Practice living simply and joyfully after the manner of Saint Francis of Assisi.
Franciscan Virtues Through the Year: 52 Steps to Conversion from Saint Francis of Assisi contains 52 different themes from the life of Saint Francis. Each theme begins with a quote from Scripture, a writing of Saint Francis, and an incident from the life of Saint Francis as detailed in his early biographies. There follow a reflection, meditation on the virtue, and then a call to practice that virtue for a week.
We guarantee positive changes in your life at the end of a year's time.
The virtues discussed are: Attentiveness -- Confession -- Courage -- Courtesy -- Detachment -- Discernment -- Eagerness -- Empathy -- Encouragement -- Eucharistic Reverence -- Evangelization -- Example -- Faith -- Fraternity -- Generosity -- Gratitude -- Honesty -- Hope -- Humility -- Imitation of Jesus -- Joy -- Justice -- Love of Enemy -- Love of God -- Love of Neighbor -- Love of Self -- Loyalty to Church -- Marian Devotion -- Minority -- Obedience -- Pardon -- Patience -- Peace -- Perseverance -- Poverty -- Praise -- Prayer -- Presence -- Purity -- Respect for Creation - Sacrifice Self- knowledge -- Service -- Silence -- Simplicity -- Surrender -- Trust -- Vigilance -- Vulnerability -- Wisdom -- Witness -- Work
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| Franciscan Virtues Through the Year: 52 Steps to Conversion from Saint Francis of Assisi published by the Confraternity of Penitents. Jennifer Vetter, Editor |
44. SILENCE
Scripture
But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places
and prayed. (Luke 5:16)
Writings of Saint Francis
Those who want to remain in hermitages
to lead a religious life should be three brothers, or four at most; of these, let
two be "mothers" and have two "sons," or one at least.
The two that are "mothers" should
maintain the life of Martha and the two "sons" the life of Mary, and have
a single enclosure, in which each may have his cell to pray and sleep in.
And they are always to say Compline of
the day immediately after sunset. And they should make sure to keep the silence.
And they are to recite their Hours. And they are to get up for Matins. And let the
first thing they seek be the kingdom of God and his justice.
. . . . And as to the enclosure where they
stay, they may not allow any person either to enter or to eat there.
Those brothers who are the "mothers"
are to make sure they keep their distance from people and, on account of the obedience
due their minister, shield their "sons" from people, so that nobody can
get to speak with them.
And those "sons" are not to speak
with any person other than their "mothers" and their minister and custodian,
when he wishes to visit them with the blessing of the Lord God. (Rule for Hermitages)
Incident from the Life of Saint Francis
I want to leave and bequeath to the brothers
the place of Saint Mary of the Portiuncola as a testament, that it may always be
held in the greatest reverence and devotion by the brothers. Our old brothers did
this: for although the place itself is holy, they preserved its holiness with constant
prayer day and night and by constant silence. And it, at times, they spoke after
the time established for silence, they discussed with the greatest devotion and
decorum matters pertaining to the praise of God and the salvation of souls. If it
happened, and it rarely did, that someone began to utter useless or idle words,
immediately he was corrected by another. (The Assisi Compilation, Chapter 56)
Silence is a virtue
in many ways. When we keep silent instead of saying something critical or hurtful
that would’ve benefited no one, we have practiced the Virtue of Silence. When we
let others speak and we listen without interrupting, we have practiced the Virtue
of Silence. When we allow our minds to be alone with God, without interruption or
distraction or noise, we have practiced the Virtue of Silence.
Do you like silence?
Would you rather have noise and activity? Silence can be threatening because, in
the silence, we have to confront our fears, our sins, and our needs without anything
to distract us. This is why Jesus went to lonely places to pray. He had no distractions
there to keep him from his focus on God.
Those who wish
to follow Jesus need to have silence in their lives. They need to find a place where
they can be alone with God and where He can speak to their heart without interruption
from outside activity. Silence is a virtue, not in itself, but by what is accomplished
when one is silent. One speaks to God. One allows others to speak. One refrains
from speaking hurtful words. One lets God speak. Often, we have to work at maintaining
silence or finding silence in our lives. How much silence does your life have?
Spend a minimum
of five minutes meditating on the Virtue of Silence. Do not write anything during
this time. Merely begin your time by praying, “Lord, help me to see the value of
the Virtue of Silence. How can I find silence? How can I be silent? Enlarge my understanding,
Lord. Amen.”
At the end of
your meditation time, ask yourself:
Do I see the value
of silence? Am I naturally a quiet person? Do I know when to keep silence and when
to speak? Do I ever pray before blurting out something? Do I like silence? Does
silence make me uneasy? If so, what frightens me or unnerves me about silence? Have
I ever sought silent time with God? Do I do all of the talking during my prayer
time, or do I stop and listen to God? Do I have a place to go where I can be silent?
Do I have a time of day when I can savor the silence? If not, where can I find these?
Find another section
in Scripture which illustrates the Virtue of Silence. Find a statement of Jesus
or an incident in His life that deals with the Virtue of Silence. Write these into
your journal.
If you are a member
of a Religious Order, find one place in your Rule or Constitutions which calls for
the Virtue of Silence. Explain why you chose this section.
Practice the Virtue
of Silence this week. Try to increase your awareness of when to speak and when to
remain silent. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you with this discernment. Then carve
out a time each day for 5 to 15 minutes of silence. Can you take this time early
in the morning if you wake up 15 minutes earlier? Is there a quiet place—a church,
a park, a parking lot—where you can go after work for this silent time (turn off
your cell phone!)? Could you create a prayer closet in your home (it could be a
cleared out closet) where you can close the door and have relative silence? Work
at finding a place and making time. Then just be quiet with God. Don’t worry about
saying anything to God or fret if God says nothing to you. Every day, just savor
the silence.
Each evening,
write into your journal any insights you gained about the Virtue of Silence. Was
it easy or difficult to keep silent? Are you becoming more comfortable with silence?
What is silence teaching you? Pray, “Lord quiet my tongue and quiet my mind. Grant
tranquility to my spirit. Let me feel Your Presence in the silence. Amen.”.
At the end of
the week, record in your journal what you have learned from this exercise.
Franciscan Virtues Through the Year: Available from the CFP Holy Angels Gift Shop, Amazon.com, Kindle, and through your local religious gift shop.
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