Your loins are to be girt with chastity, your breast fortified by holy meditations, for as Scripture has it, holy meditation will save you. Put on holiness as your breastplate, and it will enable you to love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength, and your neighbour as yourself. Faith must be your shield on all occasions, and with it you will be able to quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked one: there can be no pleasing God without faith; and the victory lies in this – your faith. On your head set the helmet of salvation, and so be sure of deliverance by our only Saviour, who sets his own free from their sins. The sword of the spirit, the word of God, must abound in your mouths and hearts. Let all you do have the Lord’s word for accompaniment.
– Rule of St. Albert, No. 19
Do you always think of God? How often do you remember him?
Most of the time, we only remember God when we are down and troubled, often, we even remember him last, instead calling first on every possible saint that would come to mind. We overlook the fact that these holy people reached their state of holiness because of their profound love for God and for Christ as evidenced by the way they lived their lives.
A very obscure Discalced Carmelite (OCD) brother in the 17th century, unable to contain the fragrance he emitted, caught the attention of many prominent people of his time, and even centuries after.
Bro. Lawrence of the Resurrection lived a simple life as cook for his community, yet even the vicar general of the Archbishop recognized his holiness, prompting the latter to record, as much as he can, the secrets of Bro. Lawrence. But then he has just one secret – constant remembrance of God.
He said, “It is only necessary to realize that God is intimately present within us, to turn at every moment to him and ask for his help, recognize his will in all things doubtful, and to do well all that which we clearly see he requires of us, offering what we do to him before we do it, and giving thanks for having done it afterwards.”
This constant interaction with God has blurred the line between prayer and work for everything he does becomes a form of prayer.
How much time do we give to God?
Ecclesiastes 11:9 – 12:8
Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
Remove vexation from your mind, and put away pain from your body; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.
Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw nigh, when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain; in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look through the windows are dimmed, and the doors on the street are shut; when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low; they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along and desire fails; because man goes to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets; before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.
Prayer
Lord, grant me a heart constantly longing for your presence. Never allow me to forget you, Lord, not even in times when I am loaded with things to do. Amen.
Into the Spring of Carmel 