About Brother Lawrence

We will make use of a new translation by Carmen Acevedo Butcher. You are also welcome to use the popular translation by John Delaney. Both are faithful, helpful renderings of the profound and simple wisdom of Brother Lawrence (1611-1691). Alternatively, there is some evidence that Br. Lawrence’s year of birth may have been 1606.

Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection (born Nicolas Herman) was born in the 17th century in the region of Lorraine located in modern day France. He lived in the time of the horrific 30 Years War and entered into military service when he was 19 years old. He was a prisoner of war, made a dramatic escape, and subsequently suffered a serious injury to his leg in another battle. He suffered chronic pain from his injury for the rest of his life. When he was 26 years old he entered the order of the Discalced Carmelites in Paris as a lay brother. He spent the rest of his life in the monastery as a friar. He worked in the kitchen until his leg injury prevented him continuing that work at which point he worked as a sandal maker. He lived a simple life based on a rhythm of turning to God and looking to love gently throughout each day.

When Brother Lawrence was 18 years old something happened to him. This is an account written by his dear friend Joseph of Beaufort. “One day in winter as he was looking at a barren tree, stripped of its leaves, and considering how in a little while these leaves would reappear, green, followed by flowers and fruits, he received a profound awareness of God’s kindness and power that never left his soul since. With this awareness he completely detached himself from the world, and it gave him such a love for God that he could not say it had ever increased during the more than forty years since he received this gift.” (First Conversation, August 3, 1666)

The Practice of the Presence of God was published after Brother Lawrence’s death and became beloved by people from all walks of life. The book is a slender volume consisting of three parts: Spiritual Maxims, Letters, and Conversations. It also contains a profile of Br. Lawrence that was written by his friend Joseph of Beaufort and the eulogy offered at his burial.