Salesian Literature

Letters on:

Prayer, Faith, and Accepting Your Vocation

1. Thy Will be done   ::    2. Do the will of God joyfully  ::    3. Serve God where you are  ::    4. Let us be what we are, and let us be it well 

5. Our faith should be naked and simple  ::    6. There are two principal reasons for prayer  ::    7. Little virtues prepare for contemplation of God

8. We must remain in the presence of God  ::    9. Never does God leave us save to hold us better

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8. We must remain in the presence of God

To Jane de Chantal, on prayer

        

My dearest child,

 

Your manner of prayer is good, but be very careful to remain near God in this gentle and quite attention of heart, and in this sweet slumber in the arms of His holy will, for all this is agreeable to Him.

 

In praying this way, avoid strenuous efforts to understand, because they hurt you, not only in other matters, but even in prayer; circle around the dear object of your meditation with your affections quite simply, and as gently as you can.  Your understanding will surely make some dartings to intrude itself, but you must not busy yourself to keep on your guard against it, for that would form a distraction.  But when you perceive it, be satisfied with returning to the simple act of the will.

 

To keep ourselves in the presence of God and to place ourselves in the presence of God are, in my opinion, two different things.  For to place ourselves in this presence it is necessary to recall our minds from every other object and render it actually attentive to the divine presence, as I say in my book[1].

 

But after placing ourselves in the presence of God, we keep ourselves there by making certain acts towards God, either by understanding or by will.  We can make these acts by looking at Him or by looking at some other thing for love of Him.  We can make them by looking at nothing, and instead by speaking to Him.  Lastly, we can make them by neither looking nor speaking, but simply by staying where He has put us, like a statue in its niche.

 

When there is added to this simple staying some feeling that we belong completely to God, and that He is our all, we must indeed give thanks to His goodness.  If a statue that had been placed in a niche in some room could speak and was asked, “Why are you there?” it would say, “Because my master has put me here.”

 

“Why don’t you move?”

“Because he wants me to remain immovable.”

“What use are you there; what do you gain by being so?”

“It is not for my profit that I am her; it is to serve and obey the will of my master.”

“But you do not see him.”

“No, but he sees me, and takes pleasure in seeing me where he has put me.”

“Would you not like to have movement, so that you could go nearer to him?”

“Certainly not, except when he might command me.”

:Don’t you want anything, then?”

“No; for I am where my master has place me, and his good pleasure is the unique contentment of my being.”

 

My God!  What a good prayer and a good way to keep in the presence of God, to keep ourselves in His will and His good pleasure!  I think that Magdalene was a statue in her niche, when without speaking, without moving, and perhaps without looking at Him, she listened to what Our Lord said, seated at His feet (Lk. 10:39).  When He spoke she heard; when He paused from speaking, she ceased to listen, and still stayed ever there.

 

A little child who is on the bosom of its sleeping mother is truly in its good and desirable place, although it says no word to her nor she to it.

 

My God! How glad I am, my child, to speak a little of these things with you!  How happy we are when we will to love Our Lord!  Let us, then, love Him well.  Let us not set ourselves to consider too exactly what we do for His love, provided we know that we will to do nothing but for His love.

 

For my part, I think we keep ourselves in the presence of God even while sleeping.  For we go to sleep in His sight, by His will, and at His pleasure; and He puts us there like statues in a niche.  And when we wake we find that He is there near us; He has not moved any more than we; we have then kept in His presence, but with our eyes shut and closed….

 

Be resolute, dear child; doubt not.  God holds you with His hand, and will never leave you.  Glory be to Him for ever and ever! Amen.

 

Francis

 

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[1] Introduction to the Devout Life, Part II, Chapter 2.

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