The stream adheres to the source from which it drifts, the flower to the stem that supports it, the flame of the hearth that is consumed. To separate the stream from the spring, it dries up. Cut the flower from the stem, it fades. Remove the flame from the hearth, it goes out. So it is with the body and soul of every man. Endowed with two substances, he must make them adhere to each other in order to maintain and develop their respective lives. The body has its food to feed it, the soul must draw from the living sources to live.
For the body, there is no need to exhort us every day to know when to give it a food essential to survival. But for our soul, which is also hungry and thirsty, we often forget to give it enough to have a full and abundant life for all eternity. The life of the soul is born of the divine breath that made it spring from nothing, from the start it needs the same breath to blossom!
When our prayers become dry, difficult, arduous and the time we devote to it shortens to the point of becoming scarce, our souls languish. We can make up for it by some brief formulas thrown to Heaven called aspirations. These little prayers keep our soul alive. The repetition of these impulses, of these elevations towards God, these cries secretly urged towards Heaven, these short but ardent aspirations, substitute for the long prayers. These twigs thrown into the hearth of our heart maintain the flame of faith. We can diversify them in a thousand ways, pronounce them vocally or mentally, address them to our Lord, to the Virgin Mary, to the angels … in all our daily situations: Gentleness of the Heart of Jesus, pacify me ! In discouragement: Jesus I trust you! In sadness or desolation: Heart of Jesus, you are all my joy! In trials or contrarieties: fiat that your will be done! In joy and consolation: Blessed are you my Lord! And a thousand other invocations that spontaneously spring from our heart!
Our soul will be quenched and our life of faith transformed: glory and praise to you Lord Almighty!(Sr Marie of the Sacred Heart Bernaud VHM)