“Just as young nightingales learn to sing from the older ones, so we too, through our association with the saints, will learn to pray and sing God’s praises more beautifully: ‘I will sing praise to thee in the sight of the angels,’ says David (Ps 138:1).” (St. Francis de Sales)
A gracious invitation from St. Francis de Sales to cultivate a deep friendship with the saints. Pope Benedict XVI has also given us similar advice. And indeed: with whom could we better cultivate fellowship than with those who already live in perfect union with God? We know that we adopt behaviors from people with whom we have close contact, even when this happens only unconsciously. So it is wise to choose to whom we open ourselves more deeply—and from whom we keep our distance—when unwholesome speech or behavior that we cannot correct darkens the atmosphere.
Who could make God’s praise resound more beautifully than the angels and saints who live in the perfect vision of God? Through their friendship and closeness, they may help us adore the Heavenly Father with greater intimacy, dignity, and fruitfulness. God has placed them at our side as trustworthy friends. We need only seek them out and call upon them. It is often said that the saints help us of their own accord, but it is even more powerful when we call upon them and ask for their help. So why not, the next time we pray, ask our heavenly friends to pray and sing with us—and ask them whether they might not always remain with us?
After some time, we will notice how our prayer and our singing grow in beauty. We will then pray with them, and from this intimacy will grow “heavenly fruits of praise.”