The Practice of the Presence of God

Name: The Practice of the Presence of God
Author: Brother Lawrence

Brother Lawrence (c. 1614–1691), born Nicolas Herman, was a French lay brother of the Discalced Carmelites in Paris. After years as a soldier and servant he entered the monastery and worked in its kitchen and shoe repair shop. He is known for The Practice of the Presence of God, in our library — posthumous conversations and letters teaching a continual, simple awareness of God in ordinary work.

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First published: 1692
Category: Holiness
Length: 11k words · about 1 hour
Chapters: 20
Narration: 🎧 Volunteer Readers

About this book

A short collection of letters and conversations recording the simple way of Brother Lawrence, a seventeenth-century Carmelite lay brother who learned to keep his heart turned toward God amid the noise of a monastery kitchen. Its teaching is disarmingly plain: do everything for the love of God, and return to Him gently whenever the mind wanders.