Brother Lawrence’s The Practice of the Presence of God has inspired millions of Christians worldwide for the past few hundred years. Why has this book, written by a monk who worked in a monastery kitchen, inspired so many people?
According to his friend and biographer, Fr. Joseph de Beaufort, Brother Lawrence was a seventeenth-century French Carmelite monk. Lawrence was born Nicholas Herman in 1611 into a peasant family who taught him the Christian faith, particularly the virtue of humility.
Herman fought during the Thirty Years’ War in France, seeking meaning and purpose. The war lasted between 1618 and 1648 and was a very violent time of Protestant and Catholic division.
During his military service, Herman was captured by German soldiers in Lorraine, France. The soldiers threatened to hang Herman because they suspected him of being a spy. To their astonishment, Herman expressed indifference over whether the soldiers killed him. Knowing that he was not guilty of any treacherous spy crimes, he viewed the death threat as nothing to fear. When Swedish troops invaded Lorraine, Herman was free but wounded with a limp he carried for the rest of his life. He stayed at home for a while, recovering and working for William de Fuibert, treasurer to the King of France.
During a great existential crisis, Herman saw a bare tree during winter. It filled him with hope to think that in spring, the tree would flower again. To him, it was an affirmation of God’s love. Herman underwent a radical conversion to Christianity and changed his name to ‘Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection’ in 1640 after the Catholic priest who helped educate him when he was young. From the influence of his Uncle Jean, Lawrence decided to become a monk at the age of twenty-six and devote his whole life to serving God instead of his own vanity. Experiencing this drastic worldview change brought Lawrence great joy and hope.
Lawrence decided to join a Discalced Carmelite monastery in Paris, France. At the monastery, Lawrence worked in the kitchen, cooking and cleaning for the glory of Christ. This helped Lawrence learn what true humility is. Christ modeled the virtue of humility because he was no respecter of persons and became the suffering servant, defeating death and the powers of darkness through his death and resurrection.
Fr. Joseph de Beaufort described Lawrence as somewhat awkward but with a great sense of humor and very wise in his understanding of the correlation between work and prayer. While Lawrence worked in the kitchen cooking, cleaning, and scrubbing, he found he also prayed regularly. Lawrence understood that prayer is not a way of treating God as a genie to get what one wants but is an ongoing conversation with a good and loving Creator who continually transforms our minds and hearts by His grace.
The Carmelite order within the Catholic Church began around 1115. Inspired by the Old Testament prophet Elijah, this order of monks and nuns took vows of poverty and chastity as they sought to become one with Christ during their earthly pilgrimage. The Carmelite order was officially recognized by Pope Honorius III in 1226. The most well-known Carmelite in Catholic Church history was the mystic St. Teresa of Avila. She lived between 1515 and 1582.
The Carmelite emphasis on becoming one with Christ is one of the most important aspects of Lawrence’s book The Practice of the Presence of God. The book is a practical guide for anyone yearning to find union with Christ, regardless of their day job or vocation. A great example from the book is Lawrence glorifying Christ when cooking in a monastery in Paris.
The Practice of the Presence of God is an amazing book about cultivating a practice of glorifying Christ through work, relationships, and different personal spiritual practices. Brother Lawrence was often sought after for spiritual advice.
The book has three sections: conversations, letters, and spiritual maxims. The conversation section describes Lawrene’s spiritual journey from nominal Christian to devout monk and follower of Christ.
The letter section of the book shows the humor, wisdom, and spiritual advice Lawrence offered to people inquiring about how to practice God’s presence amid the chaos of life. Lawrence became widely respected for his patient responses to spiritual seekers’ questions about God, prayer, and what it means to live a sacramental life.
The spiritual maxim section of the book is structured to help people cultivate a rhythm of prayer in their daily lives. These spiritual maxims have helped millions of people around the world cultivate a healthy prayer life and grow closer to Christ.
After Lawrence died in 1691, his writings were collected and published in 1692 by de Beaufort, who wrote The Life of Brother Lawrence, a profile of Lawrence’s journey of faith. This first edition, in French, became very popular.
The first edition included the conversations and letters. Later editions, such as a 1907 English edition published by H.R. Allenson of London, included the spiritual maxims. H.R. Allenson was the first publisher to include the spiritual maxims. The spiritual maxims were included to help people develop a daily rhythm of prayer.
Catholic journalist and activist Dorothy Day found The Practice of The Presence of God immensely helpful on her journey of faith. The book helped Day understand, with her heart and mind, the importance of prayer in daily life. In June 2023, Day wrote an introduction to a new edition published by Ave Maria Press.
The Christian apologist, literary critic, and lay theologian C.S. Lewis was influenced by Lawrence’s classic book. On his first reading of it in 1930, Lewis found it interesting but not memorable. He re-read it in 1956 and recommended it to his friend Arthur Greeves as an important spiritual classic.
Henri Nouwen, the Dutch psychologist and priest who wrote classics such as The Wounded Healer and The Return of the Prodigal Son, found Lawrence’s book spiritually nourishing on his spiritual journey as he pursued his vocational calling as a writer and teacher. In a 1985 talk at Harvard University, Nouwen expounded on how practicing the presence of God during difficult times of pain and suffering brings peace, joy, and hope.
A few years after my conversion from agnosticism to Christianity, I was going through a dark night of the soul. During that painful time, I found a copy of The Practice of the Presence of God at a used bookshop owned by a friend. I felt no assurance of the presence of God in my life and felt as if my faith was hanging by a thread. I came close to believing that perhaps God was cruel and capricious. Reading the humble French monk’s book about work, prayer, and Christ’s sustaining agape love, gave me a glimmer of hope in my suffering. With great joy, I look back on how that little but powerful book helped me find my voice again as a writer on my faith journey.
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Justin Wiggins is an author who works and lives in the primitive, majestic, beautiful mountains of North Carolina. He graduated with his Bachelor's in English Literature, with a focus on C.S. Lewis studies, from Montreat College in May 2018. His first book was Surprised by Agape, published by Grant Hudson of Clarendon House Publications. His second book, Surprised By Myth, was co-written with Grant Hudson and published in 2021. Many of his recent books (Marty & Irene, Tír na nÓg, Celtic Twilight, Celtic Song, Ragnarok, Celtic Dawn) are published by Steve Cawte of Impspired.
Wiggins has also had poems and other short pieces published by Clarendon House Publications, Sehnsucht: The C.S. Lewis Journal, and Sweetycat Press. Justin has a great zeal for life, work, community, writing, literature, art, pubs, bookstores, coffee shops, and for England, Scotland, and Ireland.
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