READ AND PRAY
Dearest Sister Florentina,
Your holy reading must be
continuous and your praying uninterrupted. Your time must be spent
thus: read; after you read, pray; after you pray, read. Thus, your
mind is occupied on two good things. If you have to do manual labor or
refresh the body with food and drink, let another nun read to you. So
that while your hands or eyes are intent on work, your ears may feast on the
Word of God.
If the mind can still be tempted
while engrossed in prayer and reading, imagine what greater power does evil
have on minds without prayer and readings.
Your readings must tell you what
you ought to pray for; having asked in prayer, inquire again through reading
what you will pray for next.
St. Leander of Seville: "De Institutione Virginum" Chap. 15
(05-20-05)
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