What does a pope read?
While an image of the Vicar of Christ curled up in an armchair, leafing through the pages of a well-worn text, perhaps with a pen in hand and a cup of tea by his side, might seem unusual, there is a venerable tradition of past and present popes enjoying and enjoining the reading of certain spiritual classics.
Pope St John Paul II extolled the virtues of the Polish epic writer Henryk Sienkiewicz’s Quo Vadis; Pope Benedict XVI expressed great fondness for the Confessions of St Augustine of Hippo; Pope Francis exhibited ample admiration for the reflective writings of the German priest-philosopher Romano Guardini.
More recently, Pope Leo XIV identified The Practice of the Presence of God, by the 17th-century French Carmelite friar Brother Lawrence, as the book that has most significantly influenced his spiritual life, aside from the writings of the eponymous father of his order, St Augustine. What can we learn from this?
Little is known of the simple yet profound life of Brother Lawrence: born Nicholas Herman to a French peasant family during the devastating Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648), he found employment as a soldier, was briefly taken prisoner by German troops, and went on to serve as a footman to the treasurer of the King of France.
Having experienced a profound personal conversion at the age of 18, Nicholas Herman decided to enter a Discalced Carmelite monastery, located at what is now St Joseph-des-Carmes in Paris.
There, Nicholas took the name “Lawrence of the Resurrection”, and served the Parisian Carmelite friary in the kitchen as a cook.
Despite his low position and self-effacing style, Brother Lawrence drew a spiritual following for his wisdom, so much so that some of his conversations, writings and maxims were posthumously collected and promoted by the Archdiocese of Paris.
First published in English in 1895, The Practice of the Presence of God is, properly speaking, a short compilation of documented conversations, letters and spiritual maxims from Brother Lawrence himself, as well as a brief hagiographical reflection on his life and character composed by a contemporary.
Less than a hundred pages in length in a standard edition, the writings are both highly spiritual and deeply practical.
Enduring advice is sought and provided on an array of topics, from the distraction of wandering thoughts in prayer to the challenge of practising fortitude in the face of suffering.
The consistent theme is the great joy that is available to us through a deep intimacy with God throughout our daily lives, principally to be found through a humble life of simple self-surrender to the loving will of the Father.
A particularly striking image to illustrate this way of life appears in the “Eighth Letter”, wherein Brother Lawrence exhorts someone struggling with distraction in prayer: “Hold yourself in prayer before God like a dumb or paralytic beggar at a rich man’s gate. Let it be your business to keep your mind in the presence of the Lord.”
To give an example of the edifying character of Brother Lawrence’s writings, we can look to the “First Conversation”. Reported and recorded by contemporaries, it includes a brief account of his life-changing conversion.
Witnessing a barren tree in winter and recognising the life-giving power of the spring to come, Brother Lawrence “received a high view of the providence and power of God, which has never since been effaced from his soul”.
Recalling his admission to the monastery, he is said to have admitted an ironic disappointment with God that his self-sacrificial desire to “smart for his awkwardness and the faults he should commit” upon entering monastic life was instead “met with nothing but satisfaction in that state”.
Later in the interaction, Brother Lawrence provided practical advice for perseverance in prayer, perhaps counterintuitively commenting that times of spiritual dryness are actually the times most fitting for “good and effectual acts of resignation, whereof one alone would sometimes very much promote our spiritual advancement”.
Subsequent conversations and letters continue in a similar vein, with a spirit of awe and wonder at the goodness of God, a sense of gentle humour and a style of prayer and action that is simple yet profound in its pursuit of closeness to God.
The humility, simplicity and serenity shown through the life and writings of Brother Lawrence seem quite apposite and attractive for our new Pope, the early evidence of whose papacy suggests personal humility, meekness and balance of temperament.
While book recommendations from our popes can be instructive for our understanding of their personalities and papal styles, they are also deeply fruitful and edifying reads in themselves.
Quiet spiritual masterpieces like The Practice of the Presence of God can be the perfect accompaniment to our Lenten journey, not least as we seek to grow in ever closer relationship with God.
As Brother Lawrence reminds us in his “Fourth Conversation”, the presence of God is something we should continually seek and something which constantly surrounds us:
“The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquillity as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.”