Fidelity
toward 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, especially that of prayer, with love and
for love. In prayer we must converse very familiarly with our Lord,
concerning our little needs, telling him what they are, and remaining
submissive to anything he may wish to do with us… We should go to
prayer with deep humility and an awareness of our nothingness. We
must invoke the help of the Holy Spirit and that of our good angel,
and then remain still in God‘s presence, full of faith that he is
more in us than we are in ourselves. There is no danger if our prayer
is without words or reflection because the good success of prayer
depends neither on words nor on study. It depends upon the simple
raising of our minds to God, and the more simple and stripped of
feeling it is, the surer it is. We must never dwell on our sins
during prayer. Regarding our offenses, a simple humbling of our soul
before God, without a thought of this offense or that, is enough…such
thoughts act as distractions.
--
Saint Jeanne de Chantal, from
Wings to the Lord
