Salesian Literature

LETTERS OF SFS

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Angelique Arnauld

Spiritual Directors

Method of Prayer

Desire to belong to God alone

Getting rid of distractions

 

Method of Prayer

Paris, September 12, 1619[1]

 

At last, I shall be leaving tomorrow morning, my very dear daughter, since such is the will of Him for whom we exist, we live and we move (cf. Acts. 17:28).  May this great and eternal God be praised for the mercy He shows us!  Your consolation brings peace to my heart which is so closely united to Yours that whatever is received in one is shared totally by the other, for it seems to me they are in perfect communion; if I may be permitted to speak in terms used in the early Church, we are “of one heart and one mind” (Acts. 4:32).  […]

 

I hope that God will strengthen you more and more; and when you become afraid that your present attention and fervour may not last, respond once and for all to that thought, or rather to that temptation to sadness, that those who trust in God will never be confounded (cf. Sir. 2:10), and that in spiritual as well as physical and temporal maters, you have “cast your care upon the Lord and He will support you” (Ps. 55:22).  Let us serve God well today; He will provide for tomorrow.  Each day has its own burden to bear; do not worry about tomorrow (Mt. 6:34), for the same God who reigns today will reign tomorrow.  And if in His goodness He had thought, or even known, that you needed more readily available assistance than what I can give you form such a distance, He would have given it to you.  He will always give it to you when there is need to make up for my deficiency.  Remain at peace, my very dear daughter.  God works from near and afar, and calls distant things to the service of those who serve Him (cf. Rom. 4;17) – “absent in body, present in sprit,” says the Apostle (1 Cor. 5:3).

 

I hope I will be able to understand clearly what you will tell me about your prayer, although I don’t want you to be curious in observing your method of praying.  It will be enough if quite simply you let me known the more noticeable changes as you recall them after you have made your prayer.  I think it would be a good idea to jot down your thoughts when you have a chance, so as to send them on to me afterward, whenever you want to, without being afraid of boring me, for you will never bore me.

 

Beware, my very dear daughter, of the word “fool,” and remember the saying of Our Lord, “Whoever shall say to his brother ‘Raca’ (which is a word that doesn’t mean anything, but simply shows indignation) “will be answerable to the Sanhedrin” (Mt. 5:22); that is to say, deliberation will be taken about how he is to be punished.  Little by little, bring your quick mind around to being patient, gentle, humble, and affable in the midst of the pettiness, childishness and feminine imperfections of the sisters who are tender with themselves and obsessed with bothering their superiors.  Don’t pride yourself on the affection of human fathers, but on that of the heavenly Father who has loved you and given His life for you (cf. Eph. 5:2).

 

Sleep well. Gradually you will get back to six hours [of sleep], since this is what you want.  To eat little, work hard, have lots of concerns on our mind, and then to refuse to give our body sleep is to try to get much work out of a poor, emaciated horse without letting him graze.  […]

 

My dear daughter, I tell you goodbye, and beg you to believe that my heart will never be separated from yours – this is impossible – what God unites cannot be separated.  Keep your courage high, lifted up in that eternal Providence who has called you by your name (Is. 43:1), and carries you imprinted (cf. Is. 49:16) on his fatherly breast in such a motherly way.  In the greatness of this confidence and courage, practise carefully humility and mildness. So be it.

 

I am very specially yours, my very dear daughter. Remain in God. Amen.

 

I am leaving in great haste because the queen has asked to see me before I return.

 

What is not God must count for little in our estimation.  May He be your protection.  Amen.

 

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[1] Oeuvres, XIX, 14-17: Letter MDL.

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