Saturday, August 4, 2012

Saint John Vianney

As pray-ers striving to keep our hearts ardently focused on the Lord, we monks are inspired by the life and praying of Saint John Vianney, the Curé of Ars.

Prayer, formed by the liturgical life, draws everything into the love by which we are loved in Christ and which enables us to respond to him by loving as he has loved us. Love is the source of prayer; whoever draws from it reaches the summit of prayer. In the words of the CurĂ© of Ars, " I love you, O my God, and my only desire is to love you until the last breath of my life. I love you, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving you, than live without loving you. I love you, Lord, and the only grace I ask is to love you eternally. .  . My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love you, I want my heart to repeat it to you as often as I draw breath."

 from The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2658.