“Lord, my God, my heart shall belong to you alone. You are my peace and my life; you are my salvation. I will seek only you, be seized by you alone, and irrevocably belong to you.” (St. Peter Claver)
This is the prayer of consecration of the great saint who served the souls of African slaves with unshakable fidelity and endured their unimaginable physical suffering (Bible commentary from September 9).
Filled with deep piety, he carried out his heroic service until the end of his fruitful life.
Through this prayer, we can begin to understand how deeply his heart was focused on our Father. When our hearts belong to God, we desire nothing more than to do His will completely. Our Father drew his heart to Himself and filled St. Peter Claver entirely with Himself, just as the saint had asked. St. Peter Claver, so to speak, gave our Father free and loving disposal over his life because God was his peace and his salvation. He sought Him and allowed himself to be seized by Him.
Much takes place between the one who prays and our Father in such prayers of holy longing, who has called him to this self‑surrender. Streams of grace flow into the soul and transform it. As a result, it detaches itself more and more from everything that stands in the way of self‑surrender, so that it becomes a “burning soul.” Driven by the Spirit, the saint accomplished marvelous works and became a source of comfort to these poor, enslaved Africans.
But even we, who love the Lord and cannot—or not yet—pray as fervently as St. Peter Claver, can still ask our Father that we may awaken to a fervent love and become capable of serving our Father with all our hearts.