From St. Francis de Sales’ Introduction to the Devout Life
Translated by John K. Ryan, published by Image, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group,
Random House LLC, New York 1966
From the Editor: As we continue making our way through St. Francis’s seminal work, let us reflect and pray on those spiritual morsels that whet our appetites and draw us closer to our Savior and Brother, Jesus Christ, Whose meekness and humility of heart we are called to put into practice, but only with His help and His grace.
“’Learn of me,’ he says, ‘for I am meek and humble of heart.’ Humility perfects us with respect to God, and meekness with respect to our neighbor” (134).
“As I have already remarked, balm, which sinks deeper than any other liquid, symbolizes humility, while olive oil, which always rises to the top, symbolizes meekness and mildness, which rise above all things and stand out among the virtues as the flower of charity” (134-5).
“Take care, Philothea, that this mystical chrism compounded of meekness and humility is found within your heart” (135).
“[. . .] when humility and meekness are good and true they preserve us from the inflammation and swelling that injuries usually cause in our hearts” (135).
“This wretched life is only a journey to the happy life to come. We musty not be angry with one another on the way, but rather we must march on as a band of brothers and companions united in meekness, peace, and love. [. . .] ‘The anger of man does not work the justice of God’” (135).
“Constantly and courageously but meekly and peacefully we must resist evil and restrain the vices of those under our charge” (135).
“We do not set much value on correction that comes from passion, even though accompanied by reason, as to that which proceeds from reason alone” (136).
“It is better to attempt a way to live without anger than to pretend to make a moderate, discreet use of it. When we find ourselves surprised into anger through our own imperfections and frailty, it is better to drive it away quickly than to start a discussion with it” (136).
“I mean that when we find that we have been aroused to anger we must call for God’s help like the apostles when they were tossed about by the wind and storm on the waters. He will command your passions to cease and there will be great calm” (137).
“Moreover, as soon as you see that you are guilty of a wrathful deed, correct the fault right away by an act of meekness toward the person you were angry with. It is a sovereign remedy against lying to contradict the untruth upon the spot as soon as we see we have told one. So also we must repair our anger instantly by a contrary act of meekness. Fresh wounds are quickest healed, as
the saying goes” (137).
“Again, when your mind is tranquil and without any cause for anger, build up a stock of meekness and mildness. Speak all your words and do all your actions, whether little or great, in the mildest way you can” (137).
“We must not, [however], fret over our own imperfections. Although reason requires that we must be displeased and sorry whenever we commit a fault, we must refrain from bitter, gloomy, spiteful, and emotional displeasure” (138).
“[. . .] these fits of anger, vexation, and bitterness against ourselves tend to pride and they spring from no other source than self-love, which is disturbed and upset at seeing that it is imperfect. We must be sorry for our faults, but in a calm, settled, firm way” (138).
From the Editor: We must acknowledge our sins and failings, learn from them but not dwell on them and ultimately sink into discouragement or shame. We have been blessed with the ability to begin again, assured of His mercy and forgiveness…but even more, His eternal love.
“Believe me, Philothea, a father’s gentle. loving rebuke has far greater power to correct a child than rage and passion. So too when we have committed some fault if we rebuke our heart by a calm, mild remonstrance, with more compassion for it than passion against it and encourage it to make amendment, then repentance conceived in this way will sink far deeper and penetrate more effectually than fretful, angry, stormy repentance” (139).
“[When we stumble] [w]e must call on God’s mercy and hope that it will help us to be steadier in the days to come. Let us start out again on the way of humility. Let us be of good heart and from this day be more on guard. God will help us; we will do better” (139).
“[D]etest with all your powers the offense God has received from you and with great courage and confidence in his mercy return to the path of virtue you had forsaken” (140).
“A job done too eagerly and hurriedly is never well done” (141).
“Undertake all your affairs with a calm mind and try to dispatch them in order one after the other. If you make an effort to do them all at once or without order, your spirits will be so overcharged and depressed that they will likely sink under the burden without effecting anything. In all your affairs rely wholly on God’s providence through which alone you must look for success” (141).
“So too if you gather and handle the goods of this world with one hand, you must always hold fast with the other to your heavenly Father’s hand and turn toward him from time to time to see if your actions or occupations are pleasing to him [. . .] God will work with you, in you, and for you, and after your labor consolation will follow” (141-2).
