Blessed George, a promoter of spiritual renewal

By Br. Stephen J., MIC

At first glance, Blessed George Matulaitis-Matulewicz (1871-1927) is a man of paradoxes. He was involved in politics, and yet not political; patriotic, but honoring all nations; a peacemaker who fiercely opposed the Church’s enemies. He was a social justice warrior opposed to socialism; faithful to the Church, yet criticized by investigators of Modernism; a voracious reader, yet with time to speak to everyone. He was a man of deep prayer and great missionary zeal, combining spiritual growth with worldly skill, insisting on perfection but avoiding scrupulosity.

How did Blessed George, the Renovator of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception (whose feast day is Jan. 27), reconcile these diverse qualities in himself, and thus become an example of holiness in modern times?

He makes no secret of the source of his skill: It is his interior life with God.

Interior life
The interior life is the topic of Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard’s The Soul of the Apostolate, which powerfully influenced Bl. George. Chautard, a contemplative Trappist, was also a skilled administrator, a diplomat, and one of the most active religious of his day. In his book, he insisted that daily meditation is indispensable for growth in the spiritual life. Far from diminishing one’s apostolic works, the interior life multiplies their spiritual and physical fruits. The apostle with a true interior life draws on the strength of God for his labors, and thus, both growing and leading others in holiness, far surpasses his natural ability. The minimum required for such growth, in Chautard’s and Bl. George’s estimation, is a half-hour meditation every day, ideally each morning.

However, this is only the minimum. A practical proverb runs, “A good morning starts the night before,” and this was certainly Bl. George’s opinion about morning meditation. In his “Instructions for the Marian Fathers,” he required his brothers to draw up every night two or three specific points to meditate on next morning. After the community prayed Compline, they would keep silence until the morning. They would ponder these points of meditation while preparing for bed, if they woke up at night, and upon rising in the morning, putting all other thoughts second. Coming to the chapel before the Blessed Sacrament in the morning, they would then make their half-hour meditation, and later briefly examine whether their meditation was fruitful or not, and how to improve their efforts. The meditation, according to Blessed George, should produce four fruits: emotions, resolutions, a spiritual bouquet, and solid virtues.

Try Bl. George’s practice of daily meditation. Take a few minutes at night to choose some passage of Scripture (perhaps from the readings for Mass tomorrow), and turn it over in your mind for a while. When you wake up in the morning, look at it again, and think of some practical way you can live out this passage. Take a spiritual bouquet with you when you go to work, or school and let it sink into you. Then, as St. Paul says to the Thessalonians, you will be “receiving … the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe” (1 Thess 2:13).

Fruits of Meditation
The first fruit of meditation is the emotions which we stir up during the meditation itself, such as distrust of self, affection for God, and desire for the virtues. These should not be neglected, since our emotions always affect our daily actions, often in ways we don’t predict. To choose and affirm the right emotion at the right time is, in fact, a great sign of self-control and a powerful impetus to practice each virtue exactly when needed.

The second fruit of meditation is any practical resolution arising from the meditation, which is to be carried out soon. Blessed George strenuously urges us to make practical resolutions based on our current state in life, not reimagining the past or anticipating some distant future. To make a resolution based on a tentative or falsely predicted future is a useless illusion of virtue. Rather, we should strive to know and do God’s Will each day, renewing previous good resolutions and making new ones as needed. This, we will grow in virtue wherever we are, fulfilling daily responsibilities with particular, deliberate actions.

The third fruit is a spiritual bouquet of short Scripture verses or prayers, sometimes written down, by which we remind ourselves of the affections and resolutions from meditation. Examples of such a bouquet are the short concluding prayers from each day of 33 Days to Morning Glory by Fr. Michael Gaitley, MIC. These prayers, which begin, “Come, Holy Spirit, living in Mary, … ” remind us of the fruit of that day’s written reflection, which we can mentally carry and “sniff” throughout the day. Making such a spiritual bouquet will help the seeds of meditation take root in our lives, especially at times when we are faced with obstacles and humiliations, or when we must carry out the resolutions we made.

The fourth fruit, virtue, results from the first three. It is the will’s resolve to practice the virtues as they apply to our particular circumstances. Blessed George writes that the proper performance of daily tasks is to be intentional, attentive, persevering, and progressing from day to day. The virtues tell us the direction of our progress. Thus, a man seeking to grow in justice might reflect on what he owes to those around him at home and at work. One seeking to grow in purity might reflect on how to avoid occasions of lust and to develop healthy, generous friendships. One seeking to grow in knowledge might reflect on God’s view of his intended field of study. In every case, the goal is a particular exercise of a virtue that will help one to be holier, healthier, and happier.

Unplug from the world
The practice of meditation is a beautiful way to unplug from the world and attach ourselves slowly but surely to God. It is no wonder that Bl. George, practicing this day after day, became more and more like God until the worldly wise didn’t know what to make of his successes. 

I highly recommend that you try Bl. George’s practice of daily meditation. You may not have time or energy for half an hour every morning, but take a few minutes at night to choose some passage of Scripture (perhaps from the readings for Mass tomorrow), and turn it over in your mind for a while. When you wake up in the morning, look at it again, and think of some practical way you can live out this passage. Take a spiritual bouquet with you when you go to work, or school and let it sink into you. Then, as St. Paul says to the Thessalonians, you will be “receiving … the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe” (1 Thess 2:13).

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