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"Thus, if we want to realize and know the truth and not to be led astray, let us seek to possess only the heart-engrafted energy in a way that is totally without shape or form, not trying to contemplate in our imagination what we take to be the firgure or similtude of things holy or to see any colours or lights. For in the nature of things the spirit of delusion decieves the intellect through such spurious fantasies, especially at the early stages, in those who are still inexperienced."

- On the Signs of Grace & Delusion, iii.

St. Gregory the Sinaite says,


This seems totally to be at odds with Ignatian spirituality which places heavy emphasis on the benefit of imagination in prayer, *especially* for beginners, whereas St. Gregory says it is especially *dangerous* for the inexperienced. I don't want to come to the conclusion that the two spiritualities are irreconcilable on these and what their proponents take for very serious grounds; but I have difficulty viewing it in any other light.

Perspectives?

I think that there is a difference between the imagination as a faculty of the soul that aids the soul in prayer and one in which is abused through fantasy.

For instance, in my prayer I may call to mind an icon, one that I may have gazed upon in the past, but is not physically present to me. Or, as I read and contemplate the Holy Gospels, my mind naturally plays out the story through the faculty of imagination. The principal inspiration for the image in my mind is the Word of God in Sacred Scripture and the proclamation/Tradition of the Church.

Now, if I go further than the Gospels take me, and imagine conversations with Jesus or the apostles or the angels and saints either then or now, I am engaged in fantasy and not prayer. Or if I fantasize about doing virtuous things or becoming a nun or a priest or a parent or a missionary, these things may be prophetically inspired by God through prayer, but they do not of themselves constitute prayer and they must be discerned with the aid of a spiritual father. I have had to learn the hard way that our wishes and sentiments towards virtuous living are only virtuous in a secondary or even tertiary sense insofar as we desire the things that are good - they cannot replace the "doing" of the good.

When I pray the Jesus prayer on an airplane (where I often find myself these days) I do not always have a small icon with me. So very often I will take a moment and remember the icon on my wall at home - one that is quite familar to me. THe powers of memory and imagination combine to help me focus when I begin to pray. Of course, every earthly image (whether on the wall or in our minds) must yield to its prototype and we cannot make an idol of the icon, especially the one in our mind!

But I think so long as the goal is not to create some scene that is outside the Gospels or the lives of the saints, I think the power of imagination can serve prayer. And I do not believe that this type of practice is what St. Gregory is warning against. Very clearly he is warning against the abuse (fantasy), not the proper use of a God-given power of the soul which was created by GOd and sanctified and divinized through the Incarnation.

In IC XC,

Gordo

If some vision came to me claiming to be the blessed Virgin or Christ and claiming that some secret about Jesus' life needed to be known

Gordo,

What do you think of Catheine Emmerich and other western mystics who claim to have been given details about Jesus' life and conversations? Or those western devotional manuals like "My Daily Bread," where you are supposed to imagine Christ speaking with you as you read the prayer composed as if it were written by Christ? It seems to me that these are examples of using fantasy and imagination in a vain and fruitless manner. But that is just my opinion. If some vision came to me claiming to be the blessed Virgin or Christ and claiming that some secret about Jesus' life needed to be known (like the length of His hair or what He said to the beloved disciple at the Last Supper), I would assume it was my own fancy unless proven otherwise.

Joe

Tell her that Medjugorje is a fraud condemned by the Church.

You wouldn't be lying.

Tell her that Medjugorje is a fraud condemned by the Church.

You wouldn't be lying.

Cnak: Some newspapers have written that this Pope visited Medjugorje incognito while he was a Cardinal and that he is preparing to recognize Medjugorje as a shrine, etc. Did you touch upon this topic?

Bishop: We did and I wrote to and spoke with the Holy Father on it. He only laughed surprisingly. Regarding the events of Medjugorje our position is well known: not a single proof exists that these events concern supernatural apparitions and revelations. Therefore from the Church�s perspective no pilgrimages are allowed which would attribute any authenticity to these alleged apparitions. The Holy Father told me: we at the Congregation always asked ourselves how can any believer accept as authentic, apparitions that occur every day and for so many years? Are they still occurring every day? I responded: Every day, Holy Father, to one of them in Boston, to another near Milano and still another in Krehin Gradac (Herzegovina), and everything is done under the protocol of �apparitions of Medjugorje�. Up till now there have been about 35,000 �apparitions� and there is no end in sight!

The Pope then continued: the previous Bishops� Conference of the former Yugoslavia issued a statement of �non constat de supernaturalitate� (though the BCY did not use this specific formula, still the phrase �According to investigations made thus far, it cannot be affirmed that these events concern supernatural apparitions or revelations�, corresponds to the traditional formula in these matters). Has the current Bishops� Conference of Bosnia-Herzegovina or the Croatian Bishops� Conference reconfirmed the previous declaration?

I replied: There has been no joint reconfirmation, but each individual bishop when speaking on this issue refers to the Declaration. I added that I was sent to Mostar in 1992 and that I have been following the events from the beginning and that from the last declaration of the Bishops in 1991 up till now, nothing significant has changed, nothing new has happened, nor have any new elements occurred which would change the meaning of the events. In my opinion, from the numerous local facts, it is evident that these events can be defined not only by �non constat de supernaturalitate� ie: it is not certain that these events concern supernatural apparitions, but also by �constat de non supernaturalitate� ie: it is certain that these events do not concern supernatural apparitions. The numerous absurd messages, insincerities, falsehoods and disobedience associated with the events and �apparitions� of Medjugorje from the very outset, all disprove any claims of authenticity. Much pressure through appeals has been made to force the recognition of the authenticity of private revelations, yet not through convincing arguments based upon the truth, but through the self-praise of personal conversions and by statements such as one �feels good�. How can this ever be taken as proof of the authenticity of apparitions?

Finally the Holy Father said: we at the Congregation felt that priests should be of service to those faithful who seek Confession and Holy Communion, �leaving out the question of the authenticity of the apparitions�.