A gentle man of joyful spirit, Brother Lawrence shunned attention and
the limelight, knowing that outside distraction "spoils all".  It was not
until after his death that a few of his letters were collected.  Joseph
de Beaufort, representative and counsel to the local archbishop,
first published the letters in a small pamphlet.  The following year,
in a second publication which he titled, 'The Practice of the Presence
of God', de Beaufort included, as introductory material, the content of
four conversations he had with Brother Lawrence. 

In this small book, through letters and conversations, Brother Lawrence
simply and beautifully explains how to continually walk with God -
not from the head but from the heart.  Brother Lawrence left the gift
of a way of life available to anyone who seeks to know God's peace and
presence; that anyone, regardless of age or circumstance, can practice
-anywhere, anytime.  Brother Lawrence also left the gift of a direct
approach to living in God's presence that is as practical today as it
was three hundred years ago. 

Brother Lawrence died in 1691, having practiced God's presence for over
forty years.  His quiet death was much like his monastic life where each