The Sacred Key to Soul Care
O how inexpressibly great is the loss sustained by mankind from the neglect of the Interior Life! And how tremendous must the great day of retribution be to those who are entrusted with the care of souls, for not having discovered and dispensed to their flock this hidden treasure.
Some excuse themselves by saying that this is a dangerous way; pleading the incapacity of simple persons to comprehend spiritual matters. But the Oracles of Truth affirm the contrary: “The Lord loveth those who walk simply” (Proverbs 12:22). And where can be the danger of walking in the only true way, which is Jesus Christ? of giving up ourselves to Him, fixing our eye continually upon Him, placing all our confidence in His grace, and tending with all the strength of our soul to His pure Love?
The simple ones, so far from being incapable of this perfection, are, by their docility, innocence, and humility, peculiarly adapted and qualified for its attainment; and as they are not accustomed to reasoning, they are less employed in speculations, less tenacious of their own opinions. Even from their want of learning, they submit more freely to the teachings of the Divine Spirit: whereas others, who are blinded by self-sufficiency and enslaved by prejudice, give great resistance to the operations of Grace.
“I conjure you all, O ye who have the care of souls, to put them at once into this way, which is Jesus Christ… ”
We are told in Scripture “that unto the simple God giveth the understanding of his law” (Psalm 119:130); and we are also assured that God loveth to commune freely with them: “The Lord careth for the simple; I was reduced to extremity, and he saved me” (Psalm 114:6). To warn Spiritual Fathers against preventing the little ones from coming to Christ, He Himself said to His Apostles, “Suffer little children to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 19:14). It was the endeavor of the Apostles to prevent children from going to our Lord, which occasioned this gracious charge. Man frequently applies a remedy to the outward body, whilst the disease lies at the heart.
The cause of our being so unsuccessful in reforming mankind… is our beginning with external matters; all our labours in this field do but produce such fruit as endures not: but if the key of the interior be first given, the exterior would be naturally and easily reformed. To teach man to seek God in his heart, to think of Him, to return to Him whenever he finds that he has wandered from Him, and to do and to suffer all things with a single eye to please Him, is the natural and ready process; it is leading the soul to the very source of Grace, wherein is to be found all that is necessary for sanctification.
I, therefore, conjure you all, O ye who have the care of souls, to put them at once into this way, which is Jesus Christ…
– Madame Guyon, The Simple Way of Prayer
A Clear Path to Intuitive Prayer
To all for whom prayer seems a mystery, who are aware of its importance, but unsure of the proper posture and method, this short but profound work is a simple path leading directly to the feet of Jesus.
