L'on seroit même surpris si l'on sçavoit ce que l'ame dit quelquefois à Dieu. If you do not know him, maybe you should!

Date:   9/21/2021 1:45:54 AM ( 3 y ago)

At the age of 24, Brother Lawrence joined the Order of Discalced Carmelites in Paris, taking the religious name "Lawrence of the Resurrection".
He spent the rest of his life with this order, dying on 12 February 1691. During his time as a friar, he was much preoccupied with the cultivating a keen sensitivity to the presence of God in everyday life.

Translators and readers have been struck by Brother Lawrence's seeming simplicity.

"Great would be our surprise, if we but knew what converse the soul holds at times with God."

"When I was exposed to his thoughts for the first time," wrote Henri Nouwen, "they seemed simple, even somewhat naive and unrealistic." Nouwen added that the more he reflected on Brother Lawrence's advice, he became aware that it "is not just a nice idea for a seventeenth-century monk but a most important challenge to our present-day life situation."
Translator Robert J. Edmonson had a similar experience. "I had an image of Brother Lawrence as a jolly monk who took pleasure in cleaning pots and cooking," Edmonson wrote. "I was struck by the depth of his love for God and his life lived in obedience, humility, and concern for others."

This paradox reflects the challenge facing translators, which is best illustrated by comparing the translations of one of the more famous passages. First, from the original 1692 French edition of Maximises spirituelles:

 

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