Wednesday, August 4, 2021

"We had become unworthy to pray, but God in his goodness has permitted us to speak with him."

"Man has [but] one noble office:  that of praying and loving.  [So] pray, love:  that is the happiness of man on earth!"
     . . .
     "We had become unworthy to pray, but God in his goodness has permitted us to speak with him.  Our prayer is an incense that he receives with an extreme pleasure."

     "L'homme a une belle fonction:  celle de prier et de aimer. . .  Vous priez, vous aimez:  voilà le bonheur de l'homme sur la terre!"
     . . .
     "Nous avions mérité de ne pas prier; mais Dieu, dans sa bonté, nous a permis de lui parler.  Notre prière est un encens qu’il reçoit avec un extreme plaisir."

     St. John Vianney, the Curé d'Ars, "Catéchisme sur la priére," in Esprit du Curé d'Ars:  M. Vianney dans ses catéchismes ses homélies et sa conversation, ed. A. Monnin (Paris:  Douniol, 1864), 110, translation mine.

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