Flannery
Suffering - Grace - and not waiting for “perfect” circumstances
Today marks the 62nd anniversary of Flannery O’Connor’s death. It took me a while to appreciate this eccentric and amazingly talented fellow Georgia girl. I came to know her first through her fiction, which was jarring to my high school self. As it should have been. I didn’t understand or really appreciate her then. But I came back to Flannery’s writing later and continued to revisit her over the years, eventually even introducing her to my boys during their homeschool years. I grew to love her brilliance, her deep faith and her quirky sass. Flannery knew suffering and grace intimately.
“All human nature resists grace because grace changes us and the change is painful. Human nature is so faulty that it can resist any amount of grace and most of the time it does.” - Flannery O’Connor - The Habit of Being
Today, I was looking back over pictures from our 2022 visit to her farm in Milledgeville, GA. I was struck again by her writing space, not Instagram-perfect, and by those crutches standing nearby.
Flannery suffered terribly. And yet she didn’t use that as an excuse to put off her writing. Rather, she used it as fuel. Even more than that, her faith and her understanding of redemptive suffering were foundational to her work. She wrote almost daily after attending Mass. She, who knew immense physical pain, sought the reception of Our Lord in the Eucharist - daily - before settling down to her writing work. What is my excuse, I wondered today? How often do I allow physical discomfort, inconvenient times, or just plain laziness to keep me both from the Lord’s table and from the writing work I feel He’s called me to do?
“This notion that grace is healing omits the fact that before it heals, it cuts with the sword Christ said he came to bring.” - Flannery O’Connor - The Habit of Being
During that 2022 visit to Andalusia Farm, I bought a little book called The Province of JOY - Praying with Flannery O’Connor. The title caught my eye because I’ve been intrigued for years with the dance partners of joy and suffering. In fact, they play a large part in a book project I’m working on, my spiritual journey through infertility.
I chuckled when I read the introduction, which begins with a quote from Flannery’s The Habit of Being. My daily prayers, thanks to my family’s practice of praying the Divine Office together many years ago, follow much the same pattern. This prayer practice too is woven throughout the words I’ve written in my book draft. Never did I think I’d recognize something in my daily life within Flannery’s.
I say Prime in the morning and sometimes I say Compline at night…I like parts of my prayers to stay the same and parts to change. So many prayer books are so awful, but if you stick to the liturgy, you are safe. (159-60)
After reading that, I dare you not to have a more discerning eye on most prayer books these days. ;)
In The Province of Joy, I was introduced to a traditional prayer to St. Raphael, Angel of Happy Meeting. This was reportedly one of Flannery’s favorite prayers that she prayed every day for years. She even painstakingly wrote it out and sent it to a friend just 3 weeks before she died. “She paraphrased what was, to her, the key line: ‘The prayer asks St. Raphael to guide us to the province of joy so that we may not be ignorant of the concerns of our true country’ (HB, 132).”
Flannery knew where her ultimate home was. She knew whose she was. She knew who had gifted her with her writing talents and who had called her to share those talents through her stories—even when they shocked others. And she knew who had the power to heal her and restore her to full health.
Even though Flannery’s healing didn’t come this side of heaven, and she was called home to the province of joy at the young age of 39, how grateful I am that she persevered in her faithfulness to write. Her words give us new eyes to see the perplexity of this valley of tears we walk, our own human sinfulness, and our need for God’s merciful grace. She is an eccentric, yes, but beautiful reminder that deep faith doesn’t detract from good writing, but rather seasons it like nothing else can.
Prayer to St. Raphael, Angel of Happy Meeting
O Raphael, lead us toward those we are waiting for, those who are waiting for us: Raphael, Angel of happy meeting, lead us by the hand toward those we are looking for. May all our movements be guided by your Light and transfigured by your joy.
Angel, guide of Tobias, lay the request we now address to you at the feet of Him on whose unveiled Face you are privileged to gaze. Lonely and tired, crushed by the separations and sorrows of life, we feel the need of calling you and of pleading for the protection of your wings, so that we may not be as strangers in the province of joy, all ignorant of the concerns of our country.
Remember the weak, you who are strong, you whose home lies beyond the region of thunder, in a land that is always peaceful, always serene and bright with the resplendent glory of God. Amen
If you’ve shied away from O’Connor’s fiction, consider spending some time reading her letters and essays. I promise you’ll laugh and shake your head in agreement more times than you might think. And then maybe, just maybe, you’ll be ready to give one of her fiction stories a try again.
Also, if you like travel memoirs, a delightful book, Finding Flannery, was released last year. It is written by Christina Brajkovich, Karen Anne Mahoney, and Roxane B. Salonen. Through the pages, they explore “the mystique of Flannery O’Connor and the legacy she has left us all.” After hearing an interview with Roxane B. Salonen in our Catholic writing community, PraiseWriters, I put the book on my “to buy” list and read it pretty quickly. It didn’t disappoint.
“What people don’t realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross. It is much harder to believe than not to believe. If you feel you can’t believe, you must at least do this: keep an open mind. Keep it open toward faith, keep wanting it, keep asking for it, and leave the rest to God.” - Flannery O’Connor - The Habit of Being
Thank you, Flannery, for all you left us and for the reminder for me today to not wait for the “perfect” circumstances and timing, but to walk in faith, take the next right step, and “leave the rest to God.” May your soul rest in peace.
I loved reading this piece! I didn’t know much about Flannery and you opened the door for me to her life and writing. I also loved learning about the St Raphael prayer — it’s one I’ll tuck away for the days I need it most.
The prayer to St Raphael really touched my heart this morning. As I read your post from my deck, I was gazing at the angelic-looking clouds overhead and spontaneously prayed this beautiful prayer. A perfect beginning to a new day! Thank you:-)