The most important part of prayer – remembering

Last month, I visited one of the oldest churches in Puebla, Mexico, the beautiful Templo de Convento de San Francisco.  It was built by the Franciscans in 1516 as a monastery and place of worship.  In one of the chapels of the church is the uncorrupted body of Blessed Brother Sebastián de Aparicio.  He gave me a timeless lesson in the spiritual life:  Remembering.

Brother Sebastian had a fascinating life.  He was born in poverty in 1502.  He died in poverty in 1600.   In between, he amassed a fortune building roads between the towns across Mexico.  At the age of 73, he donated his wealth to the Poor Clares and became a street beggar for the Franciscans. 

For the last twenty years of his life, until the impressive age of 98, he walked the same roads he built, holding a Rosary in one hand and the reins of an ox in another.

To the people he passed, he offered a simple blessing and a request:  “Guárdeos Dios, hermanos, ¿hay qué dar, por Dios, a San Francisco?” (God, keep you, brother. Might you give, for God’s sake, to Saint Francis.”) 

This aged man roaming the vast, dusty roads became such a common sight that he carried the nickname “Angel of Mexico.” 

As I sat before the uncorrupted body of Blessed Brother Sebastian, I noticed two guest registers.  The one near his feet invited people to write down their prayers requested.  The one near his head invited people to write down prayers answered.  Presumably, people would return to Brother Sebastian after their prayer had been answered and write another notation. 

In a way, Brother Sebastian continues to be an “angel”, building roads not between settlements in Mexico but between heaven and earth.  He’s become the ‘road’ for the thousands of prayers that come before him.

Remembering God’s faithfulness in answering prayers is one of the keys to moving from spiritual desolation to spiritual consolation.  Consolations and desolations are inevitable in the spiritual life.  Saint Ignatius gives hope.  Though we can’t avoid the desolations, he writes in his spiritual exercises that they can be lessened in both severity and duration by simply remembering how God has been faithful in the past. (321-324)

Too often I offer my petitions to God then move on with my day or my week.  On the rare occasion, I’ll remember how God had answered these prayers. I’ve recently started writing these little intentions down in my journal, both intentions offered for the day and prayers answered from previous days.

When a similar anxiety creeps in or I become filled with the same doubts, I review my journal.  I find numerous reminders of the many times that God had indeed been faithful, and assure myself that God will continue to do so today.  

May God bless you and keep you.  And may you remember the many ways God has been faithful in answering your prayers