Many people today are living with a high degree of anxiety. The tragedy at the Boston Marathon increased the general inner unrest that citizens feel already due to heart-rending public and private situations.
St. Francis de Sales also lived in a time of serious conflicts. His saintly giftedness enabled him to comfort people with insightful words, which, when followed, brought peace to their souls.
We discussed these points of St. Francis: Strive patiently, looking for deliverance rather than to your own efforts; Do it from a motive of the love of God, rather than self-love; Be not disturbed and anxious, lest you lose power to retain graces; Strive above all else to keep a calm, restful spirit; Examine yourself often, and see whether your soul is fully under control; Commend yourself to God, and take any action from reason rather than from impulse.
cu: Calmness is an excellent topic. I was just reading the article on anxiety.
Sister : Was it too heavy?
cu: I don’t think so. His writing is always a little challenging, but it’s old, so…
Sister: 400 years +. However still very relevant and helpful. I love the image of holding one’s soul in one hand even though literally it’s not possible!
Sister : He often also says hold one’s heart in one’s hand
cu: I’m imagining myself the bird fluttering about in the web.
Sister : Great picture! Aren’t we often like that? Caught in our own webs. Struggling too hard
cur: I struggle too much, that’s for sure.
Sister : Pretty natural but that’s when we need to become more spiritual and let God untie us from our own knots
Sister : A natural method in a struggle would be to “catch your breath” and slow down. But one united to the Lord would be to think of Him with you in that net and watch Him untie it for you
Apr 21 2013, 7:17 PM
cur: The hard part when I’m in the net is stopping long enough to remember to do that!
Sister : It takes practice. The first few times you won’t remember but after awhile you might manage one little thing- simply- Oh He’s here. The next few times after that you might say- help
Sister : One step at a time
cur: Do you find that a lot of women interested in religious life feel overwhelmed in the world?
Sister : Yes- mostly from their surroundings and lack of like-mindedness among co-workers or family
But they are managing their lives well- it’s the interior that is struggling-
cur: I find the world just moves too fast for me. Even not being on Facebook and all that, like most people, I just feel like people are all living in a hurry, and they expect me to whizz along with them.
Sister : You might have a contemplative spirit and that is hard to fit in with the fast paced reality of everyday life
cur: I’ve been in a busy monastery, but it seems to me the sisters at least always have the knowledge at the back of their minds, “It’s going to go back to normal soon!” Which makes the business bearable. No?
Sister : Yes- that’s good way of putting it- because the norm is the peace, silence, contemplative stance and that’s always comforting
Guest896 (guest): I read the suggested reading
Sister : Great! Did it ring true for you?
Guest896 (guest): very interesting and good reminder that we forget to trun things over to God
Guest896 (guest): yes but I found I read it carefully because it IS contrary to human nature, I think
Guest896 (guest): our instinct is to take control and feel anxious all the while
Sister : Yes, the spiritual life is a supernatural life which means above or beyond nature
Guest896 (guest): but I liked it
Sister: We are trying to move beyond instinct
Sister: St Francis has alot of sound advice esp in the Introduction to the Devout Life
Apr 21 2013, 7:30 PM
Guest896 (guest): Thanks for mentioning that
Sister : Living the spiritual life is in itself a struggle because we are going beyond the automatic, the natural
Ca: Yes, taking the high road as it were
Sister : But when we are consciously doing that, we are more conscious of God. Yes High road Like that
Guest896 (guest): A bit like the “Spiritual Life” of Ignatious Loyola
Ca: because it would be totally normal to be stressed in daily life, and people say how healthy it is to “vent” when you sit and have complaining sessions with your friends
Sister : But there is a BUT coming, no?
Ca: yes, there is a but!
because the “venting” and complaining are exactly what Jesus tells us NOT to do
Guest896 (guest): lets’ talk about the stabilization of keeping the soul in hand, please?
cur: I’m glad you brought that up, because I’ve asked about half a dozen priests and church scholars about “venting” and never managed to get a straight answer. I always get the catechism pasted into the window. Some people feel that venting is healthy, but it does seem against the Bible. What ought we do instead?
Guest896 (guest): remaining calm and trusting that God will take the situation in hand?
Sister : Yes, it’s a beautiful image and it means remaINING CALM BUT IT IS AS IF YOU PUT YOUR WHOLE BEING INTO THE GIVING OVER TO GOD, GUEST 896
Ca: Well, I think it is okay, and expected, that we talk about our problems with trusted friends, but only if we 1. tell just the trusted friend and 2. form some kind of action plan to deal with whatever the issue is. If we don’t then we are just complaining and bitter and the bitterness will kill you.
Sister : If you were to take any strenuous situation and could not get yourself calm on your own, which normally we can’t, that’s the cue to give the whole thing over to the Lord. The soul represents our innermost being, our core; the hand the gift we give of it to God
Guest908 (guest): Is “pondering in one’s heart” before talking about it just my introverted way of functioning or is it following after our Lady”s wisdom? Sometimes I don’t know?
cur: This may sound like a funny question, but if I’m to imagine my soul in my hand, I have to imagine my soul. What’s a soul look like?
Sister : Usually St Francis says “heart in hand” rather than soul in hand. The soul is not something easy to imagine
Pondering in one’s heart as the Blessed Mother is good- it can preceed the giving over
Our Lady pondered but she also acted, though quietly, and sometimes like at Cana, she spoke
cur: I think it can mean pondering outside of prayer as well.
Guest896 (guest): Think of her during the Annunciation for example, she was a good example there of keeping her heart/soul in hand despite all she faced and would have been understandably anxious about, but she trusted placed her trust in God and waited
Apr 21 2013, 7:42 PM
Sister : I think so. I imagine Our Lady was always in prayer. If we are pointed to God and our general intention is to be with Him thruout the day, It equates I think
Sister : Very good example 896
Guest908 (guest): I think the quietness is important. Th noise in action is usually me getting in the way.
Sister : And “self” is certainly not as strong active element in Our Lady’s life. So there is a lesson here
Guest896 (guest): Our Blessed Mother is a cache of many great examples of trust in God during her most trying times. I think of her being quiet, trusting totally in God and waiting
Ca: It’s as if when we are acting in alignment with God’s will, then there is little to be stressed about, because we are not acting, He is
Sister : “I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done unto me according to Your Will”
Guest896 (guest): and if you need to distract yourself from anxiety you can always focus on prayer i.e., the rosary for example as it is a calming mantra
Guest896 (guest): Don’t you love the “angelus” I do
Ca: and the Divine Mercy chaplet
Apr 21 2013, 7:48 PM
Guest896 (guest): true
Sister : Even holding the Rosary, as if it were Our Mother’s hand, is helpful
Guest896 (guest): The final prayer in the chaplet refers to anxiey and that we should not worry
Ca: yes, or contemplating religious art
Sister : Saying the Name of Jesus reverently brings peace and His Presence too
Guest896 (guest): O always ask her to hold me hand during a rosary!
Guest896 (guest): there is also a novena to “Our Lady of Knots” which is devoted to asking her to untie the messes we get ourselves into
Ca: for me it’s basically anything that takes my mind off of myself and puts it back on Jesus
Guest896 (guest): highly recommended…it is based on a painting in a church in Augsburg Germany depicting the Blessed Virgin untying a ribbon of knots
Sister : In a crisis, emergency such as people experienced this past week, when adrenaline and fear is flowing fiercely the simpler the turning to the Lord is pobably the better. Don’t you think?
Guest908 (guest): Yes.
Ca: me too
Guest908 (guest): I use the Jesus Prayer.
Sister : Yes, the Jesus prayer, kissing the cross around one’s neck etc are ways in a crisis
But the power of fear can still distract a person. That’s why the Morning Intention is so helpful
You’ve called upon God in advance, as it were and dedicated all to Him
Ca: You know, for years now, I’ve been saying a prayer to Our Lady of Czestochowa as I get up
Guest908 (guest): Sunrise with Jesus.
Guest908 (guest): Morning Psalms.
Apr 21 2013, 7:58 PM
Ca: yes, prayer to our Lady, good morning to Jesus, and then LOH
Sister : Is the one to Our Lady of Czestochowa in English?
Ca: yes,
Guest896 (guest): It is Polish, I think? the origin I mean’
Sister : St Francis also says examine yourself often to see whether your soul is in your control. Frequent exams of conscience help here
Sr. Ma: SFdS says in the INTRO: Whenever you are pressed with a desire to be freed from some evil…, before all else be careful both to settle your mind in repose and tranquility and to compose your judgement and will.” Easier said than done in a crisis, I think!
Sr. Ma: Like many have said, I prefer the JESUS PRAYER to all others in a crisis.
I wonder if any of Christians who rushed in to help may simply have prayed, “Lord, give me strength!”
: And when we’re doing His work, He is ALWAYS there!
Apr 21 2013, 8:08 PM
Sister : He understands anxiety, He went thru it Himself, esp in the Garden
Sr. Ma: It’s the self-forgetful part, as blood is spurting all over you, and you feel so totally helpless, I’d think.
Ca: Yes, because it allows you to focus on what you have to do, and to set aside the horror of it all
Sr. Ma: If, like Christ, I want the other person’s good, more than my own, then I can function more calmly and surely.
: And afterwards, you wonder how you (puny little you!) managed to do what you did!
Sister : The more we consciously unite ourselves to Him the more He can act in us?
Guest896 (guest): If we put S. Francis in the setting of being a bystander in Boston…what steps following his advice about anxiety would unfold?
Sister : Great to examine that aspect!
Sr. Ma: Good question. I think he’d certainly be among the first to respond, and he’d be gently, but firmly, encouraging those around him to do the same.
Sister : The excitement and anxiety- immediately hand over the emotions to the Lord and ask for the patience to respond with love to the first person you might go to help
cur: Quick responders in such a situation typically respond instinctually, rather than out of reason. Is that a problem
Sister : No because our instincts are also gifts of God
Sr. Ma: SFdS told a relative in one of his letters to think of Our Lord’s passion in times of great anxiety and to be inspired by his example. PM
Ca: Because we can do more than we think we can, especially if we are letting Him help us
Guest896 (guest): I would imagine the very first thing would be to call upon God and ask for strength. Then rather than become anxious about his own personal safety, concentrate on the welfare of others. That would keep one preoccupied until things are settled, then the self exam to make sure that he isn’t subcumbing to his own safety and holding steady in his trust of God
Sr. Ma: And in another letter SFdS said “…whoever has a true desire to serve Our Lord ought not at all to disquiet himself with the though of death.”
cur: Is it just me, or is the thought of suffering so much worse than the thought of death? Death isn’t scary to me. Suffering is.
Guest896 (guest): Take one’s eyes off the circumstances and look to God…I forget which saint has said this
Apr 21 2013, 8:20 PM
Guest896 (guest): figurative speech as you would still take notice of people
Sr. Ma: “Although He should kill me, ” says Job, “I will trust in Him.”
Ca: the interior of your spirit is resting in God while the rest of you is acting
Sister : Yet the greatest saints actually longed for suffering, because it was the way they could prove their love. But that’s why they are saints because most people are terrified of deep suffering
cur: Is it necessary to prove one’s love of God? I mean, if you love Him, He knows already!
Sister : I think they are patterning it after the Lord’s suffering
Ca: do we prove things by deeds and not words though?
Sister : Jesus knew St Peter loved Him, yet asked Him 3 times to state it and follow it up with care of the flock
Sr. Ma: Both words and deeds, as St. James insists.
cur: I always thought of those three as atonement for the three denials.
Sr. Ma: That’s true, I think
Sr. Ma: I love the way those who rushed to help simply insisted that they wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.
Ca: as though they couldn’t imagine any other way of being
Sr. Ma: Those were responding to their best instincts!
So I need to ask God to strengthen those instincts in me.
Not my will, but Yours be done, and Yours is that I do whatever I can to help my fellow man/woman.
not counting the cost
Sister : Here;’s what a nurse there said: Megann Prevatt, ER nurse: “These patients were terrified. They were screaming. They were crying … We had to fight back our own fears, hold their hands as we were wrapping their legs, hold their hands while we were putting IVs in and starting blood on them, just try to reassure them:
Ca: it takes a special kind of person to be an er nurse, that’s for sure
Apr 21 2013, 8:30 PM
Sister : They did their jobs as they were trained to do, putting their own fears in a box during their 12-hour shifts so they could better comfort their patients.
Only now are these nurses beginning to come to grips with what they endured – and are still enduring as they continue to care for survivors. They are angry, sad and tired.
We need to pray for them too
Sr. Ma: That’s the thing. If I just know the basics of first aid, I’m not going to be much real help in a Boston-kind of situation.
Ca: maybe not for the physical wounds, but you would be an immense help with the spiritual and psychological wounds
Sister : Like when Sr Karen and Sr Mary Frances prayed over that dying man in the street 20 years ago
Apr 21 2013, 8:33 PM
cur What was that?
Apr 21 2013, 8:34 PM
Ca: who would have done that if you were not there?
Sister : A man was shot outside the Minneapolis Monastery and they held him and prayed with him You can read it on a post
Minn Visitation Foundressess Interviewed- that’s the post
cur: Ok, will read that. Thank you!
Sister : http://visitationspirit.org/2013/04/minn-visitation-foundresses-interviewed/
Minn. Visitation Foundresses Interviewed | Visitation Spirit
Sr. Ma: Like the last, loving look of Sr. Prejean’s into the eyes of the prisoner about to be executed. It’s the love that counts in any succor I/we give.
Sister : And loving in little things helps us when the big, difficult things come along
Or handing over our anxieties to the Lord in small disturbances helps us toward the big crisis too I imagine
Ca: yes, because we’ve practiced, and when the “big one” comes, it’s instinctive to right away hand it over
Sr. Ma: In SFdS’s Treatise on the Love of God, he says: “Lift up your soul [and the souls of those you meet) with the consideration that she is eternal and worthy of eternity. Enliven her with courage on this subject.”
Apr 21 2013, 8:41 PM
Sr. Ma: It’s that courage (from “coeur” – heart) that we need need esp. enlivened in any crisis – from God’s heart to ours.
Sister : Guess it’s time to sign off. Have a blessed week and remember to keep our souls in our hands
Sr. Ma: Good that we could stir up one another’s courage by these words!
Apr 21 2013, 8:43 PM
Ca: Yes, we will all be very brave this week. Thank you so much!