Our Lord once said to St. Teresa: “I would willingly speak to many souls, but the world makes so much noise in their hearts that my voice cannot be heard.” One day the Lord gave St. Faustina to know how displeased he was with a talkative soul. He said, “I find no rest in such a soul. The constant din tires me, and in the midst of it the soul cannot discern my voice.”
St. Alphonsus de Liguori wrote, “St. Bernard used to say that he had learned much more of the love of God among the oaks and beeches of the forest than from books and from the servants of God. Therefore, St. Jerome left the pleasures of Rome and shut himself up in the cave of Bethlehem, and afterwards exclaimed: ‘O solitude, in which God speaks familiarly and converses with his own!’”
St. Gregory said, “What does the solitude of the body profit if the solitude of the heart is not there?” St. Alphonsus said, “That a soul may be wholly given to God, two things are necessary: the first is to detach one’s self from the love of every created thing; the second is to consecrate all one’s love to God. And this is what true solitude of heart means.”
The saint added: “Some souls complain that in all their devout exercises, meditations, Communions, spiritual readings, visits to the Blessed sacrament, they do not find God and know not what means to adopt in order to find him. St. Teresa gives them the right means when she says: ‘Detach thy heart from all created things, and then seek God, and thou shalt find him.’… Those who from necessity are obliged to converse with the world – provided that their hearts are free from worldly attachments – can, even in the streets, in places of resort and in public assemblies, possess solitude of heart and remain united with God. All those occupations which are undertaken to fulfill the Divine Will do not prevent the solitude of the heart.”
St. Francis de Sales wrote, “There are few social duties of sufficient importance to prevent an occasional retirement of the heart into this sacred solitude. When Saint Catherine of Sienna was deprived by her parents of any place or time for prayer and meditation, Our Lord inspired her with the thought of making a little interior oratory in her mind, into which she could retire in heart, and so enjoy a holy solitude amid her outward duties. And henceforward, when the world assaulted her, she was able to be indifferent, because, so she said, she could retire within her secret oratory, and find comfort with her heavenly bridegroom. So she counselled her spiritual daughters to make a retirement within their heart, in which to dwell.”
St. Alphonsus gave to following advise: “So long as we are in this life, it is not given to us to leave this earth; let us at least take care to love retirement, so far as it is practicable, conversing alone with God, and thus gain strength to avoid defects in our unavoidable intercourse with the world.”
St. Josemaría wrote that “silence is the doorkeeper of the interior life.” St. Faustina wrote, “Silence is a sword in the spiritual struggle. A talkative soul will never attain sanctity. The sword of silence will cut off everything that would like to cling to the soul. We are sensitive to words and quickly want to answer back, without taking any regard as to whether it is God’s will that we should speak. A silent soul is strong; no adversities will harm it if it perseveres in silence. The silent soul is capable of attaining the closest union with God. It lives almost always under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. God works in a silent soul without hindrance.”
Silence is especially crucial in our digital age. Pope Benedict XVI wrote, “When messages and information are plentiful, silence becomes essential if we are to distinguish what is important from what is insignificant or secondary,” and Pope Francis wrote, “We need to recover a certain sense of deliberateness and calm. This calls for time and the ability to be silent and to listen.”
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在獨處和寧靜中聆聽天主
我主有一次對聖女德蘭說：『我願意向很多的靈魂說話，但這世俗在他們心內產生太多的噪聲，使我們聲音不為所聞。』一天我主讓聖女傅天娜知道祂對一個多言的靈魂怎樣的不滿。祂說：『在這靈魂內我找不到休息。這不休的喧嘩休使我疲倦，身處其中這靈魂不能分辨我的聲音。』
聖亞豐索寫道：『聖伯爾納鐸習慣地說，他身在森林，橡樹和山毛櫸中，比從書本中，從天主的僕人中學到更多天主的愛。所以，聖熱羅尼莫離開了羅馬的享樂，把自己關閉於伯利恒的洞穴中。然後宣稱：「噢！獨處，在那裡天主相熟地說話，與祂交談！」』
聖額我畧說：『如果一個獨處的心不在，一個獨處的軀體能有什麼好處？』聖亞豐索說：『一個靈魂要能全部都給了天主，有兩件事是需要的：首先要把自己剔除於喜愛一切受造物中；其次是奉獻他全部的愛去愛天主。這就是真正獨處的心的意義。』
這聖人補充說：『一些靈魂埋怨他們所有的熱心行為，默禱，領聖體，靈修閱讀，朝拜聖體，他們都找不到天主，並不知道應該採用什麼方法可以找到天主。聖德蘭修女給了她們正確的方法，她說：「你們打從心中棄絕一切的受造物，然後尋找天主，你便能找到祂」…那些有所需要的會止於與世界的交談—假如他們的心都不為世界事物所牽制—是可以的，甚至在街道上，旅遊地點，公眾聚會地方，都能擁有內心獨處並維持與天主結合。所有的活動去履行天主聖意的，都不會阻止內心的獨處。』
聖方濟各、沙雷氐寫道：『很少有足夠重要的社會責任來阻止心靈偶爾退縮到這種神聖的處獨中。當仙娜的聖加大肋納被父母褫奪了任何地方和時間作祈禱和默想時，我主啟示她，在她思維中建立一個內在的小祈禱所，在那裡她可退於心中，這樣可以有在她外在的責任中享用一個神聖獨處。因此，當這世界攻擊她時，她可以是不受影響，因為，她說，她可以退到她隱藏的小祈禱所，從她天堂上的新郎處找到安慰。按這樣，她忠告了她的靈修女兒，退到她們的內心，寄居其中。』
聖亞豐索給了我們以下的勸告：『只要我們在此生還活著，就沒有給我們離開這個世界的權利；讓我們至少關注去愛退隱，可予實行的話，單獨地與主交談，由此獲得力量以避免我們與世界不可避免的交往中的缺陷。』
聖若瑟瑪利亞、施禮華寫道：『靜默是內在生命的門衛。』聖女傅天娜寫道：『靜默是靈性掙扎中的一把劍。一個多言的靈魂永不成聖。靜默的劍會切除可附於靈魂上的一切事物。我們對語言都是敏感的並會快速回應，而沒有考慮這回應是否天主的聖意。一個靜默的靈魂是強壯的：如果它堅持於靜默中，沒有厄運可以傷害它。靜默的靈魂可以臻至與天主最近的結合。它差不多時常處於聖神啟迪之下。在靜默的靈魂中天主的工作不會有阻礙。』
在我們這數碼的世界裡，靜默更為關鍵。教宗本篤十六世寫道：『當訊息和資料滿盈時，如果我們要從不甚重要的和次要的分別出什麼是重要的時候，靜默是必要的』，教宗方濟寫道：『我們要能回復到審慎和冷靜的感覺時。是需要時間，靜默和聆聽能力的時候了』。
