I have just read "Au gré de sa grâce", a book on prayer by André Louf. This is a work that I liked very much. While reading it I was deeply touched and I felt myself reached in the most intimate way by its depth. André Louf's experience of interiority is very striking. Indeed, André Louf tells us that there are vastnesses, continents within us and in these continents it is easy to get lost. But when we read this book, we find within ourselves the "inner man", the deep source of our being, which for André Louf is the place of God, the kingdom of God within us.
This book is very simple in spite of the seriousness of the themes addressed by the author, a cultured man and a man of interiority. With him I rediscover what spiritual reading is and what its objectives are. I understand why St. Marie Eugenie was so keen on this practice and included it in the "non-negotiables". Indeed, I have experienced that spiritual reading is one of the pillars of the contemplative life because it plays an important role in our spiritual growth, which is none other than growth in faith, hope and charity. I realise that our God is both the Ever-near and the Unknowable. Therefore, if we do not nourish our knowledge of him sufficiently, our love will grow cold and dull and will not grow, and grow stronger. Today, with André Louf, I testify that without regular spiritual reading, we will barely advance on the path that leads to God. When we neglect this spiritual exercise, we immediately feel it: "it becomes more difficult to live in the Presence of God and prayer becomes full of distractions.” Do we always measure the importance of this practice for our spiritual life? I am well aware that the constraints of daily life mean that it is in danger of being locked out, drowned out by so many elements, activities and occupations that seem opportune or urgent at the moment.
What a wonderful testimony! I was truly moved and gripped by the way this man speaks of conversion, of God's grace and especially of interiority. I invite everyone to read: "Au gré de sa grâce" by André Louf, it is of immense depth.
Sister MONEMOU Yvette R.A