REGIS: The meaning of repetition

In the spring, as birds wake me up with their singing, I get a melody stuck in my head. Their song reminds me of a piece of music that I used in a dance routine over 20 years ago.

Back then, I was just starting my consecrated life with the Focolare, and I was part of a professional performing group called Gen Verde. Every morning we used a ballet warm-up sequence before practicing for the performances, and it is amazing that by hearing birds singing only a few notes, I’m transported back to Pliés & Relevés sequences.

Repetition! It’s all repetition.

Repetition has great value in spiritual life as well. It is said that repetition is the mother of learning, and in prayer, the more we keep on trying, the more we learn how to reach those heart-to-heart conversations with God and grow in our spiritual life.

One of the most common repetitions in prayer is the Hail Mary in the Rosary. I still remember, as a little girl, saying the Rosary and Litanies every day after dinner with my four sisters and my parents. Even though I did not know the meaning of it all at the time, I’m sure that daily prayer helped shape the person I am today. As the years passed, I learned to repeat other forms of prayer and actions that brought me closer to God and helped me listen to His voice more often. The more I did those things, the more I practiced, and the more those things became part of my life.

In Ignatian spirituality, repetition has a special purpose. It means returning to prayer with a specific spiritual exercise that brought an experience of some significant spiritual movement: consolation, desolation, or a moment of appreciation. For me, going back to those moments is very helpful. For example, when I had dryness in my prayer while meditating on the Scriptures, I went back later to that same piece and tried spending more time going deeper into it. Or, while feeling so tired, I remembered a moment of spiritual consolation that brought a big smile to my face and brightened the entire day.

In the last days of his life, when my dad was in the hospital, I read aloud from a spiritual book for him. After I finished a short reading, he said, “The word of the Lord.” And looking at me as if to say “respond,” I said, “Thanks be to God.” Then he said, “Keep going with the second reading,” and we ended up going through the entire Mass. He remembered every word of it, and I, skeptical at first, went along with him. It was a moment of dementia, but it made me reflect because my dad went to daily Mass for many years (again, repetition).

As he lost his mind, the words that came out of his mouth were the words he repeated in Mass. Since he did not have a habit of repeating bad words in his lifetime, at the end of his life he said good things.

I also wish to end my life saying and doing only good things — loving God and my neighbors! Therefore, I’ll keep repeating those acts of love to my neighbors and have those heart-to-heart conversations with Jesus until the end of my life here on earth as I prepare for one day to meet Him face to face! 

Joelma Regis is an associate director for the Office of Vocations.

Photo by Aaron Burden.