Affective meditation is a Christian spiritual practice originating in Medieval Europe[1][2] by which a pilgrim, worshipper, or other follower of Christ seeks to imagine the sights, sounds, tastes, smells, movement, and tactility of specific scenes from canonical Gospels and their characters, with particular emphasis on empathising with the compassion and suffering of Jesus and the joys and sorrows of the Virgin Mary, leading to the authentic and spontaneous expression of emotion.
[3][4] Affective meditation is the spiritual practice around which the tradition and philosophy of affective piety revolves, and was initiated by Saint Anselm of Canterbury, subsequently by Bernard of Clairvaux, and latterly by Francis of Assisi, who are credited with spawning an expressive form of worship through which members of the clergy, monastic orders, and laity visualized and envisioned scenes from the life of Christ with which they empathized to such degree that their compassionate identification with the suffering of him and his mother Mary manifested in emotive vocal sounds and physical movements.
[5][6][7] The following excerpt from a work by English writer, Abbot and saint Aelred of Rievaulx is indicative of instructions provided by Christians in the tradition of affective piety.
...follow her [the Virgin Mary] as she goes to Bethlehem, and turning away from the inn with her, help and humor her during the birth; and when the little child is placed in the manger, burst out words of exultation, crying out with Isaiah: A child is born to us, a son is given to us...Embrace that sweet manger, let love conquer bashfulness, and emotion drive out fear so that you fix your lips on those most sacred feet and repeat the kisses.
[10]A further example comes from the writings of English hermit, mystic, and religious writer Richard Rolle, who expresses his empathy with the suffering of Christ in his work Meditation on the Passion.