Hajja Salesjana

Editor’s Note: During this year 2022, we mark the 400th anniversary since the birth of St. Francis de Sales in Heaven in 1622 at Lyon. As a Salesian Family, we know that his spirituality deeply marked Don Bosco and consequently us Salesians, his sons. Infact our name derives from him and not from Don Bosco! Throughout this year, you will be able to read the following article by Rev. Dr. Eunan McDonnell SDB, Provincial of Ireland, who is an expert in the field pertaining to this great Saint and his very practical spirituality. I trust that you may find this article, split in our four Ħajja Salesjana issues for 2022, inspiring and helpful to your faith and relationship with the true King of Hearts, the Lord Jesus Christ! Learning to pray heart to heart “I love you.” If you were the one to utter these three words, surely you would hold your breath as you wait for the response. You would wait expectantly, hoping that the other person would reply with I love you too . In many ways, this is the starting point for understanding prayer from a Salesian perspective. God is always the one who is addressing our heart with love and, in a way, is holding his breath as he awaits our response: “Behold, I stand at the door (of your heart) and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in.” 1 If we accept this heart invitation and respond to this personal address with “I love you too”, then, heart speaks to heart. Prayer is born. The starting point for the person who prays, therefore, is always a response to the God who loves us first, we always begin from “I love you too.” As the relationship between the heart of God and the human heart deepens, the need for words decreases. This mutual delight in each other’s company intensifies so that we begin to draw God’s heart into our own. 2 Like a magnet, we are drawn by God our “tire-coeur” . 3 Just as a piece of metal becomes magnetised by the magnet that draws it, so too, we are aimantisé by God. If we allow ourselves to be ‘touched’ by God, we will become divinised by sharing in God’s qualities. We can see this even in the young Francis de Sales who, as a student in Padua, develops the contemplative practice of resting near the divine heart. He writes: “As the Body needs sleep to refresh and soothe its tired limbs, so does the soul By Rev. Dr. Eunan McDonnell sdb 10 Jannar-Marzu 2022 hajja