St. Alphonsus de Liguori wrote, “To love God with our whole heart implies two things: the first is to banish every affection which is not for God, or according to the will of God.”
“If I knew,” said St. Francis de Sales, “that there was one fibre in my heart which did not belong to God, I would instantly tear it out.”
“The second is prayer,” wrote St. Alphonsus, by which divine love is introduced into the heart. “But if the heart does not empty itself of all that is of the earth, love cannot enter, for it finds no room for itself. On the contrary, a heart detached from all creatures becomes quickly inflamed and increases in divine love at every breath of grace.”
An effective way to foster detachment from creatures and a life of prayer is a love for solitude and retirement. Our Lord told the Apostles: “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” (Mk 6:31)
St. Alphonsus said, “If Our Lord said even to the Apostles, ‘rest a little,’ it is therefore necessary for all apostolic labourers to retire from time to time into solitude to preserve their spirit of recollection and union with God and to obtain strength to labor afterwards with greater vigour for the salvation of souls.”
The saint explained that “rest a little” did not mean that “the Apostles were to go to sleep, but that they should repose in holding communion with God, in praying to Him for the graces necessary for living well, and thus should gain strength to employ themselves afterwards for the salvation of souls.”
St. Lawrence Justinian taught that solitude or retirement is to be always loved, but not always enjoyed. St. Alphonsus explained that “they who are called by God to labour for the conversion of sinners must not remain always in solitude, shut up in a cell, for they would be neglecting their divine vocation, to obey which, when God calls them, they must leave their retirement. Yet they should never cease to love and to sigh for solitude, in which God allows Himself to be more easily found.”
For people living in the world, a plan of life or schedule is very important to make room for solitude and retirement. St. Josemaria Escriva, who dedicated himself to fostering the universal call to holiness, emphasized the importance of a plan of life which include the daily exercises of piety such as mental prayer, spiritual reading, visiting the Blessed Sacrament, Holy Rosary, the Angelus, and examination of conscience.
St. Josemaria wrote, “If you don’t have a plan of life, you’ll never have order.”
A plan of life requires discipline in the use of time. The saint wrote, “If you don’t get up at a set hour, you’ll never fulfill your plan of life.” Regarding the effect of a plan of life, he wrote, “With order, your time will be multiplied, and you will be able to give more glory to God by doing more work in his service.”
A plan of life requires constancy and perseverance. St. Josemaria wrote, “You must be constant and demanding with yourself in your regular practices of piety, also when you feel tired or they seem to be arid. Persevere! Those moments are like the tall red painted poles which serve as markers along the mountain roads when there are heavy snowfalls. They are always there to show where it is safe to go.”
In his work, Meditations and Devotions, St. John Henry Newman outlined a simple path to holiness:
“He is perfect who does the work of the day perfectly, and we need not go beyond this to seek for perfection. You need not go out of the round of the day. I insist on this because I think it will simplify our views, and fix our exertions on a definite aim. If you ask me what you are to do in order to be perfect, I say, first – Do not lie in bed beyond the due time of rising; give your first thoughts to God; make a good visit to the Blessed Sacrament; say the Angelus devoutly; eat and drink to God’s glory; say the Rosary well; be recollected; keep out bad thoughts; make your evening meditation well; examine yourself daily; go to bed in good time, and you are already perfect.”
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生活規劃為獨處留出空間
聖亞豐索寫道：「需要辦到兩件事，才能全心愛天主。首先要把與天主無關的喜愛或牴觸天主聖意的意願扔掉。正如聖方濟沙雷聲明：『只要我內心有丁點兒不屬於天主的纖維，我都要剝去！』第二是祈禱。祈禱可以把天主的聖愛注入我們心中；不過，假如我們的心已經被俗事堵塞著，又怎能容得下天主的愛呢？相反，掏空了俗事的心，更容易完全領受聖寵的氣息，增加天主聖愛在心內熾熱燃燒。」
要渡祈禱生活，有效地培育出脫離俗事羈絆的方法，就是鍾情於獨處及退隱。吾主勸喻宗徒說：「私下到荒野的地方去休息一會兒！（馬爾谷福音6:31）」聖亞豐索說：「既然吾主勸導祂的宗徒『休息一會兒』，表明宗徒們不時要從傳道的辛勞中退隱，在獨處時收斂心神，與天主結合，以獲得力量和更大的精力，繼續拯救人靈的艱巨使命。」
聖樂倫猶定教導我們，雖然我們不一定嚮往，但仍必須鍾情於獨處或退隱。聖亞豐索解釋說：「被天主召叫拯救人靈的人，不能常居獨處，自我閉關，忽略天主的聖召。當聽到天主的呼喚時，他們要出走靜所，進入人群；但還是不要忘記去愛，不要忘記把握獨處的時刻，因為那裡更容易找到天主。」
其實，一般活在俗世的人，在繁忙的生命中，籌劃靜下來的時刻，也是很重要的。聖施禮華委身於俗世中成聖為生命的目標，強調安排每天熱心的修煉非常重要：默禱、閱讀聖書、朝拜聖體、誦唸玫瑰經及三鐘經，以及時刻省察。他寫道：「假如你沒有生活的規劃，那你決不會有秩序。」
良好的時間計劃，就是有規律地善用時間。聖施禮華認為：「如果你不定時起床，你就永遠不會實現你的生活規劃了。」有關生活的計劃，聖人補充寫道：「假如你有規則，你的時間就會增多，你因此更能光榮天主，為服務祂而做更多的工作。」
時間上獨處的計劃，是需要持久和毅力去執行。聖施禮華勸勉著：「你一定要持續要求自己實踐熱誠的修煉；你感到疲倦或枯燥時，仍要堅持！那些時刻，好像是量度山上積雪紅白色的量度尺，告訴你安全前進的指標。」
在「默想與虔誠」一書，聖若望亨利紐曼鉤劃出成聖的簡易途徑：「完美地善盡一天的本份，他就是完美，不用另尋完美的方法，或借用每天本份以外的事情。我堅信就是那麼簡單，省去複雜的思維，努力專注在我們的本份。假如你問我，如何達致完美，我會說：起床時候切勿眷戀床第，醒來時第一時間想到天主；騰出時間朝拜聖體；熱心誦唸三鐘經。飲食前後光榮天主；好好地誦唸玫瑰經；收斂心神；遠離邪惡的思想；每天黃昏默想及做好省察；定時休息安睡。你已經是完美了。」