Week #25

Forty Weeks ~ Sacred Story

Week 25 Prayer Exercises

Encouragements & Wisdom

In addition to this week’s prayer materials, there are new Encouragements and Wisdom for Week 25 (PDF).

Part Two
Building Sacred Story Prayer Practice

1 As I combine all five meditations in Sacred Story prayer this week for the first time, I will review my commitment and imagine a rhythm that will carry me for the rest of my life. To help me with that commitment, I again resolve to spend no more and no less than 15-minutes in each formal prayer session.

2 For week twenty-five I am praying meditations one through five in the Sacred Story prayer. I will enter my prayer at least once daily as St. Ignatius suggested.

3 Meditation One, Two, Three, Four and Five—Creation, Presence, Memory, Mercy and Eternity: I will use my first prayer session to review the daily prayer disciplines from Week 16. I will use the remainder of the week’s 15-minute prayer periods for the combined prayer exercise.

I will awaken to the present moment.
I will awaken to my spiritual nature.
I will not make any decisions based on fear.
I will practice Sacramental Reconciliation monthly.

Focus Affirmation for Week Twenty-Five

I will say this affirmation aloud once daily:

I will not tire of asking God for help because
God delights in my asking.

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Read this at the beginning of the week

Review the structure of the 15-minute prayer sessions. You will find these at the bookmark you left in Week 16. For this week, you are combining the five meditations in Sacred Story prayer: Creation, Presence, Memory, Mercy and Eternity. Use your 15-minute prayer sessions this week to pray these five meditations together, following the wisdom you learned in Week 16 for this practice. You can also refresh your memory on the Preludes and Illuminative Graces of these three meditations if you find it helpful.

Awakening to Sacred Story—Creation, Presence, Memory, Mercy & Eternity

Prayer Exercise—Creation, Presence, Memory, Mercy & Eternity

CREATION
I believe God created everything in love and for love; I ask for the grace of a heart-felt knowledge of God’s love for me, and for gratitude for the general and particular graces of this day.

PRESENCE
I believe God is present in each moment and event of my life, and I ask for grace to awaken, see and feel where and how, especially in this present moment.

MEMORY
I believe every violation of love committed by me and against me is in my memory, and I ask God to reveal them to me, especially those that have manifested themselves today, so I can be healed.

MERCY
I believe that forgiveness is the only path to healing and illumination. I beg for the grace of forgiveness, and the grace to forgive, especially for the general and particular failures of this day, and from my past.

ETERNITY
I believe the grace of forgiveness opens my heart, making my every thought, word and deed bear fruit that endures to eternity. I ask that everything in my life serve Christ’s Great Work of Reconciliation.

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May God be gracious to us and bless us;
may his face shine upon us.
So shall your way be known upon the earth,
your victory among all the nations.
May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you!
The earth has yielded its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.
May God bless us still;
that the ends of the earth may revere him.

(Ps 67: 2-4, 7-8)