The Meditation is a symphonic entr'acte performed between
the scenes of Act II in the opera Thais. In the first scene of Act II,
Athanael, a Cenobite monk, confronts Thais, a beautiful and
hedonistic courtesan and devotee of Venus, and attempts to
convince her to leave her life of luxury and pleasure and find
salvation through God. It is during a time of reflection
following the encounter that the Meditation is played by the
orchestra. In the second scene of Act II, following the Meditation,
Thais tells Athanael that she will follow him to the desert.