By now, it’s not news to anyone that adult coloring books are tremendously popular as ways to de-stress and promote mindfulness. And if you’ve been reading our articles, it’s probably not news to you that Pauline Books & Media offers a whole series of Catholic coloring books for adults meant to aid in prayer and meditation.But what you might not know is that this practice is not new. In fact, it offers many of the same benefits as those accrued by our “spiritual&rdquo...

The Ignatian examen is a way of prayerfully reviewing your day in the presence of God. It’s actually an attitude more than a method. It’s a time set aside for thankful reflection and for connecting your everyday life back to God.There are five steps to the Ignatian examen, which only take about ten minutes to complete. It’s a simple way to see what worked and what didn’t in the day that’s behind you, and prepare for the day to come.God bless you! Ask God for light. ...

Slow down. Take a deep breath. Still your mind. It’s good advice for anyone who wants to feel calmer in the midst of what often feels like the frenetic pace of life; but saying it, and doing it, are often two different things!As Catholics, we know that God is often found in that “still, small voice” that’s generally hard to listen for—unless we’re deliberate about making the time and space to really try and hear it. But when you set aside time to meditate, exa...

Time. Einstein tells us that it’s relative, and most of us would agree. There’s never enough time for you to enjoy all the things you want to do; but when you’re engaged with something you don’t like doing, time appears to stand still!Most of us have become accustomed to perceiving time the way we perceive history, as something linear that has a beginning, a middle, and—eventually—an end. Essentially it’s looking at events as being related to each other ...

The month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart. And yet to many people, the devotion seems odd. We worship Christ who was resurrected from the dead, and yet we have a special devotion to his… heart?Humanity has always associated the heart with love. It is the life-force of the body; when the heart stops beating, life ends. So it’s not surprising that as devotion to the Incarnated Christ increased in the Church, people experienced his love for them through his heart.General devot...

Note: We’ve been talking recently about Ignatian spirituality, and today we’re bringing you the first in a series by Fr. Greg Cleveland, OMV, the director of the Lanteri Center for Ignatian Spirituality in Denver, Colorado.The charism of my congregation and our founder, Venerable Bruno Lanteri, is to proclaim the mercy of God, especially through parish missions and retreats. We are graced with the mysticism of St. Ignatius and his Spiritual Exercises, which lead people thro...

What do you think of when you think about meditation? You’re probably imagining yourself sitting cross-legged on the floor in an uncomfortable position with your eyes closed. Or maybe when you think about prayer you’re visualizing yourself in a pew in your parish church, not sure exactly what to focus on.There’s another technique for prayer and meditation that’s so amazingly simple, little children do it all the time! It’s coloring. Finding a subject to co...

A lot of people think of Confirmation as some sort of graduation ceremony, during which a person moves on from one part of their life in Christ to another. And to some limited extent, that’s true, as every sacrament brings us deeper into relationship with God.But something very specific is happening at Confirmation. When a person is confirmed, they are anointed with the oil of Chrism, and an anointing is a whole lot better than a graduation.What is chrism? Holy chrism is a mixture of olive...

One of my silliest memories from childhood is the time when I was seven years old and decided I would play a trick on my six-year-old brother, Gordy. It was nighttime, and my mom had probably run a short errand to the neighborhood store. Everyone else was gone, so we were alone in the house.As we were playing, a bright idea came to me: I could scare Gordy by turning out the light and screaming at the top of my lungs. So I stood by the light switch near the door, turned off the light, and commenc...

Not many people automatically associate Ignatian spirituality with children’s Bible reading, but in fact it’s an easy fit. Children love stories and are experiential by nature, and the Ignatian method for meditation on Scripture offers just that.We start the meditation by asking God for his grace, just the way that Ignatius teaches us. Then we use our imaginations to enter into a Gospel story, sensing and feeling what’s happening in the scene.This method we’re describing ...