A Lasallian Practice: The presence of God

A Lasallian Practice: The presence of God.

A Lasallian Practice: The presence of God.

MEL Bulletin 21

Brothers of the Christian Schools

Via Aurelia 476

00165 Rome, Italy

October 2005

Translator: Br. Keith Watson

A traditional practice

Br. Luke Salm

Manhattan College New York

If there is one prayer that is familiar to Lasallians everywhere, Brothers, associates, teachers, students and former students, it is “Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of God.” This prayer, or rather this invitation, derives from St. John Baptist de La Salle himself, who prescribed that it be invoked at certain times throughout the school day. It is significant that in the Founder's time it was used in the school situation as a reminder, usually voiced by a student, to the teachers and students of the significance of what they were doing in the educational enterprise. As such, the formula does not appear in the exercises of piety the

Founder composed for the Brothers in their community prayer. All the more reason why it can easily become the signature Lasallian prayer for the associates and partners of the Brothers, as well as for their present and former students. There might be some benefit, then, both for the Lasallian partners and the Brothers. to revisit the origins out of which the tradition for this prayer arose, to offer some reflections on the theological implication of what it is we are asked to “remember”, and finally some practical suggestions to help the prayer achieve its purpose.

The prayer is authentically Lasallian because it so perfectly reflects the distinctive spirituality of John Baptist de La Salle it might be said of De La Salle that he was constantly aware of the presence of God. Like Jesus himself, he often withdrew into solitude to devote long hours to prayer in the presence of God, either alone late at night or before the Blessed Sacrament, or during the spiritual retreats that he frequently made. In a list of resolutions he made on one such occasion, he determined that every time he traveled to a new location he would spend fifteen minutes concentrating on the presence of God in that place. When the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris threatened him with exile, he made 22 no objection. saying that he could find God anywhere. He saw God's presence in the events that affected him, whether for good or for ill, exclaiming characteristically “God be blessed!” On his death bed he prayed, adoring God present as a guide in all the events of his life.

If the life of the Founder was saturated with an awareness of the presence of God, so was that of the early Brothers. The primitive Rule of the Brothers was emphatic on the need to attend to the presence of God: “They shall pay as much attention as they can, to the holy presence of God, and take care to renew it from time to time. being well convinced that they should think only of Him and of what He ordains, that is of what concerns their employment” (Rule of 1718. Chapter 2, article 7). And again “They [the Brothers] shall kneel to adore God present in all parts of the house. on entering to stay and upon leaving, except in the parlor and the refectory...” (Ibid. Chapter 4, article 13). The Founder considered the presence of God as one of the four interior supports of his Institute (Ibid. Chapter 16, article 8). The daily community schedule was designed to implement these principles In addition to morning and evening vocal prayer and a series of prayers at noonday, the Brothers devoted a half-hour before Mass in the morning and before dinner in the evening to meditative prayer.

The Founder urged the Brothers to begin this period of prayer by placing themselves in the presence of God. offering them six ways in which to think of God as present: in a place, either 1) because God is everywhere, or 2) in the community gathered in God's name; in ourselves. either 3) as sustaining us in existence, or 4) by grace and the Holy Spirit; in church, 5) a:; the house of God, or 6) by reason of the presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. Depending on their capabilities, De La Salle suggested that the Brothers be attentive to God's presence either by multiplied reflections, by a few but prolonged reflections, or even by simple attention without reflections. (See his Explanation of the Method of Interior Prayer, passim).

Finally, De La Salle's spirituality, his own and the spirituality he urged on his teachers was especially attentive to the presence of God in persons, first of all in themselves, as noted above, and then in a special way in the students entrusted to their care. The seal of the Institute with the star and the motto Signum Fidei (Sign of 23 faith) is a constant reminder of the founder's meditation for the feast of Epiphany. Since it was by faith that the Magi could recognize the presence of their King and God beneath the swaddling clothes and humble circumstances of the birth of Jesus, De La Salle writes: “Recognize Jesus beneath the poor rags of the children who you have to instruct. Adore Jesus in them.” Again, in the introduction to his Rules of Decorum lie writes: “...teachers should urge [the children] to show others those signs of consideration, honor, and respect appropriate to members of Jesus Christ and living temples of God, enlivened by the Holy Spirit.”

It should be remembered that the teachers De La Salle was addressing were simple men. They were barely educated without the formal training required of today's teachers. They were quite

young, busy all day preparing lessons, with religious and manual duties in the community house, and then teaching in classrooms that might contain as many as 80 or 100 students Yet De La Salle did not hesitate to ask them to make the presence of God in the community house, in the school, and in their lives as their constant preoccupation.

Lasallian spirituality is always apostolic, mystical realism as Michel Sauvage has called it. What is experienced through the spirit of faith overflows into zeal for the mission. Thus the presence of God recalled in the religious community was expected to carry over to the invitation to recall the presence of God in the Christian school. The Brothers were to bring their own sense of the presence of God to the school situation as something to be shared. In the context of our contemporary understanding ofshared mission, the Lasallian teacher is invited to cultivate an awareness of the presence of God in her or his daily life. The oft repeated “Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of God” is a reminder that sharing the mission includes sharing a constant awareness of the presence of the God in whose name the mission is carried out. It is

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