St Mary of Eton with St Augustine The Examen a daily practice of being closer to God in LENT 2015 At the end of the day... This prayer of review is a short reflection back over the day, recalling events and taking note of your feelings. The purpose is to become more aware of the ways in which God has been present to you, the times when the Holy Spirit was drawing you towards life. www.stmaryofeton.org.uk Facebook: StMaryOfEton Twitter: @StMaryOfEton Vicar: Reuben James Preston 0208 985 8462 vicar@stmaryofeton.org.uk
The Examen an introduction This introduction to the Pray-as-you-go Examen, or daily review, is designed to help those unfamiliar with this form of prayer, to use the Examen and to make it part of everyday life. The Examen has been part of the Christian spiritual tradition for centuries. St Ignatius gave us the outline of its content from which many versions have been developed over the centuries. It is best prayed at the end of the day just lived, or early in the morning to review the day before, depending upon which time of day you know you can concentrate best. The prayer is usually divided into 5 stages. The stages are Thanksgiving, Seeking light, Looking back at our experience, Sorrow, Asking God s help for the future. This introduction aims to help you understand more about the Examen and make it part of your regular prayer life. Here are some words of Jesus from the gospel of John... No one can come to me unless they are drawn by the Father who sent me. The Father is continually drawing each one of us to himself in and through Christ. The Examen helps us develop our awareness of this reality, to recognise God action in our feelings, moods, impulses and desires. God reveals himself in our feelings as much as he does in our clear and distinct ideas. If we want to know God more intimately we need to recognise that he draws us at the core of our being which means becoming more aware of our feelings. It is here we recognise His ceaseless invitation to come closer, to become more at one with Him we are also conscious of the resistance to Him which arises from sin in ourselves and in the world about us, so it is good to ask ourselves which of my feelings and moods are leading me to God? Which of my feelings and moods are leading me away from Him? Feelings are important. We are not talking about feelings on the surface, but movements deep in our hearts, where God has placed his
word. If we stay away from the depths, where we are truly ourselves, we shall miss much of what the spirit is saying to us. At the level of our deeper and more lasting feelings we discover ourselves and our reality. We see what has to be faced, understood, decided and acted upon. We are invited to take each present experience, to look at it, to see where we can recognise God s presence within it. This means that we can do more of what leads us to develop our relationship with God, that leads to a sense of harmony, peace and joy, and do less of what causes disturbance, anxiety and sadness which is a sign we are going in the wrong direction. We have to be in touch with our feelings in order to sort them out and avoid being blown about by them. The Examen is a good way of knowing my true self. It provides one of the best opportunities for a daily intimate meeting with Christ; and this is the real goal of the Examen. God is drawing each one of us to himself in a unique and intimate way. The purpose of the Examen is to recognise this fact and to see how I am responding. When I am aware of my feelings, I can discern two spontaneous forces within me: good and evil. The Examen is a daily, prayerful exercise in discernment, helping me to respond to God s loving invitation in all my daily activities. It helps me to find God in all things. The Examen is not primarily concerned with good and bad actions but rather with the impulses that underlie them. I can become increasingly sensitive to the quality of my deepening relationship with God whose call can take a new form at different stages of my life. Over the years we can come to know God s special ways of drawing us to himself, and to be aware of our responses. We can see how our life is shaped by this interplay of call and answer. Each day God is asking me to develop my true identity as a companion of Jesus, not any companion of Jesus but the companion of Jesus that I am at this moment. The Examen helps us to sense God s action and to find him not only in times of prayer but in every incident of our lives.
Doing the Examen Find a quiet place to be this might be at home or out in the open. Begin with this prayer as you dedicate this time of prayer to God Direct, O Lord, guide and influence all that is happening in my mind and my heart during this time of prayer all my mood and feelings, my memories and imaginings, may all be directed and influenced to your greater glory, praise and service and my greater growth in the spirit. Amen. Pause and be with God... This review of the day is a prayer of looking back. It is not just reflecting on what has gone wrong but a wider look at what has happened during my day, the good things and the bad things. Trying to see where God has been moving, so the first thing I need to do is stop; no matter what I am worrying about, no matter what is on my mind, stop. God is with me quiet perhaps, but present nonetheless. God is here with me now. I remember that God has created all things. Everything I have is a gift from God. Is there something I would especially like to give thanks for today? Pause
Now I ask God to shine his light into my heart so that when I look back over the day I may be able to see God working in the things that have happened So that I may be able to see more clearly, I ask God for that light Pause Now I begin to remember through the day Starting with when I woke up I remember the people I met and the things that happened Pause On the whole, was it a good day? Or a bad day? Was is a normal day? Or was it unusual in some way? Who did I meet during the day? Did I come across something surprising? A long lost friend or an awkward old enemy? Does something special come to mind? A beautiful sunset? Something I was told? Something I saw on TV? In all the things that have happened, how did I feel? Was I joyful or sad? Or angry or frightened? Maybe I felt great and was really happy? Can I remember how I felt as the day went on? Pause And what was the cause of those feelings? Did my mood change during the day? God guides us through our moods and feelings, Normally, the way of God is in a deep sense peaceful and consoling, if your day was disturbed or if you were uneasy can you sense where that uneasiness was coming from? Like a sailing boat buffeted by many different winds, we are affected by many different feelings. The better we come to know these swirling breezes, the easier it will be to see perhaps the subtle influence of God in our lives Pause
An important question to ask now is What can I be proud of today there will be things? If you can t think of anything, you haven t looked hard enough. What happened today that I can be proud of? Whatever it is, I give thanks for this. Pause But also did I turn away from God during the day? Maybe I turned a blind eye when it suited me Did I recognise God in that homeless man, or that annoying child, or that spiteful old woman? When I look back on this day can I recall any way I may have shut God out, turned my back on him? Ignored him? I ask forgiveness for anything I may have done to ignore or hinder God s love in the day that is past and I ask his graces for healing and strength Pause The final part of the prayer is to look forward to tomorrow We are people of hope Let us remember that God will be with us What am I expecting to happen tomorrow? What am I looking forward to? What are the dangers and difficulties I may face? Where might I most need God s help? Pause I ask for that help now and I ask that I may never forget that God is with me always present in all things gently guiding me to fullness of life. Pause
Finish your time of prayer by saying Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Use the following pages to make some notes of your thoughts during the process of doing the examen each day. These will help you to see how God is moving in your life. At the end of Lent you will be able to look back and discover more of how you relate to God and how God has been prompting you during the course of your living. You may find the MP3 of The Examen on the parish website helpful to download and put on your phone or MP3 player
Day: Ash Wednesday 18 Feb
Day: Thursday 19 Feb
Day: Friday 20 Feb
Day: Saturday 21 Feb
Sunday: LENT 1 22 Feb
Day: Monday 23 Feb
Day: Tuesday 24 Feb
Day: Wednesday 25 Feb
Day: Thursday 26 Feb
Day: Friday 27 Feb
Day: Saturday 28 Feb
Sunday: LENT 2 Sunday 1 March
Day: Monday 2 March
Day: Tuesday 3 March
Day: Wednesday 4 March
Day: Thursday 5 March
Day: Friday 6 March
Day: Saturday 7 March
Sunday: LENT 3 Sunday 8 March
Day: Monday 9 March
Day: Tuesday 10 March
Day: Wednesday 11 March
Day: Thursday 12 March
Day: Friday 13 March
Day: Saturday 14 March
Sunday: LENT 4 Sunday 15 March
Day: Monday 16 March
Day: Tuesday 17 March
Day: Wednesday 18 March
Day: Thursday 19 March
Day: Friday 20 March
Day: Saturday 21 March
Sunday: LENT 5 Sunday 22 March
Day: Monday 23 March
Day: Tuesday 24 March
Day: Wednesday 25 March
Day: Thursday 26 March
Day: Friday 27 March
Day: Saturday 28 March
Sunday: PALM SUNDAY 29 March
Day: HOLY MONDAY 30 March
Day: HOLY TUESDAY 31 March
Day: HOLY WEDNESDAY 1 April
Day: MAUNDY THURSDAY 2 April
Day: GOOD FRIDAY 3 APRIL
Day: HOLY SATURDAY 4 April
Sunday: EASTER DAY 5 April
Review of Lent Looking back over the weeks now what do you notice about how God has been with you? What has drawn you closer to God? What has drawn you away from God? What have you done that has made you happy? What has upset you? How have your feelings informed your choices of actions? How can you take this learning into your future prayer life?
Capital Vision 2020 Growing in Confidence in our faith This leaflet is based on material from the Prayas-you-go website www.pray-as-you-go.org Please see it for more information and MP3 tracks of music and prayers which will help you. Ignatian spirituality The Examen comes originally from the spiritual tradition of St Ignatius. Ignatian spirituality is a way to pray, an approach to making decisions, a point of view about God, and a practical guide to everyday life. Ignatian spirituality sees God as actively working in the world, and aims to help us understand and identify His actions in our lives and in the world around us. Vicar: Reuben James Preston, The Vicarage, Eastway, London E9 5JA 0208 985 8462 07971 895897 vicar@stmaryofeton.org.uk www.stmaryofeton.org.uk Version 1.1 StMaryOfEton @StMaryOfEton