Accustom yourself gradually to carry Prayer into all your daily occupation - speak, act, work in peace, as if you were in prayer, as indeed you ought to be. Francois Fenelon More Quotes by Francois Fenelon More Quotes From Francois Fenelon It is often our own imperfection which makes us reprove the imperfection of others; a sharp-sighted self-love of others Francois Fenelon self-love inspiration self To be faithful in prayer it is indispensable that we arrange all the activities of the day with a regularity that nothing can disturb Francois Fenelon faithful regularity prayer Let me follow in Thy footsteps, O Jesus ! I would imitate Thee, but cannot without the aid of Thy grace! O humble and lowly Saviour, grant me the knowledge of the true Christian, and that I may willingly despise myself; let me learn the lesson so incomprehensible to the mind of man, that I must die to myself by an abandonment that shall produce true humility. Francois Fenelon humble christian jesus Avoid all refined speculations; confine yourself to simple reflections, and recur to them frequently. Those who pass too rapidly from one truth to another feed their curiosity and restlessness; they even distract their intellect with too great a multiplicity of views. Give every truth time to send down deep root into the heart. Francois Fenelon simple reflection heart No human power can force the intrenchments of the human mind: compulsion never persuades; it only makes hypocrites. Francois Fenelon conviction hypocrite mind The presence of God calms the soul, and gives it quiet and repose. Francois Fenelon calm soul giving O Lord! take my heart, for I cannot give it; and when Thou hast it, O! keep it, for I cannot keep it for Thee; and save me in spite of myself, for Jesus Christ's sake. Francois Fenelon heart giving jesus Violent excitement exhausts the mind and leaves it withered and sterile. Francois Fenelon excitement violence mind Thou lovest like an infinite God when Thou lovest; Thou movest heaven and earth to save Thy loved ones. Thou becomest man, a babe, the vilest of men, covered with reproaches, dying with infamy and under the pangs of the cross; all this is not too much for an infinite love. Francois Fenelon dying men heaven Do we accustom ourselves to see all things in the light of faith? Do we correct all our judgments by it? Alas! The greater part of Christians think and act like mere heathens; if we judge (as we justly may) of their faith by their practice, we must conclude they have no faith at all. Francois Fenelon light christian thinking If we love Him infinitely more than we do ourselves, we make an unconditional sacr Here it is that the Spirit teaches us all truth; for all truth is eminently contained in this sacrifice of love, where the soul strips itself of every thing to present it to God. Francois Fenelon sacrifice soul spirit Despondency is not a state of humility; on the contrary, it is the vexation and despair of a cowardly pride--nothing is worse; whether we stumble or whether we fall, we must only think of rising again and going on in our course. Francois Fenelon pride humility fall The kingdom of God which is within us consists in our willing whatever God wills, always, in every thing, and without reservation; and thus His kingdom comes; for His will is then done as it is in heaven, since we will nothing but what is dictated by His sovereign pleasure. Francois Fenelon done kingdoms heaven A cross borne in simplicity, without the interference of self-love to augment it, is only half a cross. Suffering in this simplicity of love, we are not only happy in spile of the cross, but because of it; for love is pleased in suffering for the Well Beloved, and the cross which forms us into His image is a consoling bond of love. Francois Fenelon simplicity self love-is There are two principal points of attention necessary for the preservation of this constant spirit of prayer which unites us with God; we must continually seek to cherish it, and we must avoid everything that tends to make us lose it. Francois Fenelon prayer attention two O God, the creature knows not to what end Thou hast made Him; teach him, and write in the depths of his soul that the clay must suffer itself to be shaped at the will of the potter. Francois Fenelon soul suffering writing Let us endeavor to commence every enterprise with a pure view to the glory of God, continue it without distraction, and finish it without impatience. Francois Fenelon distraction glory views God would behold in you a simplicity which will contain so much the more of His wisdom as it contains less of your own. Francois Fenelon simplicity It is not the multitude of hard duties, it is not the constraint and contention that advance us in our Christian course. On the contrary, it is the yielding of our wills without restriction and without choice to tread cheerfully every day in the path in which Providence leads us. It is to seek nothing, to be discouraged by nothing, to see our duty in the present moment, and to trust all else without reserve to the will and power of God. Francois Fenelon choices path christian We may be sure that it is the love of God only that can make us come out of self. If His powerful hand did not sustain us, we should not know how to take the first step in that direction. Francois Fenelon powerful self hands
