Private Devotions During Holy Week

Lenten Devotional Series Day 44.  Today’s reading is the Passion according to Luke.

Today we enter into the Triduum, also known as the Three Great Days. These are the most holy, solemn, and serious days of the entire Christian year. More than any other season, now is the time for us to seek the Lord in corporate worship and in private devotion.

It’s easy to know what to do in corporate worship. Just be there on time and follow the liturgy. But what about those private devotions? When you set aside an hour or two on Good Friday or Holy Saturday, what’s the plan?

Aubrey Spears recommends a time-tested approach called the Examen, developed from the retreat practices of Ignatius of Loyola. Here’s Aubrey’s version for use at any time when you have an hour with the Lord:

1. Awareness. Still your heart and mind. Relax and recall that you are in the presence of God. Look back at the events of the day in the company of the Holy Spirit. The day may seem confusing to you–a blur, a jumble, a muddle. Ask God to bring clarity and understanding.
   
2. Gratitude. Search for the experiences for which you are grateful. Note the joys and delights you experienced. Pay attention to the small things–the food you ate, the sights you saw, and other seemingly small pleasures. Give thanks to God for these gifts. Look at the work you did, the people you interacted with. What did you receive from these people? What did you give them?
   
3. Confession. Ask for grace to know your sins and to rid yourself of them. Demand an account of your soul over the past twenty-four hours. If possible, proceed hour by hour from the time you arose yesterday to the present moment. In the presence of Christ examine your thoughts, your words, and finally your deeds. Confess your sins to God.
   
4. Forgiveness. Ask the Lord to pardon you and to give you a clean heart.
   
5. Contemplation. Choose one feature of the day and pray about it. Ask the Holy Spirit to direct you to something during the day that God thinks is particularly important. It may involve a feeling–positive or negative. It may be a significant encounter with another person or a vivid moment of pleasure or peace. Or it may be something that seems rather insignificant. Look at it. Pray about it. Allow the prayer to rise spontaneously from your heart–whether intercession, praise, repentance, or gratitude.
   
6. Close with the Lordʼs Prayer.

Again, this method can be used during any season. During Holy Week, you might want to use this as a way to focus on the death and resurrection of Jesus, particularly in step 2 (Gratitude) and step 5 (Contemplation). Here’s the goal of setting aside time with the Lord in this way:

We should let ourselves be brought naked and defenseless into the center of that dread where we stand alone before God in our nothingness, without explanation, without theories, completely dependent upon his providential care, in dire need of the gift of his grace, his mercy and the light of faith. –Thomas Merton

The Collect of the Day. Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.