M. (Maria) – Pray the Rosary daily.

Deepen your devotion to Mary, your mother, by praying a daily rosary. As you pray each decade, meditate on the life of Jesus and notice what stirs in your thoughts, feelings and desires. Allow Jesus to speak to your heart through Mary’s gentle invitation.

Resources such as these are available to purchase.

O. ( Oratio) – Pray the Examen daily.

The Examen Prayer is considered a daily “instance of discernment of spirits.” A faithful practice of the examen gradually helps you be aware, understand, and act according to God’s will at every moment of the day. The examen helps you follow God’s voice by rejecting the Enemy’s. It is recommended that the examen is prayed every day in the evening hours, sometime after dinner and before Night Prayer. This prayer can be done in front of the Blessed Sacrament or in the silence of your room. Don’t rush through the steps. Feel free to linger with the Lord as the Holy Spirit moves your prayer.

Don’s Experience:

Don is a fourth-year university student whose faith had been of little importance to him until several months ago. In his first three years at the university he had abandoned Sunday Mass and had essentially ceased to consider religious matters. Not long ago another student invited him to a talk at the university chapel that began a slow journey back to the faith. From that talk Don accepted an invitation to attend a weekend retreat for young adults. That retreat made a great impression on Don and from then on, he desired a deeper relationship with the Lord Jesus that others at the retreat seemed to possess.

Don spoke with the retreat director about this desire. As they spoke Don mentioned his habit of taking a walk in the evenings when possible. He explained that he enjoyed the physical movement after a day of study and that he always found nature uplifting. Such walks, he said, were often the only quiet space of his day. The director suggested that Don try taking his evening walk with the Lord Jesus and that with the Lord he reviews his day, open to what the Lord might show him about it. Don liked the idea and began the practice of reviewing his day in this way.

As Don is walking this evening, he is aware that something is troubling him. He asks the Lord to help him understand why he feels so unsettled this day. Don recognized that he has felt somewhat burdened throughout the entire afternoon. Now he remembers when this feeling first began. He was walking to class after lunch and encountered a woman student of his same year in the university. They had been friends and had shared quite deeply in the past but had not seen each other in recent weeks. Don was completely unprepared for the intense anger she showed toward him and for the cutting remark she made. When Don became angry in turn and replied in kind, she simply walked away. Since that moment he has felt no peace.

Don now asks the Lord to be with him and to help him understand what happened. He thinks back to the last time he saw his classmate. He remembers that this was at a party and that he and his friends had been drinking heavily. When Don saw his classmate nearby, he repeated to the group some profoundly personal things she had shared in one of their conversations. At the time, together with his friends and under the influence of alcohol, it seemed humorous, and Don thought no more about it until today. Now he perceives how painfully embarrassing that moment must have been for this woman and how deeply betrayed she must have felt.

V. ( Visita) – Visit a seminary or convent.

As simple as it may sound, a visit to a seminary or a convent often dispels fear and opens up a deep desire from within to move forward. Priests and Religious have described the feeling of “coming home” as they first visited a seminary or convent. A visit can really be a moment of grace as Rebecca describes below, “As I drove in, I felt like everything was lifted from me, and I had an overwhelming sense of peace, like a homecoming. It felt just right.” Perhaps your next move is to schedule a visit!

Now Rebecca begins a more formal process of discernment:

The sisters invited me to a weekend retreat at their house. I had expressed some interest, nothing really definite. So, I went, together with some other young women. As I drove in, I felt like everything was lifted from me, and I had an overwhelming sense of peace, like a homecoming. It felt just right. I didn’t know what that all meant. That was when I really started asking questions.

After that weekend, I spent more time with one of the sisters at the hospital, and we started discerning together. She taught me to pray. I had a house, a car, and other things, and wondered whether I should dispose of them if I was going to enter. We worked together on this. I was also going with a young man and told him that we couldn’t continue until I searched this out. Paul and I both thought that marriage would be the next step, but something was holding me back.

This went on for a year after that weekend. During this time, it felt right; I had that sense of peace and being home. I think I knew long before I told the sisters that I wanted to try it. The decision just evolved. There really wasn’t’ one moment that stands out. One day I was talking with the sister about disposing of my things, and she asked, “Would you like to enter?” I answered, “Yes.” Then we started to put things in motion.

See “Discerning the Will of God” By Fr. Timothy Gallagher, O.M.V., pg 128.

E. (Eucharistia) – Go to Eucharistic Adoration, if possible, daily.

If there is a parish near you that has eucharistic adoration, then go and sit in his presence. Many men today who are entering the seminary have mentioned that it was their experience of Christ’s presence in eucharistic adoration that brought them peace and clarity.