some people do it by bracketing the day with prayer.

Two prayer practices that have grown out of devotions to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart are the morning offering and the examen. The examen is also a wonderful preparation for the sacrament of reconciliation.

Morning offering

The morning offering starts the day. If you’ve ever wanted to live in Christ as a missionary, then here’s your chance.

In the 19th century, many seminarians and young priests longed to become missionaries. In one particular seminary in Vals, France, several seminarians had trouble focusing on the work at hand. They wanted to head off to the missions immediately.

Their teacher, Jesuit Fr. François-Xavier Gautrelet, reprimanded them. He told them they could become missionaries simply by focusing their prayers and daily challenges upon the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Fr. Gautrelet believed that, by offering each day — its joys, sorrows, challenges and even its failings — to God through the wounded heart of Christ, Christ’s work could be fulfilled through them. All without leaving home.

In 1844, Fr. Gautrelet wrote a morning offering prayer. Since the Jesuits are a missionary group, his prayer soon spread around the world, as did devotions to the Sacred Heart and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Whether someone uses Fr. Gautrelet’s traditional prayer or uses a spontaneous version all their own, it might help to remember what the campus ministry department at the University of Notre Dame says about the morning offering:

“In its most simple form, a morning offering is nothing more than a moment that puts the day ahead in God’s hands; a brief prayer that recognizes the presence of our Lord, who watches our every move, every day, with unending love, compassion and hope.”

Examen

The end of the day offers a good time to reflect, to look back. If you’ve ever pondered the events of a day, wondering about things that happened, what you did or said — or didn’t do or say — then you’re already familiar with the pattern of one of the most ancient forms of reflective prayer: the examen.

St. Ignatius of Loyola made this form of prayer popular, first in his “Spiritual Exercises” (1522-24), and then through the Jesuit community which he and six other men founded on Aug. 15, 1534.

However, the examen-type reflection dates back to the ancient Greek philosophers who believed that examining their lives was a way to self-improvement. The word examen itself derives from the ancient Latin verb exigere which means “to measure.” The word examen is similar to a word which it resembles: examination. Both involve measuring, a balancing of learning and experience. And St. Ignatius used the pattern of measuring and balancing to develop two examinations of conscience that are often associated with the examen: a general and a particular examination of conscience.

Most often, we associate an examination of conscience with preparing for the sacrament of reconciliation. To examine one’s conscience is a way to reflect upon and work out how to improve aspects of one’s life and live a better Christian life.

The examen resembles St. Ignatius’ “general examination of conscience,” but is less formal in structure. It does not involve any particular steps — although some may find steps useful for guidance.

The examen, rather than being formal prayer, is more about resting with God and listening to him, almost like watching a sunset over a lake and letting thoughts wash peacefully over you. Practiced regularly, the examen also helps us respond to the ways in which God seeks to improve our lives through gifts of divine grace.

The late Jesuit Fr. John Hardon, who served as Mother Teresa’s spiritual director, suggested three steps that are helpful as part of an examen:

• First, be grateful for God’s blessings in the past day.
• Then turn your mind to the times in the day when you did not cooperate “with the grace that God has given.” This helps you see patterns that you might need to pray about, seeking God’s guidance and grace.
• Finally, let your reflections lead you to prepare for the next day, trusting in God’s grace, blessings and guidance. Because of the first two steps, you’ll be able to reflect on how God has already been at work in your life. That reflection will help you be able to grow in trusting God.

Trusting God: a good way to start — and end — the day.

Sources: “The Catholic Faith Magazine”; the New York Jesuits at www.nysj.org; perseus.tufts.edu; campusminsitry.nd.edu; apostleshipofprayer.org; therealpresence.org; usccb.org/prayer-and-worship; and “The Catholic Encyclopedia.

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