07/31/2025
Prepare for the Sacraments by Emptying Our Hearts
Hi, Susan,
For Sunday's Living Jesus Chat, we will again read an article from a book by St. Francis de Sales called Of Devotion, and of the Principal Exercises of Piety. It explores the importance of preparation for the sacraments.
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To prepare for our chat, please read the article, which is reproduced below, and review the questions at the end.
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Photo by Thays Orrico on Unsplash
Photo by Thays Orrico on Unsplash
The sacraments are channels by which God descends to us, as by meditation we ascend to Him. The effects of the sacraments are different, although they all have but one end, which is to unite us to God.
We speak here only of that of penance and of the Eucharist. It is very necessary to know why it is, that, receiving so frequently these two Sacraments, we do not also receive the graces which they are wont to communicate to souls which are well prepared, since the graces are joined to the sacraments. I will tell you why it is, in two words: it is for want of due and suitable preparation.
The first preparation is purity of intention, a thing absolutely necessary, not only in receiving the sacraments, but moreover in everything that we do. Now, the intention is pure if we receive the sacraments, or do anything else, whatever it may be, in the single view of uniting ourselves to God, and of being more pleasing to Him.
You will know this if, when you wish for communion, you are not permitted to have it; or, again, if after communion you do not feel consolation, and notwithstanding do not fail to remain in peace: for if you become disquieted because you have not been allowed to communicate, or because you do not feel consolation, who can help seeing that your intention was not pure, and that you were seeking for something else than to unite yourself to God, since your union with God ought to be made under the holy virtue of obedience?
And just in the same way, if you desire perfection with a desire full of restlessness, who can help seeing that it is self-love, which is unwilling that people should see imperfection in you? If it were possible that we could be as pleasing to God, being imperfect, as we should be, being perfect, we ought to desire to be without perfection, in order to nourish in us by this means most holy humility.
The second preparation is attention. Certainly, we ought to go to the Sacraments with much attention, as well to the greatness of the action, as to that which each sacrament demands of us. For example, in going to confession, we ought to carry thither a heart lovingly sorrowful, and to holy communion a heart ardently loving. I do not say, in requiring this great attention, that we must have no distractions at all, for that is not in our power; but I say that we ought to have a most particular care not voluntarily to pause upon them.
The third preparation is humility, which is a virtue highly necessary in order to receive abundantly the graces which are transmitted through the channels of the sacraments; because waters flow more swiftly and more strongly when the channels are placed on low and sloping ground.
But besides these preparations, I must tell you that the chief of them all is the total abandonment of ourselves to the mercy of God, submitting without any reserve our will and all our affections to His dominion: I say without reserve, because our misery is so great, that we evermore reserve something to ourselves, which is what we ought not to do; for our Lord, wishing to give Himself entirely to us, wishes that we in return should give ourselves entirely to Him, in order that the union of our soul with His Divine Majesty may be more perfect, and that we may be able to say with truth, after that great example of perfection among Christians: I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me. (Gal. ii. 20.)
The second part of this preparation consists in emptying our heart of everything, in order that our Lord may fill it all Himself. Certainly, the cause why we do not receive the grace of sanctification (since one single communion well made is able and sufficient to render us holy and perfect) only arises from our not leaving our Lord to reign in us, as His goodness desires. This Beloved of our souls comes unto us, and He finds our hearts all full of desires and affections; and this is not what He seeks; for He wishes to find them empty, to make Himself the master of them and to govern them; and to shew how much He desires this, He tells His holy spouse to place Him as a seal upon her heart, that nothing may enter there, except by His permission and His good pleasure.
Now, I am well aware that the inmost depth of our heart is void; were it otherwise, it would be too great an unfaithfulness; I mean to say, that we have not only rejected and detested mortal sin, but also every kind of evil affections. But alas! all the nooks and corners of our hearts are full of a thousand things unworthy to appear in the presence of this sovereign King, which bind, as it would seem, His hands, and hinder Him from distributing those goods and graces which His goodness would desire to bestow upon us, if He found us prepared.
Let us, then, do on our parts what is in our power to prepare ourselves well for receiving that bread which is supersubstantial, wholly abandoning ourselves to the divine Providence, not only in what concerns temporal goods, but even spiritual; spreading out in the presence of the divine Goodness all our affections, desires, and inclinations, to be entirely submitted to it; and let us be assured that our Lord, on His part, will accomplish the promise which He has made us to transform ourselves into Himself, by raising our lowliness so as to be united to His greatness.
Reflections:
Why does God give us sacraments? Why doesn't he just give us grace in one complete "dose" so we are full forever?
If the sacraments are the transmission of grace to us, why is our intention/disposition important?
Connected to that, what does giving as full attention as possible to the sacraments do to help us? If grace is God's work, why do we need to participate?
Discuss the relationship between sacraments and humility.
How can we work to "empty our hearts of everything"?
St. Francis challenges us to "spread out in the presence of the divine Goodness all our affections, desires, and inclinations." He certainly means sinful inclinations, but what about innocent affections? Can these hinder us?
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