The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1897-11-06
RETREATS FOR THE SPIRIT.
OF the Devout "a. Francis %
sales.

OF the day recall your spirit into the
presence OF God" writes ST. Francis OF
Sales In his meditations on the Devout
Life. In the noise and confusion OF
the visible, one needs constantly to take
refuge in the invisible. We are always
In the presence OF God; TO find that
presence we do not need TO seek the
silence OF the desert or the monastery;l
we need only TO remember that we are
in His presence and 10 recall our spir-
its 20 the consciousness that wherever
we are, there Is God also. To give His
deep counsel greater definiteness, the
great bishop of Genoa added these strik-
ing words: Remember, then, TO make
occasional retreats into the solitude OF
your heart whilst outwardly engaged
in business or conversation. This men
tai solitude cannot be prevented by the
multitude Of those who are about you,
for they are not about your heart, but
about your body, so your heart may
remain above, in the presence OF God
alone" This was the refuge of David
under the burdens OF the state; and
In this habit lies the secret OF that rich
ness OF expression OF the spiritual life
which makes the Book of Psalms one
OF the textbooks OF the religious life.
20 Lord" cries the king, 'as for me,
/ am always with Thee. have set
God always before me. Unto Thee lift
l up mine eyes, o Thou that dwellest
In the Heavens. My eyes are ever look
ing unto the Lord"
When st. Catherine OF Slena, the good
Il. l. .,,ft tt,t,
deprived by her parents of every OPP
portunity for prayer and meditation,
she made "a little interior oratory with
in her own soul" in which she found
at all times, the solitude OF the heart
which she craved. Persecution could
not harm her. you may kill u.s."
wrote great Christian 10 a Roman
emperor. "but you cannot hurt u.s."
The noise and tumult Of the world could
not confuse her; she was In IL, but she
was not of IL. She needed neither stated
time OF worship nor consecrated place
TO kneel I'M her own heart had be.
come n sanctuary, and her own soul
retreat. She was impregnable in the
fastness of her spirit.
II is great mistake TO suppose that
such retreats from the noise of the
world are no longer necessary; that
they are characteristic of a religious
experience which the race has left be-
hind In the swift movement forward.
The modern world looks back with n
kind of self-conscious complacency on
the medieval world, and thanks God
in n very audible voice that IL is no
| l.. %
| The progress has been great, and no.
where greater than in the freedom and
breadth of the religious life as men
now understand IT, but there have
been losses as well as gains, and one OF
these losses is the apparent disappear
ance from the consciousness OF null
titude of religious people OF the need
OF silence and solitude in order that
the presence OF God may be felt. IL
Is n noble manifestation of the Chris
tian spirit which makes so many mod
ern men impatient of any kind OF re-
| ligious confession which is not evil
denced and confirmed by immediate
and ardent service. Never before In
the history of the race has religion
been so swiftly and nobly translated
into human helpfulness, and men are
everywhere showing their love for the
invisible God by the love they bear for
their brethren.
In this modern emphasis upon activity
ard helpfulness there Is danger. how
ever. that the springs OF spiritual power
may lose in depth and capacity. II an
immense surface of hitherto arid ter
ritory is TO be irrigated and It's desola-
ton turned into fruitfulness, the foun-
tains themselves must be deepened. The
impulse must gather force with the
increased volume OF activity. And so
IL comes about that to-day men need
~ realize more keenly than before that
they are not only In the presence OF
their fellows, but that they are also I'm
the presence OF God. There Is sore
need OF revival OF the medieval con-
seriousness not only OF dependence upon
God but OF dependence on meditation,
prayer and solitude OF the spirit. The
man who speaks often without constant
and arduous preparation runs shallow
In thought and becomes commonplace
In expression; the man who writes with
out tireless preparation OF mind and
spirit through reading. observation and
meditation loses freshness, originality
and force and becomes mere maker of
sentences; in like manner the religious
man whose force goes out In practical
work, without constant inward deyout-
ness and seeking OF God becomes n re-
llgious mechnnician and ceases TO be
source OF inspiration and power.
Activity is the manifestation OF life,
but IL is not life. Life bears the fruit OF
service and helpfulness, but IL is neither
visible nor audible; IL Is hidden in that
mystery which not only wells the throne
OF God but enfolds everything else that
II Divine among men. To find that life
one must withdraw from the visible
into the invisible; one must pass from