Study Questions for "The Practice of the Presence of God" for June

Assignment for June 14, 2009

(Based on Writings and Conversations On The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, OCD, edited by Conrad De Meester, OCD, translated from the critical edition by Salvatore Sciurba, OCD, with an preface by Gerald E. May, Ph.D.)

Read Beaufort’s Letter on the “Life” of Br Lawrence, (141) and texts on Fenelon-Bossuet Controversy (155). Don’t worry about the details in this exchange of texts, just try to understand the different points of view and the center of the controversy.

1. Beaufort suggests on the first page that the issue of Quietism debate seems to rest on the virtue of Hope. Why does this become an issue for Brother Lawrence’s writings?

2. According to Beaufort, Fenelon “teaches that we must be indifferent to the loss and deprivation of God.” How might this be confused with the teaching of Brother Lawrence and other Carmelite Saints? What exactly is meant by the phrase, “deprivation of God?”

3. What role does asceticism play in our efforts to prepare ourselves for union with God? Are we all called to practice some degree of asceticism or self-denial?

4. Brother Lawrence is quoted as saying, “Whether I be damned or whether I be saved, at least I want to continue loving God until the end of my life.” And Beaufort says of him, “He turned the trials God sent him into a holy diversion though this is assumed to be impossible, and sanctified them by the exercise of Love.” What is meant by these two quotes, and where do we begin to practice this highest degree of Love.

5. Please reread 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. See what if any insights you gain from Brother Lawrence’s experience and the teaching of this passage. Bear in mind what we have said all along about the fulfillment of the human person the need not only to be loved, but also to “Be Love.”