Lenten Meditation - March 17, 2006

You must not fancy that the moral life has no need of sustenance; a soul, just as much as a body, can be ill, strong, or anemic. Unless it is to waste away, it must have its daily food, and instead of prayer – that incomparable source of life – two things must be practiced: meditation and examination of conscience. Every soul of any depth recognizes that these things are indispensable, and they were practiced by Marcus Aurelius1 and Maine of Biran2, just as much as by St. Francis de Sales and the lowliest Christian.

- Elisabeth Leseur (1866-1914)- From The Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur: Living the Spiritual Life, a letter to an unbeliever

1 Marcus Aurelius (121 – 180), Roman emperor,
2 Maine of Biran (1766 – 1824), French philosopher