Autobiography of Madame Guyon

Overview

Madame Guyon believed that one should pray all the time, and that in whatever one does, one should be spending time with God. "Prayer is the key of perfection and of sovereign happiness; it is the efficacious means of getting rid of all vices and of acquiring all virtues; for the way to become perfect is to live in the presence of God. He tells us this Himself: "walk before me, and be thou perfect" Genesis 17:1. Prayer alone can bring you into His presence, and keep you there continually." As she wrote in one of her poems: "There was a period when I chose, A time and place for prayer ... But now I seek that constant prayer, In inward stillness known ..." She was imprisoned from 1695 to 1703 after publishing a book on prayer; she wrote this autobiography while in prison. She then went to live with her son, and spent her remaining years writing poetry and avoiding controversy. Ironically, though she never had any intention of separating herself from the Catholic Church, her warmest admirers today are found among Protestants.

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