Describing his method of prayer to a spiritual director, Brother Lawrence explains that he came to a point of acceptance after years of prayer filled with anxiety: “I found myself changed all at once.”
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Quote of the day, 6 February: Brother Lawrence
Brother Lawrence comforts a sick nun, saying: "God indeed knows what we need, and everything he does is for our good." Brother Lawrence urges us to recognize and accept God's loving action.
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Quote of the day, 20 November: Brother Lawrence
Brother Lawrence speaks with simplicity as he describes his relationship with Christ the King: “this King, full of goodness and mercy, lovingly embraces me, seats me at his table, waits on me himself, gives me the keys to his treasures and treats me in all things as his favorite.”
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Quote of the day, 5 November: Brother Lawrence
Brother Lawrence offers concrete advice to those who struggle with besetting sins; he says that we much carefully examine “which sins we commit most often, and which are the most frequent and inevitable of our falls.” Then, “we must have recourse to God with complete confidence at the moment of combat.”
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Quote of the day, 27 August: Brother Lawrence
Monsignor Joseph de Beaufort was the first biographer of Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection. In 1692 he published a Eulogy testifying to the virtues of the humble Carmelite. One example: "He had singular affection for the Blessed Virgin Mary and was especially devoted to her..."
Quote of the day, 3 August: Brother Lawrence
Writing to a nun, as he could to each one of us, Brother Lawrence prays for patience and strength that she may be able to suffer as long as God desires. "Find consolation in him... happy are they who suffer with him."
Quote of the day, 19 July: Brother Lawrence
In one quote we see the foundation of the doctrine of immovable trust in God that was echoed, almost word for word, by St. Thérèse of Lisieux some 200 years later.
Quote of the day, 11 June: Brother Lawrence
After 42 years with the Discalced Carmelites in Paris, Brother Lawrence wrote to a nun: "We must never stop working, since in the spiritual life, not to advance is to go backward."
Quote of the day, 3 May: Brother Lawrence
Brother Lawrence says that the practice of the presence of God is "the essence of the spiritual life, and it seems to me that by practicing it properly you become spiritual in no time."
Quote of the day, 23 April: Brother Lawrence
Brother Lawrence gives us a lesson in Easter faith when he writes, "What consoles me in this life is that I see God by faith..."
2022 Online Lenten Retreat: “Let’s get started!”
Throughout the weeks of Lent, Saint Luke and the Carmelite saints will introduce us to the mystery of Divine Mercy in preparation for the great Easter feast. In Week Three, Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection says that God in his mercy lets us make up for lost time so that we can return to him in trust and abandonment. "He is always ready to receive us lovingly."
Quote of the day, 10 March: Brother Lawrence
Brother Lawrence reasons with a woman in spiritual direction: "You would consider it rude to leave a friend who is visiting you by himself; then why abandon God and leave him alone? Do not forget him..."
Quote of the day, 19 February: Brother Lawrence
Joseph de Beaufort learned in his first conversation with Brother Lawrence that "we must nourish our souls with an exalted idea of God, and thereby we will draw great joy from being with him."
Quote of the day, 12 February: Brother Lawrence
Six days before Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection died on 12 February 1691 at the monastery on Rue de Vaugirard in Paris, he wrote to a Blessed Sacrament Nun: “I hope for the merciful grace of seeing him in a few days.”
Quote of the day, 7 January: Brother Lawrence
A soul depends on grace in proportion to its desire for greater perfection. God's help is necessary at every moment because, without it, the soul can do nothing.
Quote of the day, 26 October: Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection
God is spirit and we must adore him in spirit and in truth, that is, with humble, authentic adoration of spirit in the depths and center of our souls.
Quote of the day, 18 September: Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection
We must work gently and lovingly with God, asking him to accept our work
A Carmelite response to the sexual abuse crisis
In the year 2021, the Catholic Church's sexual abuse crisis continues. But the wise response of the Carmelite saints endures: prayer, perfection and the search for truth.
Quote of the day, 5 August: Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection
God's help is necessary at every moment because without it the soul can do nothing.
Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel 2021: Day 5
It is there that the soul speaks to God... in a deep and profound peace that the soul enjoys in God
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