Thanks so much for reminding me of this book by St Francis de sales. And I like very much what you said: "Pray as you can, until you can pray as you should"
I rarely write comments and I don’t wish to be a pest by doing so. But I can’t resist sharing a thought. Often such Christian meditation as wonderfully described in this article is a practice as one makes the time. It is when the practice becomes a lifestyle that the pious individual may find oneself in a contemplative life even in the world of action and not solely in a monastery. So far as I know, it is a satisfying, flourishing way of life that opens ‘spiritual eyes’ and might be similar as currently possible to our first parents in the garden before the fall.
Indeed, that is a key point: "...as one makes the time." Based on my personal experience, that can be - especially in a world like ours - the difficult issue that must be confronted: to make time to meditate. And, yes, definitively it can become a "lifestyle". Almost everything around us can be a good occasion to meditate - the nature, the cosmos, the sky, the stars - in word, everything that has been created by God to give us the opportunity to think about His majesty and also about His demanding love for us. Saint Thérèse de Lisieux practiced this type of meditation even when she was only a child. So, yes, it is possible to make the meditation a perpetual 'habit'. We just need to make time...
Thanks so much for reminding me of this book by St Francis de sales. And I like very much what you said: "Pray as you can, until you can pray as you should"
That is what the Fathers of the desert teach - and I think it is an excellent spiritual (and so practical!) advice. Thank you, Shannon!
I rarely write comments and I don’t wish to be a pest by doing so. But I can’t resist sharing a thought. Often such Christian meditation as wonderfully described in this article is a practice as one makes the time. It is when the practice becomes a lifestyle that the pious individual may find oneself in a contemplative life even in the world of action and not solely in a monastery. So far as I know, it is a satisfying, flourishing way of life that opens ‘spiritual eyes’ and might be similar as currently possible to our first parents in the garden before the fall.
Indeed, that is a key point: "...as one makes the time." Based on my personal experience, that can be - especially in a world like ours - the difficult issue that must be confronted: to make time to meditate. And, yes, definitively it can become a "lifestyle". Almost everything around us can be a good occasion to meditate - the nature, the cosmos, the sky, the stars - in word, everything that has been created by God to give us the opportunity to think about His majesty and also about His demanding love for us. Saint Thérèse de Lisieux practiced this type of meditation even when she was only a child. So, yes, it is possible to make the meditation a perpetual 'habit'. We just need to make time...