Redeeming the Hours: A Pilgrim's Rule

Introduction

The pilgrim has learned that the body teaches the soul and that the soul must be governed under Christ.

Now he must learn to give his hours back to God.

The day is not a heap of accidents. It is a trust. Morning, work, meals, study, prayer, silence, rest, and examination all ask to be received under rule.

Without order, the soul is often ruled by feeling. With order, the soul is trained to obey God steadily, even when feeling is absent.

This book is not written to make the pilgrim hurried, anxious, or severe. It is written to help him become peaceful, prompt, and faithful in the next duty God places before him.

Its end is not mastery of a schedule. Its end is a life more open to grace, more constant in charity, more ready for final perseverance, and wholly directed toward salvation and the glory of God.