Christian Tradition rightly calls this prayer (Jn. 17) the priestly prayer of Jesus. It is the prayer of our high priest, inseparable from his sacrifice, from his passing over to the Father to whom he is wholly "consecrated."

In this Paschal and sacrificial prayer, everything is recapitulated in Christ: God and the world; the Word and the flesh; eternal life and time; the love that hands itself over and the sin that betrays it; the disciples present and those who will believe in him by their word; humiliation and glory. It is the prayer of unity. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2747-2748)

The Church looks with admiration and gratitude upon the many consecrated persons who, by caring for the sick and suffering, contribute in a significant way to her mission. They carry on the ministry of mercy of Christ, who "went about doing good and healing all" Acts. 10:38. In the footsteps of the Divine Samaritan, physician of souls and bodies, and following the example of their respective founders and foundresses, those consecrated persons committed to this ministry by the charism of their Institute should persevere in their witness of love towards the sick, devoting themselves to them with profound understanding and compassion. They should give a special place in their ministry to the poorest and most abandoned of the sick, such as elderly, and those who are handicapped, marginalized, or terminally ill, and to the victims of drug abuse and the new contagious diseases. Consecrated persons should encourage the sick themselves to offer their sufferings in communion with Christ, crucified and glorified for the salvation of all. Indeed they should strengthen in the sick the awareness of being able to carry out a pastoral ministry of their own through the specific charism of the Cross, by means of their prayer and their testimony in word and deed. (Vita Consecrata  83: 2).

Francis had begun to study theology. The question of predestination was a topic of heated discussion at the University of Paris. It was fuelled by the Calvinists' assertion that God "orders some to eternal life and others to eternal damnation." Theologians dragged in the authority of St. Augustine and St. Thomas to support their theses. Heated arguments took place. These theological discussions made Francis ask: "Am 1 among the predestined or damned?" We have already noted how he had inherited an inclination to anxiety from his premature birth.

Two more factors in the autumn of 1584 added fuel to the fire. The Benedictine Gilbert Genebrard had given a scholarly and at the same time profoundly mystical interpretation to the Song of Songs. Francis liked it immensely. From that time he thought of spiritual life as a life of intense love. It was extremely painful for him to think of the loss of love in hell, a place bereft of the love of God. The Sodality Manual he had, graphically described the deprivations of hell which deeply impressed him. All these caused him anxiety, anguish, and despair.

Francis had experienced love, consolation and delight in prayer. Now, he began to experience anxiety, dryness and despair. What disturbed him most was the inability of the damned to love God. Francis' love for God was not yet entirely pure, selfless. There was nothing unusual in it. He was still a teenager, a college student. Francis sought a certain security in his love for God - he wished to be sure that he would eternally love God. Total surrender to God in love was yet to reach its perfection in him.

From December 1586, the temptation to despair became unbearable. Francis lost sleep. He could not eat. He felt himself damned forever. Despair constantly pricked him. "Save me, O God," he prayed night and day, "because the waters have entered my soul." The sweet ness and love he had experienced earlier in prayer and his intense desire to love God as is evident from his notes and prayers, made him suffer all the more: "Wretched that I am, would L then, be deprived of the grace of Him who made me taste so sweetly His loving kindness, who showed Himself so lovable to me? O Love! O Charity! O Beauty in which I placed all my affections! Alas, I will never more enjoy these delights ... you will never more allow me to drink from the torrents of your delights ... O Virgin most beautiful among the daughters of Jerusalem, shall I never see you in the kingdom of your Son? ... Shall I never enjoy the blessings of your salvation? ... Whatever it be, Lord, at least let me love you in this life if I am unable to love you in the eternal." Francis wrote these lines in December 1586. The temptation became more intense. It affected even his physical health. No solution was in sight.

In January 1587, while returning from the college, Francis, as usual, entered the church of the Dominicans, St Etienne des Ores. He went straight to the chapel of the Black Madonna and made a heroic act of total surrender: "Lord, your judgments are unfathomably deep. Even if you have decided in the eternal decree of your predestination and condemnation that I am not allowed to love you in the eternal life, I shall love you, Lord, at least in this life ... If my misdeeds deserve that I must be cursed among the cursed who will never see your gentle face, grant me, at least, that I am not among those who curse your holy name."

Francis then picked up a card with the prayer Memorare which he found there and recited it. The temptation ceased instantly. He was completely healed. Francis achieved great spiritual progress. His surrender was perfect. His love for God became pure, entirely selfless. He became indifferent, in the right sense, to the judgments of God: why should he probe the unfathomable mystery of God's judgments? He made great progress in prayer and began to occasionally enjoy deeper forms of prayer like the prayer of quiet. His faith, hope and confidence grew stronger. We find echoes of his spiritual progress in his writings (Formative Biography, pp.36-40).

The letter from the Bishops of Savoy has not reached ... I have to find reasons for solving the objections raised by His Eminence ... I reviewed the steps already taken. I am afraid I lacked prudence. Everything turned against me; those who seemed interested in me now appear indifferent ... I tried to make my sacrifice thinking that it was the will of God, the obstacles are not a bad sign. But soon other thoughts arose in my mind reproaching of my negligence, my defects, my lack of mortification, my ignorance, my rudeness... It seemed to me that God should treat me like this because of my pride...! prayed...(From his personal Diary)