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Theology of the Heart: Wisdom of the heart- S. John Maria
Vianney |
Catechism
on Prayer
St. John Maria Vianney
(translated from the French: Monnin, Esprit du Curé d’Ars, Téqui 1899,
p. 87-89)
“Until now you have not asked for anything in my
name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.”
You see, my children, the Christian’s treasure is
not on earth; it is in heaven (Mt 6:20). So our thinking must go to
where our treasure is. The human person has a beautiful task: to
pray and to love. You pray, you love – that is the human being’s
happiness on earth.
Prayer is nothing other than union with God. When our heart is pure
and united with God, we feel within ourselves a balm, an
intoxicating sweetness, a dazzling light. In this intimate union,
God and the human person are like two pieces of wax that have melted
together; you can no longer separate them. This union of God with
his little creature is something beautiful. It is a happiness that
we cannot understand. We had deserved not to pray; but God in his
goodness allows us to speak to him. Our prayer is incense, which he
receives with tremendous pleasure.
My children, your heart is small, but prayer expands it and makes it
able to love God. Prayer is a foretaste of heaven, an out flowing of
paradise. It never leaves us without sweetness. It is honey, which
descends into the soul and sweetens everything. Sorrows melt in
prayer well done like snow in the sun.
This page is the work of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and
Mary
