Blessed Francis considered--as indeed I have already told you in another
place--that to love to listen to God, speaking to us, either by the living
voice of His Priests, or in pious books, which are often the voice of His
Saints, was one of the strongest marks of predestination.
But he also insisted on the folly and uselessness of listening to, or
reading, without putting in practice the lessons so conveyed to us. This,
he said, was like beholding our faces in a glass, then going our way, and
forgetting what we are like. It is to learn the will of our Master and not
to take pains to fulfil His commands.
In his Philothea he says:
"Be devoted to the word of God, whether it comes to you in familiar
conversation with your spiritual friends, or in listening to sermons.
Always hear it with attention and reverence, profit by it as much as
possible, and never permit it to fall to the ground. Receive it into your
heart as a precious balm, following the example of the Blessed Virgin, who
kept carefully in her heart every word that was spoken in praise of her
divine Child. Do not forget that our Lord gathers up the words which we
speak to Him in our prayers, in proportion to the diligence with which we
gather up those He addresses to us by the mouth of His preachers."
As regards spiritual reading, he recommended it most strongly as being food
for the soul, which we could always keep at hand, at all times and in all
places. He said that we might be where we could not always hear sermons, or
easily have recourse to a spiritual director and guide, and that our memory
might not always serve us to recall what we had been taught, either by
preachers, or by those who had instructed us specially and individually
in the way of salvation. He therefore desired those who aspired to lead a
devout life to provide themselves with pious books which would kindle in
their hearts the flame of divine love, and not to let a single day pass
without using them. He wished them to be read with great respect and
devotion, saying that we should regard them as missives "sent to us by the
Saints from heaven, to show us the way thither, and to give us courage to
persevere in it."