Authenticity.
Some thoughts for the feast of St.Francis De Sales.
At various times throughout my life I have been exceedingly diligent in practicing prayer; praying the Liturgy of the Hours, devoting x amount of time to Lectio Divina, practicing mental prayer, “getting in” my hours of adoration, praying the daily Rosary, and so on. Not unlike a child who uses “Sacrifice Beads” I was content, and maybe a bit proud, that “I got everything in” for the day. On occasion, after making ‘my quota’, I often indulged myself that evening - not necessarily sinfully, but I certainly had a good time. (Didn’t we D.!)
We can fool ourselves by an observant lifestyle, with all the outward appearances of holiness, yet within, we unwittingly remain open to innumerable opportunities for vice. Oftentimes, we are not even aware of our own propensity for sin. Because we are self-satisfied with our religious observance? Maybe.
Which is often why God allows some people to fall repeatedly into serious sin. He loves humility, and no matter how difficult the truth is, he desires we come to know it. Some people think orthodoxy and fidelity to a regular routine of devotion ensures that a person is infallibly on the right track for holiness. That should be the case - yet sometimes it isn’t always the irrefutable sign. Prayer and fidelity is much more a matter of the heart, and most definitely the will. Sometimes, we may pray like angels, and perform good works like the saints, but our hearts can remain detached from God.
St. Francis on prayer:
First, let us remark in passing that, although we condemn certain heretics of our time who hold that prayer is useless, we nevertheless do not hold with other heretics that it alone suffices for our justification. We say simply that it is so useful and necessary that without it we could not come to any good, seeing that by means of prayer we are shown how to perform all our actions well. I have therefore consented to the desire which urges me to speak of prayer, even though it is not my intention to explain every aspect of it because we learn it more by experience than by being taught.
Moreover, it matters little to know the kind of prayer. Actually, I would prefer that you never ask the name or the kind of prayer you are
experiencing because, as St. Antony says, that prayer is imperfect in which one is aware that one is praying. Also, prayer which one makes without knowing how one is doing it, and without reflecting on what one is asking for, shows clearly that such a soul is very much occupied with God and that, consequently, this prayer is excellent. - Sermon for the Third Sunday of Lent
January 24th, 2008 at 2:56 am
I agree. Content over exposition. Many people may go through the rituals, recite the words, and make the appearances but inside are hallow and faithless.
Here’s one of my favorite quotes attributed to Meister Eckhart that illustrates the importance of content: “Seek God and you shall find Him and all good with Him. Indeed, with such an attitude, you might step on a stone and it would be a more pious act than to receive the body of our Lord thinking of yourself.”
~ Meister Eckhart
January 24th, 2008 at 7:49 am
I fail in this constantly. I’m always very self-conscious about pulling my rosary beads out in Church (Church of all places!) for fear of others thinking that I think I’m pious & perfect. Sometimes the Spirit moves me during the Liturgy and I find myself with eyes closed & head tilted upwards towards the Crucifix … only to suddenly be very self-conscious again about how I may appear to others. I am sooooo not humble. As for prayer of the heart, I wish I were better at it; better at speaking to God from the heart. I have a difficult time formulating my intentions, speaking the right words, etc. I need formal prayer. I need the Psalms. Even then, my mind constantly wanders not long after the first verse (and sometimes even before!). My charismatic friend prays at the drop of a hat. The most beautiful words flow effortlessly from her tongue. She’s so in sync with Christ. Wish I had that.
January 24th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Yesterday (at his general audience)the Holy Father said: “Behold, the meaning of prayer: to open our hearts, to create in us a willingness which opens the path to Christ.”
January 24th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Ter: I strolled over curious to see what you’d post for St. Francis de Sales today since I know he’s one of your favorites. You did not disappoint me. I needed to read this post. I can testify that devotion and prayer ARE and HAVE to be heartfelt. If they aren’t you are going to have troubles.
January 24th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Sometimes, I think people are too inclined to see prayer as an end, rather than as a means to an end.
January 24th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
After Mass at coffee, we were discussing the dreaded subject of this time of year–weight loss. My friends were coming up with all these weird ideas–like exercise and turn down the thermostat in the home. But one of my friends said the way she lost 25 pounds was that someone had told her to go to Mass daily for 90 days and pray to our blessed mother, and at the end of the 90 days you would have lost all your weight.
My friend said she had only done the Mass and prayers for 45 days–”just think” she said, “If I would have gone the whole 90 days I could have lost more weight.” Tara, why don’t you give it a try.
Of course the whole time I’m thinking-you gotta be kidding! Father spoke up before I could say anything and said, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God!”
Sheesh, if God were only so easy, put in the prayer, push a button, and wa-lah! Instant desires fullfilled–NOT!
January 28th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Very nice post, Terry. Had to finally get back to it and leave a comment.
I think this is a reason why Protestants criticize the Rosary, since it seems that many folks “just say the words.” I know my father talked about how his prayer life sometimes was very dry and his heart and mind weren’t into it, but he said that you needed to keep on with it and not be discouraged. There were also difficult times when the routine of prayer was all that kept him sane.
If we pray because it makes us feel pious or that we have met some obligation, then we are doing it for the wrong reasons.
January 28th, 2008 at 8:08 am
“If we pray because it makes us feel pious or that we have met some obligation, then we are doing it for the wrong reasons.”
Monica - you said very simply what I was trying to express. On a similar note, as Teresa of Avila says, we sometimes have to force ourselves to attend to the time of prayer, suffering distractions and dryness throughout the entire time - this is good, and the fine feeling of accomplishing something afterwards is also good. And it also must be remembered that prayer is a trap door out of sin, and requires commitment and endurance, often through periods of time where we seem to be simply giving lip service. With that in mind, I think even the examples I’m complaining about in the post, how I have acted at times, had to have been profitable in some way. I think all prayer is good, and we learn to pray by praying.
Monica - thanks for your comments which are much better than the post I did.