The Edith Stein Speaks newsletter breaks down St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross’ writings into bite sized pieces. They will feature a passage from Edith Stein’s work followed by a short commentary, connecting her work to other notable saints, theologians and modern day thinkers. To read her biography, click here.
Let us continue with Edith’s essay “Ways to Interior Silence.” After giving the first hour of the morning to the Lord, unburdening ourselves at the altar of the heart, we continue forward to the work of the day.
Here are Edith Stein’s words:
Now begins the day’s work, perhaps the teaching profession—four or five hours, one after the other. That means giving our concentration there. We cannot achieve in each hour what we want, perhaps in none. We must contend with our own fatigue, unforeseen interruptions, shortcomings of the children, diverse vexations, indignities, anxieties. Or perhaps it is office work: give and take with disagreeable supervisors and colleagues, unfulfilled demands, unjust reproaches, human meanness, perhaps also distress of the most distinct kind.
It is the noon hour. We come home exhausted, shattered. New vexations possibly await there. Now where is the soul’s morning freshness? The soul would like to seethe and storm again: indignation, chagrin, regret. And there is still so much to do until evening. Should we not go immediately to it? No, not before calm sets in at least for a moment. Each one must know, or get to know, where and how she can find peace. The best way, when it is possible, is to shed all cares again for a short time before the tabernacle. Whoever cannot do that, whoever also possibly requires bodily rest, should take a breathing space in her own room. And when no outer rest whatever is attainable, when there is no place in which to retreat, if pressing duties prohibit a quiet hour, then at least she must for a moment seal off herself inwardly against all other things and take refuge in the Lord. He is indeed there and can give us in a single moment what we need.
Each one must know, or get to know, where and how she can find peace.
Commentary:
The days work takes its toll. Whether staying at home with little children, working a simple office job, or attending class, one is met with inconvenience and imperfection. By noon, one may be ready to rage against the circumstances, or to seek solace in distraction and temporary pleasures. We have forgotten the holy joy of the mornings’ prayer. The routine may be to rush through lunch, mentally absent from the immediate circumstances. But there is another option. The day can be ordered around times of checking in with the Lord, instead of checking a device. The noon hour provides a time to re-orient oneself towards Jesus, to the Cross. A few moments can, and indeed, must, be spared to find peace. Take hold of the body, mind and soul, stop time, and surrender all that has been and all that will be. Go to a church, to a quiet room, or turn to the altar of the heart once again. He never deprives us of His peace, if we but ask. Even if the day is challenging, He reminds us that no action is purposeless if it is done with love.
Other words from wise people:
“The Lord can leave us wanting relative to certain things (sometimes judged indispensable in the eyes of the world), but He never leaves us deprived of what is essential: His presence, His peace and all that is necessary for the complete fulfillment of our lives, according to His plans for us.”
― Jacques Philippe, Searching for and Maintaining Peace: A Small Treatise on Peace of Heart
“Since God lives in the heart, I was not to seek some Being way up in the sky . . . my journey to God was not outward, but inward! The only way to get closer to God was to become ordered enough inside to enable me to experience him within. When our emotions are running loose, and our minds are confused . . . and our imagination is working overtime, there’s so much internal noise that we can’t hear the still voice of God.
So many times over my years as a mother I had felt tired, overwhelmed, and worn out. So often I felt I couldn’t get any personal space to think, what with the continual onslaught of “Mummy! Mummy!” coming from the children, or the work that I hadn’t finished staring me in the face. I needed quiet time alone.”
― Holly Pierlot, author of A Mother’s Rule of Life
O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me forget myself entirely so to establish myself in you, unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to trouble my peace or make me leave you, O my unchanging God, but may each minute bring me more deeply into your mystery! Grant my soul peace. Make it your heaven, your beloved dwelling and the place of your rest. May I never abandon you there, but may I be there, whole and entire, completely vigilant in my faith, entirely adoring, and wholly given over to your creative action. (The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity, vol. 1)
For he is our peace. (Ephesians 2:14)
A helpful article on creating a rule of life from Rebecca W. Martin on Caeli Catholic:
A beautiful reminder and exhortation :)