Session 6
Last Words: Joseph of Beaufort, Br. Lawrence’s dear friend, wrote and delivered this eulogy on the occasion of Br. L’s burial. I have chosen a quote from each page for this final section of our outline.
Br. Lawrence’s deep hope was that God would give him the “grace to be content always.” Suffering and rest were the same to him as turned gently toward God in his unceasing devotion to the practice of the presence of God.
“God’s mercy cannot be exhausted by our needs.”
Br. L. was a soldier who was both severely injured in battle and captured and held as a POW. He experienced deep regret about his sins and past deeds which led to intense inner turmoil. He knew suffering both in the body and the psyche and soul.
“By meditating:
The promises of his baptism
The disorders of his youth
The mysteries of his faith
And the passion of Jesus
He was changed into a new person who saw the humility of the cross as more beautiful than all the glory of the world.”
Upon entering the monastery “he developed a special love for the Blessed Virgin Mary. He had a son’s trust in her protection.”
“Though assigned the most menial tasks, he never complained, not even once. Instead grace sustained him.”
He considered it his good fortune to get the opportunity to suffer as a way of following Jesus’ example.
“I’m in the hands of God….I don’t live for the opinions of others.”
There was a period of ten years when his “soul was plunged in such bitter and thick darkness that he was unable to accept any help, from heaven or earth.”
Yet he remained patient, gentle, and calm.
For “ten years his fear and churning thoughts gave him no rest.”
One day he decided that if it was God’s will he would bear this extreme inner turmoil for the rest of his life without complaint. This was his full surrender.
Suddenly his eyes were opened and a “ray of divine light dispelled his fears and ended his suffering.”
He prayed to God saying, “Accept my actions and occupy all my affections.
“I came to a state, he said, where it would be just as impossible for me not to think about God as it was difficult in the beginning to get used to doing so.”
“He was down to earth, never acting like he was special.”
“He consistently applied himself to leading a hidden, unknown life.”
“He wanted only God as his reward.”
He loved the practice of letting go “from the slightest attachment to creatures, and of letting one’s old self die in order to establish the power of the new self.”
Faith was his most important spiritual strength.
“From his living faith came:
Certain hope in God’s kindness
Child-like trust in God’s providence
All embracing self-surrender into God’s hands
“The best reverence that you can give to God is to completely question your own strength.” In this way we question our own weakness and our reliance on God’s strength and providence.
His humility reached a playful and joyous apex in his wish that he could do good and loving things without God noticing them, so that he would not be rewarded. He wanted no reward for his loving acts. He sometimes said to God upon receiving rewards, “It’s too much!” “Give such favors to someone else, someone who doesn’t know you. I have the happiness of knowing you by faith.”
He told the younger friars that he regretted not knowing the way of love earlier. He counseled them to devote all their early years to Love’s service. “[I loved too late; don’t do the same.]”
“Patience, or the Presence, is the simple, ongoing, persevering practice of returning to God.”
He was “perfectly designed to God’s decisions” in all things, especially his own death.
Towards the end of his life he suffered greatly. He said, “I am in pain, but my spirit is content.”
“If God wanted me to endure my sufferings until the day of judgment, I’d willingly agree.”
“I have given myself to love. God can do with me as He pleases.”
“His death was like a gentle sleep helping him pass from this hard life to a blessed one.”