"The worldly will be scandalized if we... laugh, play, or dance in their company; but if we refuse, they will call us melancholy hypocrites. If we dress well, they will attribute it to a bad motive; if we dress simply, they will attribute it to meanness. They will call our joy dissipation, our self-denial sadness; their jaundiced gaze never satisfied. They will magnify our imperfections into sins of frailty as sins of malice... we must ignore such blindness; let them cry out like owls trying to disturb the birds of day as much as they like, while we go serenely on our way unwavering in our resolves. Our very perseverance will convince them that we have dedicated ourselves to God and embraced a devout life."
St. Francis de Sales
Painting: Dinner at the Casino by Gaston La Touche
Nancy, I think I might be starting to understand the cloistered heart:)
ReplyDeleteThinking of my soul at peace and at work in a silent cell seems quite heavenly.
Thanks for sharing this, Vicky. I am sometimes amazed at how drawn I (who have for most of my life been anything but "silent") am to the thought of a silent cell!
DeleteWonderful post once again Nancy! Love the painting revealing the indifference to the amazing display in the sky behind them. fits the quote so beautifully. And ahhh for silence somewhere within the cell we carry. God Bless...
ReplyDeleteThe poet catches their indifference! The more I look at the painting, the more I see this. Thank you so much.
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