Fix Your Gaze on Him
Anybody who, when praying to God, notices that he is praying, is not entirely attentive to prayer. He is turning away his attention from the God, to Whom he is praying, in order to think of the prayer by which he is praying. The very pains we take to prevent distractions often work upon us as a considerable distraction. What is most praiseworthy in all spiritual activity is complete simplicity.
Do you wish to gaze upon God? Gaze upon Him then, and put your mind on this. If you begin to reflect and to turn your eyes upon self in order to learn what sort of attitude you are maintaining as you gaze upon Him, then it is no longer upon Him that your gaze is fixed, but upon your own conduct, and upon yourself. Anyone who is engaged in fervent prayer does not so much as know if he is in prayer or not, so great is the ardor of holy love. He carries on no self-examination, but holds himself fixed and fastened in God.
It is certain that distractions are multiplied ordinarily according to the degree of one's vivacity of mind, and that there are minds so restless as to be distracted during the entire time of an Office. Yet the will of such a person is no more guilty than would be the case as regards dreams coming to them in sleep. Patience in these cases, a continuous desire for God, renewed from time to time, is often of more worth and profit to the soul, than an entirely peaceful, calm, and pleasant power of attention.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Friday, July 5, 2013
St Chantal on Prayer
July 5th
Prayer -- God's Work in Us
Of ourselves, we could never take a single step in the holy way of prayer. This is why the sacred spouse cries out in her helplessness : "Draw me," that is, make the first move, for I do not know how to waken myself by my own power. But, when You will have stirred me, then, Oh dear Bridegroom of my soul, we shall run forward. You will run before me, drawing me always forward, and I will follow You in haste, accepting Your attraction; and thus You will draw me by the odor of your ointments.
Prayer -- God's Work in Us
Of ourselves, we could never take a single step in the holy way of prayer. This is why the sacred spouse cries out in her helplessness : "Draw me," that is, make the first move, for I do not know how to waken myself by my own power. But, when You will have stirred me, then, Oh dear Bridegroom of my soul, we shall run forward. You will run before me, drawing me always forward, and I will follow You in haste, accepting Your attraction; and thus You will draw me by the odor of your ointments.
St Chantal on Prayer
July 4th
With Love and for Love
There is no harm in seating ourselves for awhile, when necessity demands, but we should not so remain during the whole time of prayer. Such tender care of self is not to be always practiced, for it is dangerous and can do much harm in the way of salvation. It does not upset me to learn that someone has fallen asleep at prayer, so long as everything possible has been done to achieve recollection. Drowsiness must be humbly borne, and we must hold ourselves before God like a statue to receive whatever God may send. Our Lord is sometimes pleased to watch us struggling against sleep through the whole time of prayer without wishing to deliver us. This we must endure calmly and must even welcome our pitiful condition. Never say that there is nothing to be done, becuase something always lies within our power if we wish it. Otherwise we shall be maintaining that our Lord has ordered the impossible, and this is not so. We can do all things with grace, and grace never fails us.
With Love and for Love
There is no harm in seating ourselves for awhile, when necessity demands, but we should not so remain during the whole time of prayer. Such tender care of self is not to be always practiced, for it is dangerous and can do much harm in the way of salvation. It does not upset me to learn that someone has fallen asleep at prayer, so long as everything possible has been done to achieve recollection. Drowsiness must be humbly borne, and we must hold ourselves before God like a statue to receive whatever God may send. Our Lord is sometimes pleased to watch us struggling against sleep through the whole time of prayer without wishing to deliver us. This we must endure calmly and must even welcome our pitiful condition. Never say that there is nothing to be done, becuase something always lies within our power if we wish it. Otherwise we shall be maintaining that our Lord has ordered the impossible, and this is not so. We can do all things with grace, and grace never fails us.
St Chantal on Prayer
July 3rd
St Chantal on Prayer
With Love and for Love
Fidelity of soul towards God consists in being perfectly resigned to His holy will, in enduring everything that His goodness allows in our lives, and in carrying out all our duties with love and for love, especially that of prayer. In prayer we must converse with our Lord very similarly concerning our little needs, telling Him what they are, and remaining submissive to anything He may wish to do with us. We must with constancy reject the distractions which come to us in prayer and during the Office. By way of preparations for prayer, the thing to do is to go at it with deep humility and awareness of our nothingness. We must invoke the help of the Holy Spirit and that of our good angel, and then hold ourselves very still during this time in God's presence, full of faith that He is more in us than we in ourselves. And though our prayer be without words or consideration, there is no danger in this, because the good success of prayer depends neither on words nor on study. Rather it is the simple raising of our minds to God: and the more simple and the more striped of feeling, the surer. As for thinking of our sins during prayer, this we must never do. A simple humbling of our soul before God as regards all our offenses, without thought of this one or that, is enough. Most of the time, such thoughts only act as distractions.
St Chantal on Prayer
With Love and for Love
Fidelity of soul towards God consists in being perfectly resigned to His holy will, in enduring everything that His goodness allows in our lives, and in carrying out all our duties with love and for love, especially that of prayer. In prayer we must converse with our Lord very similarly concerning our little needs, telling Him what they are, and remaining submissive to anything He may wish to do with us. We must with constancy reject the distractions which come to us in prayer and during the Office. By way of preparations for prayer, the thing to do is to go at it with deep humility and awareness of our nothingness. We must invoke the help of the Holy Spirit and that of our good angel, and then hold ourselves very still during this time in God's presence, full of faith that He is more in us than we in ourselves. And though our prayer be without words or consideration, there is no danger in this, because the good success of prayer depends neither on words nor on study. Rather it is the simple raising of our minds to God: and the more simple and the more striped of feeling, the surer. As for thinking of our sins during prayer, this we must never do. A simple humbling of our soul before God as regards all our offenses, without thought of this one or that, is enough. Most of the time, such thoughts only act as distractions.
St Chantal on Prayer
July 2nd
St Chantal on Prayer
Keep Your Eyes Upon God
So stand firm and endure, without reflecting on all that is going on within you. Leave all that to God without giving it a thought. It is the sacrifice of your son Isaac that God demands of you, and not the sacrificing of him a single time, but over and over by the abandonment of yourself in Him. As a result all you have to do is, from time to time, to utter a few words, above all the following which may be your only prayer: "My God, into Your hand I commend my spirit," or perhaps: "My God, my soul is in Your holy grasp. No longer am I able to see what is going on in it, but to You I leave all care of it, and wish nothing further than to take heed of Your will alone. My great enlightenment is not to enjoy any; my joy will be found in heaven, and none other holds my heart. My wealth lies in the privation of any good which the human mind can discern; my peace is in war; my tranquility lies in confusion. The fire of my love for God flames in the thicket of sharp thorns which stab me on every side, without a hope for any end or fulfillment of my labors; rather every day do they increase. My consolation is to be without any; my death is not to die; my riches are found in the poverty and bareness of the cross upon which my Lord gave His life, deprived of all earthly and heavenly comfort. There is the road marked out for me, I seek no other. Our Lord had granted me much in the way of sensible consolations, all these He has removed. My He be forever blessed! Amen."
St Chantal on Prayer
Keep Your Eyes Upon God
So stand firm and endure, without reflecting on all that is going on within you. Leave all that to God without giving it a thought. It is the sacrifice of your son Isaac that God demands of you, and not the sacrificing of him a single time, but over and over by the abandonment of yourself in Him. As a result all you have to do is, from time to time, to utter a few words, above all the following which may be your only prayer: "My God, into Your hand I commend my spirit," or perhaps: "My God, my soul is in Your holy grasp. No longer am I able to see what is going on in it, but to You I leave all care of it, and wish nothing further than to take heed of Your will alone. My great enlightenment is not to enjoy any; my joy will be found in heaven, and none other holds my heart. My wealth lies in the privation of any good which the human mind can discern; my peace is in war; my tranquility lies in confusion. The fire of my love for God flames in the thicket of sharp thorns which stab me on every side, without a hope for any end or fulfillment of my labors; rather every day do they increase. My consolation is to be without any; my death is not to die; my riches are found in the poverty and bareness of the cross upon which my Lord gave His life, deprived of all earthly and heavenly comfort. There is the road marked out for me, I seek no other. Our Lord had granted me much in the way of sensible consolations, all these He has removed. My He be forever blessed! Amen."
Sunday, June 30, 2013
July 1st
St Chantal on Prayer
Keep Your Eyes Upon God
Faith without works is never enough. It is not a feeling of faith or of hope which will save us, but rather what we do supported by the mercy of God. Now in actual fact you do possess these precious theological virtues, and your works make this plain by the faithfulness with which you observe the law of God and our laws. To conduct oneself in this fashion is to have faith of the right kind, because feelings of affection for the virtues are not within our power, but we can always work at them. At the moment this is what God asks of you, while He holds you in this state of general interior suffering and in a privation of every sort of enlightenment and knowledge. But throughout all this it lies within our power to work away at the virtues. It is to this task that you are giving yourself at present. God is pleased with you because you are accomplishing His holy will. In the general interior martyrdom which God is making you endure, what you are doing is quite enough. So, give no thought any further to your troubles nor to your confusion of mind, nor to the fears and anxieties which all these efforts are causing, however violent and frightening they may seem. In place of this, hold your gaze upon God in patience and let Him do what He wills. This is the instruction of our blessed father, and a great piece of teaching it is.
St Chantal on Prayer
Keep Your Eyes Upon God
Faith without works is never enough. It is not a feeling of faith or of hope which will save us, but rather what we do supported by the mercy of God. Now in actual fact you do possess these precious theological virtues, and your works make this plain by the faithfulness with which you observe the law of God and our laws. To conduct oneself in this fashion is to have faith of the right kind, because feelings of affection for the virtues are not within our power, but we can always work at them. At the moment this is what God asks of you, while He holds you in this state of general interior suffering and in a privation of every sort of enlightenment and knowledge. But throughout all this it lies within our power to work away at the virtues. It is to this task that you are giving yourself at present. God is pleased with you because you are accomplishing His holy will. In the general interior martyrdom which God is making you endure, what you are doing is quite enough. So, give no thought any further to your troubles nor to your confusion of mind, nor to the fears and anxieties which all these efforts are causing, however violent and frightening they may seem. In place of this, hold your gaze upon God in patience and let Him do what He wills. This is the instruction of our blessed father, and a great piece of teaching it is.
June 30th
St Chantal on Prayer
Keep Your Eyes Upon God
You have so often given yourself to God, and assured Him that He might take away from you anything that was not of Him. Now He has done so, He has at last taken you at your word. Well, what are we to say? He withdraws His sensible gifts; He has removed these consolations so that there might remain in your soul nothing but Himself alone. So you must bless Him for what He has accomplished and remain patient and submissive, without a look at what you have done, at what your are doing, nor at what you may do in the future. In place of all such thinking, try to practice the lesson of our blessed father who told us: "Keep your eyes upon God and let Him do His will."
As the much-loved spouse of our Lord then, be of good heart, find your consolation in the will of God and rest assured that your faith, your hope and your love of Him are greater and more perfect than they have ever been. But this love is one of suffering, and in general quite devoid of any satisfaction. So hold fast in the assurance that I am giving you upon the part of God and of our blessed father, that father who so often told us that a way lined with crosses is always the better way. Therefore, do not trouble yourself any more because you have no feeling.
St Chantal on Prayer
Keep Your Eyes Upon God
You have so often given yourself to God, and assured Him that He might take away from you anything that was not of Him. Now He has done so, He has at last taken you at your word. Well, what are we to say? He withdraws His sensible gifts; He has removed these consolations so that there might remain in your soul nothing but Himself alone. So you must bless Him for what He has accomplished and remain patient and submissive, without a look at what you have done, at what your are doing, nor at what you may do in the future. In place of all such thinking, try to practice the lesson of our blessed father who told us: "Keep your eyes upon God and let Him do His will."
As the much-loved spouse of our Lord then, be of good heart, find your consolation in the will of God and rest assured that your faith, your hope and your love of Him are greater and more perfect than they have ever been. But this love is one of suffering, and in general quite devoid of any satisfaction. So hold fast in the assurance that I am giving you upon the part of God and of our blessed father, that father who so often told us that a way lined with crosses is always the better way. Therefore, do not trouble yourself any more because you have no feeling.
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