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Part 2 – Chapter 12 of the Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales

This is a Discerning Hearts recording read by Correy Webb

PART 2 – CHAPTER XII. On Spiritual Retirement.

THIS is a matter, dear daughter, to which I am very anxious to win your attention, for in it lies one of the surest means of spiritual progress. Strive as often as possible through the day to place yourself in God’s Presence by some one of the methods already suggested. Consider what God does, and what you are doing;—you will see His Eyes ever fixed upon you in Love incomparable. “O my God,” you will cry out, “why cannot I always be looking upon You, even as You look on me? why do I think so little about You? O my soul, my only resting place is God, and yet how often do I wander?” The birds have nests in lofty trees, and the stag his refuge in the thick coverts, where he can shelter from the sun’s burning heat; and just so, my daughter, our hearts ought daily to choose some resting-place, either Mount Calvary, or the Sacred Wounds, or some other spot close to Christ, where they can retire at will to seek rest and refreshment amid toil, and to be as in a fortress, protected from temptation. Blessed indeed is the soul which can truly say, “You, Lord, are my 88 Refuge, my Castle, my Stay, my Shelter in the storm and in the heat of the day.” Be sure then, my child, that while externally occupied with business and social duties, you frequently retire within the solitude of your own heart. That solitude need not be in any way hindered by the crowds which surround you—they surround your body, not your soul, and your heart remains alone in the Sole Presence of God.

This is what David sought after amid his manifold labors;—the Psalms are full of such expressions as “Lord, I am ever with You. The Lord is always at my right hand. I lift up my eyes to You, O You Who dwells in the heavens. My eyes look unto God.” There are few social duties of sufficient importance to prevent an occasional retirement of the heart into this sacred solitude. When S. Catherine of Sienna was deprived by her parents of any place or time for prayer and meditation, Our Lord inspired her with the thought of making a little interior oratory in her mind, into which she could retire in heart, and so enjoy a holy solitude amid her outward duties. And henceforward, when the world assaulted her, she was able to be indifferent, because, so she said, she could retire within her secret oratory, and find comfort with her Heavenly Bridegroom.

So she counseled her spiritual daughters to make a retirement within their heart, in which to dwell. Do you in like manner let your heart withdraw to such an inward retirement, where, apart from all men, you can lay it bare, and treat face to face with God, even as David says that he watched like a “pelican in the wilderness, or an owl in the desert, or a sparrow sitting alone upon the housetop.” These words have a sense beyond their literal meaning, or King David’s habit of retirement for contemplation;—and we may find in them three excellent kinds of retreats in which to seek solitude after the Savior’s Example, Who is symbolized as He hung upon Mount Calvary by the pelican of the wilderness, feeding her young ones with her blood. So again His Nativity in a lonely stable might find a foreshadowing in the owl of the desert, bemoaning and lamenting: and in His Ascension He was like the sparrow rising high above the dwellings of men. Thus, in each of these ways we can make a retreat amid the daily cares of life and its business. When the blessed Elzear, Count of Arian-enProvence, had been long separated from his pious and beloved wife Delphine, she sent a messenger to inquire after him, and he returned answer, “I am well, dear wife, and if you would see me, seek me in the Wounded Side of our Dear Lord Jesus; that is my sure dwelling-place, and elsewhere you will seek me in vain.” Surely, he was a true Christian knight who spoke this.

 

For other chapters of the Introduction to the Devout Life audiobook visit here –