| Pray For Our Children Like St. Monica |
At our Living Jesus Chat this Sunday we will be talking about the following letter of St. Francis de Sales to St. Jane de Chantal, taken from Selected Letters of St. Francis de Sales.To prepare for our chat, please read the article, which is reproduced below, and review the questions at the end.Click for Living Jesus Chatroom  Fresco of the Pharisee and the Publican (Public Domain)To the Baronne de Chantal, written from Sales on 14 October 1604 .. .excerpt…I want you to have a French translation of all the prayers you say; not that I want you to say them in French, but in Latin, for they will give you more devotion; but I do want you to understand their meaning properly, also of the litanies of the name of Jesus, of our Lady as well as the other prayers. But do all this without anxiety and in a spirit of gentleness and love.Your meditations are to center on the life and death of Our Lord. I approve of your using the Exercises of Tauler, the Meditations of St. Bonaventure and those of Capiglia; for the Gospels are after all the life of Our Lord. But you must set about it as I told you in my written instructions. Meditation on the four ends of man will be useful to you as long as you always end up with an act of confidence in God, never thinking of death and hell on the one hand without seeing the cross on the other, so that having aroused your fear you may return to confidence. Your meditation should last three quarters of an hour at the most. I like spiritual canticles but sung as though you meant them.As for brother ass, I approve of fasting on Fridays and of a frugal supper on Saturdays. I agree that he should be brought to heel all the week, not so much by cutting down the quantity of food (provided there is moderation) as by cutting down choice. You may make much of him sometimes by giving him oats, as St. Francis did, to make him go faster: in other words, the discipline, which has a marvellous power of quickening the spirit by stinging the flesh; but only twice a week. Do not go to communion less often, unless your confessor instructs you otherwise. It is a special consolation for me on feast days to know that we are going to communion together.For the next point, it is indeed true that I cherish your son Celse-Benigne and your other children with very special love. As God has put into your heart the desire to see them wholly dedicated to his service you must bring them up with this end always in view, gently encouraging them in thoughts of this kind.Have a copy of the Confessions of St. Augustine and read it carefully from the eighth book onwards: then you will get to know St. Monica when she was a widow and looking after her son, Augustine, and you will find much to console you in your own task. As for Celse-Benigne, generous motives must be implanted in him and his little soul filled with noble and valiant ideas of God’s service, while notions of purely worldly glory must be cried down; but this should be done little by little. As he grows up, we shall, with God’s help, think of what particular course to take. Meanwhile do see that not only he but also his sisters sleep on their own, as far as possible, or else with people whom you can trust as completely as you would yourself. I cannot tell you how important this advice is; experience commends it to me every day.If Françoise wants to be a nun of her own accord, well and good; otherwise, I do not approve of her will being influenced in advance by resolutions, but only, as in the case of the other girls, by gentle encouragement. We must act on the minds of others as far as possible as the angels do, graciously and without coercion. I approve, however, that you should send her as a boarder to the convent of Puis d’Orbe where I hope that a spirit of devotion will really flourish again soon. I should like you to co-operate towards this end.But see that you root out vanity of soul from all the girls; it seems to be innate in the sex. I know that you have St. Jerome’s Epistles in French; look up the one he writes about Pacatula and the others about the education of girls; you will find them diverting and also helpful. All in all, you must use moderation; my ideas are summed up in the words ‘gentle encouragement’.I see that you have a debt of two thousand crowns; repay this as soon as you possibly can and be as careful as you can never to withhold from others anything that belongs to them. Give alms in a small way but with great humility. I like the idea of your visiting the sick, old people, particularly women, and young people, those who are really young. I like to think of you visiting the poor, especially women, with great humility and meekness… .Reflections: St. Francis says that saying prayers in Latin can lead to greater devotion. How/why is this? And why is it still important to understand the translation of those prayers?What are the four ends of man?St. Francis says that sung canticles should be done “as though you meant them.” Why is this so important?Our bodies require food and sustenance, so why are we told that fasting is good for us? Isn’t it just neglect? And why would it have any spiritual benefit?St. Francis says that “We must act on the minds of others as far as possible as the angels do, graciously and without coercion.” If we want to help others draw close to God, how can this be carried out with our own children or grandchildren, or with neighbors or those at work? What can we do in our relationships so that this kind of evangelization is more effective?St. Francis says that the one girl (Françoise) should freely discern religious life, but not be coerced or conditioned into wanting it, allowing God to work. How might today’s vocation promotion violate this principle? How can we advertise and encourage vocations without artificially leading people to choose priesthood/religious life because of a need for an increase therein? Sign up for our Living Jesus Chat Room:Come to our Living Jesus Chat Room, 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM Eastern Time |