“Praying Always” according to St Jane de Chantal

It was said of St. Jane de Chantal that “in every place she was in prayer”.  She herself said “the great method of prayer is that there is none at all”.  Yet much of her life was devoted to forming a community in which each sister was to be “a daughter of prayer”. How does this saint tell us her secret of praying everywhere and anywhere, any time and all the time?

First of all, look at time itself. There doesn’t seem to be enough of it. It runs out. Some day, it actually will run out. You will literally be out of time. And this perspective could be a help to seeing your time here on earth for what it really is. Made out of love, made for heaven, God your Father put you on this earth here and now to complete your mission and in this way to give Him glory. His love created you for a purpose. Do you have the faith and courage to find out His plan and do His will for your short time on earth? Then pray, because ” alone you can do nothing”.

Holy Mother (St. Jane de Chantal) tells us that, in order to pray, we need to do our part. We must detach ourselves from earthly things.

“Accustom yourself to disregard many things, and to want very few of them, remitting all to the Providence of the Heavenly Father, who does not want the souls that He cherishes to place their hopes on the goods of the earth, but on the eternal ones which He prepares for them in His sweet mercy.”

Trusting in God means letting go of a lot of things we don’t need, including worry. Our belief in heaven and our place there changes everything. If we lack material things, we are promised heavenly ones. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” If we suffer, our sufferings, offered to God, become our Retirement Fund for heaven. God is our Father. He loves us. He cares for us. He has a plan for our lives. This trust, and real, active faith in our Father’s love is the beginning of prayer.

Now for the praying always. Holy Mother asks her daughters “why do we pray?” And she answers “to be united to God.”  Then she adds, “How are we united to God?” Her answer “by doing His will.” So when we do His will we are praying. And this leads us to find Him everywhere. “If we seek God everywhere, we find Him everywhere.” (St. Jane de Chantal)

To pray always and to seek God always we open our spiritual eyes to see God’s loving gaze on us – and then, open our spiritual ears to God’s Providence by listening to all He says to us through “that sweet voice of all creatures” – the cry of a newborn baby in the middle of the night, the bumble bee buzzing over a flower in a garden, the sunrise, the dog jumping on the couch, the hug of a child, the arm around your shoulder of a loving spouse, the grandchild’s smile, the minute before the anesthesia, the last farewell at a grave . . . God is there. He is right there with us. Our loving embrace of the present moment, His gift to us, is our way of praying always.