An essential element in our daily prayer life is the awareness of God’s presence with us. In the Salesian tradition, “from the rising of the sun to the setting,” we can bring our day into God’s presence through the natural rhythm of the day.
Rising—St. Francis de Sales is deeply convinced that all people are called not only to salvation but to sanctity as well. This means that for him, the means to holiness must be readily at hand. The act of rising and dressing, a very natural and everyday happening, can be a religious experience. He takes what we do anyway--rise and dress --and shows how these actions can be transformed to orient both our waking and our day to God.
Preparation of the Day—Francis de Sales wrote, “Before everything else I will always make the exercise of preparation, and I will do it at least once a day, in the morning.” The first part of this exercise is the invocation. Since I know that during the course of the day I am exposed to a great many distractions, I will invoke the Holy Spirit to be with me. The second part consists in using the imagination to foresee what can happen during the day. I will anticipate wisely and prudently what challenges I may face today that may overwhelm me. Pay attention to “hot spots” that may distract me. The third part is my plan of action or strategy. I will anticipate and consider what I must do, the order and the manner these tasks should be undertaken. The final part consists of a resolution to do my best during the present day.
Direction of Intention - At the beginning of all our actions, both exterior and interior, we ask for God’s help by a short prayer that offers a specific action to God, and accepts, willingly, whatever difficulty we might experience. “My God, I give you this action and all the good that I will do. I promise to accept, for love of you, all the difficulty that I will meet. Help me to conduct myself in a manner most pleasing to you.”
Examination of Conscience - We should examine our conscience twice daily, at midday and in the evening. At midday we need only to consider briefly how we have conducted ourselves during the morning. If any fault is found, we should make an act of contrition with a firm purpose of amendment. In the evening we need to thank our Lord for all his benefits, especially for his passion, the grace of our vocation and for having willed to preserve us during the day, providing for all our needs through his goodness. It has been said that an un-reflected life is not worth living. This is doubly so for the person who wishes to be rooted in Christ, to Live Jesus. If we want to become holy, we need to be in touch not only with our actions, especially with what motivates those actions.
Retiring - Before bed we ought to remember that our Lord and some saints used to sleep on the cold ground, and how much we are obliged to love and serve him, since his gentle goodness provides for our slightest comforts in such a fatherly way. Lying there, we should picture to ourselves that one day we will be like this in the grave and ask God to assist us at the hour of death. We should try to fall asleep with some good thought.
St. Jane de Chantal’s advice succinctly summarizes the best approach to all prayer: “Draw near to God with the greatest simplicity you can and be certain that the simplest prayer is the best.”
By Fr. Ed Ogden, OSFS
Parochial Vicar St. Thomas the Apostle, Glenn Mills, PA
eogden@oblates.org
This reflection originally appeared in DeSales Weekly, the e-newsletter of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales.
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