This Is What Freedom Looks Like
The Servant of God Hermann Cohen preaches Gospel freedom: rooted in truth, revealed through prayer
Faith shows us how to find happiness in God and in Jesus Christ, God’s Son. It is a mystery which pride cannot grasp. But to find Jesus Christ, one must watch and pray. Scripture says, “Happy is the one who watches at the doors day and night” (cf. Prov 8:34)—that is to say, who watches at the door of his heart to find Jesus Christ.
Faith shows us God’s goodness in Jesus Christ his Son. That’s a mystery which pride cannot penetrate.
And the thing that proves that this truth comes from God is the fact that humankind does not invent something which it does not understand! By prayer, we humble ourselves, we contemplate the distance which separates us from God.
Prayer imparts faith.
Look at the makeup of the person of prayer—there you will read peace and contentment. It is by prayer that we become engaged and captivated by the divine will, which is true freedom.
Let us not confuse freedom with license. Freedom is the absence of all obstacles that can hamper the will in the accomplishment of good. Those obstacles are our passions. The divine will is directed to goodness, and those who bend under the sacred yoke of that joyous will, which is true freedom, fly to God in complete openness.
Faith is acquired through prayer, which, united to faith, imparts peace, love, wisdom, light, and freedom—all of which are contained in Jesus Christ.
— Servant of God Augustine Mary of the Blessed Sacrament
(Hermann Cohen)
Sermon in Bordeaux Cathedral, 1852 (excerpts)
Note: The Servant of God Hermann Cohen (1820–1871), also known in religion as Father Augustine Mary of the Blessed Sacrament, was a celebrated concert pianist, Jewish convert, and protégé of Franz Liszt. A dramatic encounter with the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist led to his conversion and, not long after, his entrance into the Discalced Carmelite Order in 1849. A fiery preacher and founder of nocturnal adoration in Paris and beyond, Cohen led the first public pilgrimage to the forbidden grotto at Lourdes just two months after the final apparition. You can read the story of his conversion and mission here.
⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
Where am I being invited to surrender my pride so I can receive the freedom that only Christ gives?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.
Source reference
Tierney, T 2017, A Life of Hermann Cohen: From Franz Liszt to John of the Cross, Balboa Press, Bloomington, IN.
Featured image
This detail from Christ and His Mother Studying the Scriptures (c. 1908), an oil on canvas by Henry Ossawa Tanner, shows the intimate attentiveness of Jesus and Mary in the act of contemplation. Tanner used his wife Jessie and their son Jesse as models, giving the painting a dual resonance as a meditative biblical scene and a tender family portrait. The first African American artist to receive international acclaim, Tanner brought depth and devotion to religious subjects that found recognition across two continents.
Image courtesy Dallas Museum of Art (Public domain)
