Meditation for May 26, The Spirit of Recollection

There are evidently some places which are more suitable than others for contemplating God - the chapel, our room, or some favor­ite solitary comer.

But it is a great art to maintain recollection independent of place, and to convince ourselves that we can find God everywhere since we carry the dwelling place of God within us; the Holy Trinity lives in our soul through sanctifying grace received in baptism.

The fact that the place of prayer means little is what St. John Chrysostom humorously explained to his flock when he wrote: "Look at St. Paul; did he have at his disposal a church in which to pray. No, only a prison. The King Ezechias had but his room and a bed; the good thief, a cross. Jeremias was plunged into a mire, Daniel, into a lake, Jonas, into a whale; and Job was stretched on a dung heap." And the saint adds: "Pray in any place you may be. You are the temples of God; do not seek tem­ples other than yourself."

"O Holy Trinity, residing in the intimacy of my soul, grant that I may often think of Your ineffable presence within me; grant that I may so live with this Presence and by this Presence that I may retire within It on any occasion. Even when I am most likely to be distracted, the habit of doing all with You will keep me near You, living through You."

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Adapted from Meditations for Religious
by Father Raoul Plus, S.J. (© 1939, Frederick Pustet Co.)