This document provides guidance on creating interior silence during Lent to hear God's will. It recommends: 1) Setting the goal of creating the spirit of Nazareth in our hearts to fulfill God's will through prayer, scripture, and examining our lives. 2) Practicing lectio divina to listen for God speaking through scripture by reading, meditating, praying, and contemplating passages. 3) Making time each day and week for silence, such as using a dedicated prayer space and going on pilgrimages, to discern God's voice.

1. S E S S I O N 19
Enter into Great Silence

2. We have set for ourselves a lofty goal this Lenten
season. Create Nazareth in our hearts so that we
may hear and fulfill God’s will in our life.

3. Entry into the Spirit of Nazareth
• “O Mary Immaculate, O glorious Joseph! And you,
St. John, beloved disciple of the Divine Heart, teach
me the great science of love” (St. Bernadette).
• “The Church must make this journey which takes
her from the temple she has built for herself to this
house that God makes for her … that is, to true
interior life, the life of the Holy Family … Mary
makes Christians take the road to the Holy Family,
where the Gospel is lived in its plenitude” (Fr.
Andrew Doze).
Source: Doze, Fr. Andrew, “Saint Joseph: The
Shadow of the Father,” Trans. Audett, F., Alba
House, New York, 1992, p. 68 and pp. 72-73.

4. The Daily Lenten Program
1. Begin the day with a consecration of the
day and ourselves to Our Lady.
2. Daily Lectio Divina using Scriptural
passages and meditation starters.
3. Recitation of the Most Holy Rosary of
the Blessed Virgin Mary.
4. Brief examination of conscience at the
end of the day.

5. St. Joseph at Nazareth
1. Divine Dialogue
2. Our Lady
3. Silence
4. Obedience to God’s
Representatives
5. Fidelity to State-in-Life
6. External Signs
7. Peace
Create Nazareth
within our hearts.
Discern the
movement of the
Holy Spirit in our
hearts.

6. The Weekly Lenten Program
1. Discernment at Nazareth
• Enter into profound silence in the presence of
the Lord.
2. Practical Recommendation
• Establish a dedicated prayer place in your
home.
• Place an image of Christ that resonates to you
personally in this place.
• Begin and end the day with 10-15 minutes of
silence in this place of prayer.
• Establish time to “come away” with Christ.

7. Now comes the tricky part!
We must learn St. Joseph’s great lesson on
silence – but he didn’t tell us how!
He showed us!

8. The Silence of St. Joseph
• Does not speak a single word in Scripture.
• Royal line, but is poor.
• Know nothing of past, parents, death.
• Amazingly absent from Church Fathers.
• No major church in Holy Land.
• No major church in Rome.
• 1129: 1st church in west (Bologna)
• 1479: Feast in Universal Church
• 1729: Name added to Litany of Saints.
• 1870: Patron of Universal Church.
• 1962: Name added to Roman Canon.

9. The Silence of God
“For God alone my soul waits in silence, for
my hope is from him. He only is my rock and
my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be
shaken. On God rests my deliverance and
my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out
your heart before him; God is a refuge for
us.”
Psalm 62:5-8

10. Developing Interior Silence
“And a great storm of wind arose, and the
waves beat into the boat, so that the boat
was already filling … they woke Jesus and
said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care if we
perish?’ And he awoke and rebuked the
wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’
And the wind ceased, and there was a great
calm … And they were filled with awe.”
Mark 4:37-41

11. On a daily basis, we need to enter into silence to
listen to the voice of God. A perfect means to
accomplish this is the practice of Lectio Divina.

12. Finding Christ in the Scriptures
• “You search the Scriptures, because you think
that in them you have eternal life; and it is they
that bear witness to me” (John 5:39).
• “Let [the faithful] remember, however, that prayer
should accompany the reading of Sacred
Scripture, so that a dialogue takes place between
God and man. For ‘we speak to him when we
pray; we listen to him when we read the divine
oracles’” (Catechism #2653).
• There are four elements to Lectio Divina:
Reading, Meditation, Prayer and Contemplation.

13. Lectio or Reading
• Place the Word of God on your lips.
• Gently read a passage from the Bible.
• When a thought, word or line strikes
you, stop and dwell on that text,
repeating it slowly over and over.
• When the passage has “dried up,”
move on to the next passage.

14. Meditatio or Meditation
• Dwelling at leisure on a morsel of text.
• Personalize passage: “What is God
saying to ME through the passage?”
• Do not work hard to actively try to
“crack” the text.
• Listen so that the text might speak.
• Let God speak through the text.

15. Oratio or Prayer
• The Word moves from the lips to the
heart.
• Desire for the text to be “opened up.”
• “Lord, that I might see!”
• It is personalized.
• It is ultimately desire for communion
with God.

16. Contemplatio or Contemplation
• God comes to the soul.
• The soul experiences God’s love being
poured into it.
• This is God’s initiative to be received
by the soul as “gift.”
• The soul is passive and receives or
“lingers” as long as God’s presence is
experienced.

17. God speaks through the Scriptures.
God speaks through the Magisterium.
God also speaks directly to our heart.
We must create the opportunity to hear him.

18. Time for Christ
“Jesus said to them, ‘Come away by
yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while.’
For many were coming and going, and they
had no leisure even to eat. And they went
away in the boat to a lonely place by
themselves.
Mark 6:31-32

19. God Speaks in the Silence
“Kneeling here, before the grotto of Massabielle, I feel deeply that I have
reached the goal of my pilgrimage. This cave, where Mary appeared, is
the heart of Lourdes. It reminds us of the cave of Mount Horeb where
Elijah met the Lord, who spoke to him in ‘a still, small voice’ (1 Kings
19:12) … When the Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette in the grotto of
Massabielle, she began a dialogue between Heaven and earth … Mary
asked that people should come here in procession … for more than a
century the Christian people have faithfully responded to that maternal
summons … This year the Pope joins you in this act of devotion and love
for the Most Holy Virgin, the glorious woman of the Book of Revelation,
crowned with twelve stars (cf. Rev 12:1) … Dear brothers and sisters!
From this grotto of Massabielle the Blessed Virgin speaks to us too, the
Christians of the third millennium. Let us listen to her.”
Pope John Paul II
Pilgrimage to Lourdes, August 14-15, 2004

20. Pilgrimage: Time with God
• Pilgrimage: Combines time with other people and the
opportunity to see a place where heaven and earth
have touched in a special way.
• Paradisus Dei leads pilgrimages to important sites:
• Lourdes: Apparition site of Our Lady in 1858.
• Rome: Seat of Pope, tombs of 7 Apostles, filled
with spiritual treasures.
• Holy Land: The land where Jesus Christ physically
lived, died and rose from the dead.
• University of Notre Dame
• Spiritual tie to Lourdes, Frances.
• One of the most beautiful churches in U.S.
• Grotto of Lourdes as spiritual heart of campus.

21. Creating Silence at Home
• The TMIY Don Bosco – Lourdes “12 Day Novena”
• January 31 – February 11
• Time to evaluate spiritual plan-of-life and/or
apostolic activities.
• The TMIY Miraculous Medal – Immaculate
Conception “12 Day Novena”
• November 27 – December 8
• Time to evaluate spiritual plan-of-life and/or
apostolic activities.
• Weekly or Monthly gathering with TMIY men.

22. If we are willing to create silence in our lives, then
we will be able to hear when God speaks in his
“still, small voice.”

23. A Practical Recommendation
• Have a dedicated place of prayer in your home or in
nature.
• Have images of Christ that speak to you personally.
• Place yourself in God’s presence.
• Have at least 5 minutes of silence.
• Read Scripture practicing Lectio Divina.
• Attend a Retreat or make a TMIY “12 Day Novena”
each year.
• Attend a pilgrimage when possible.
• Get together with other TMIY men to work on your
spiritual life.

24. Small Group Discussion
Starter Questions
1. What are the major obstacles for you having
silence in your life? What are going to do about
them?
2. When is the best time for you to have silence?
Next Week
Hearing the Voice of God