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
“Humbly accept whatever is given to you and put up meekly with refusals” (157).
“Among the passions of the soul love holds first place. It reigns as king of all movements of the hearts. It turns all other things towards itself and causes us to be like what we love. Hence, Philothea, you must be on guard against having any evil love, for thus you would soon become completely evil yourself” (157).
“Love everyone with a deep love based on charity, Philothea, but form friendships only with those who can share virtuous things with you. The higher the virtues you share and exchange with others, the more perfect your friendship will be” (162).
“For those who live in the world and desire to embrace true virtue it is necessary to unite together in holy, sacred friendship. By this means they encourage, assist, and lead one another to perform good deeds” (163).
“Hence perfection consists not only in having no friendships, but in having only those which are good, holy, and sacred” (165).
“Worldly friendship generally produces a great profusion of honeyed words, little coaxing, passionate phrases, and praise of beauty, grace, and other bodily qualities. Sacred friendship uses plain, sincere language and praises nothing but virtue and God’s grace, the only foundation on which such friendship rests” (165).
“What kinds of remedies are we to take against this brood and swarm of fond loves, wanton acts, and impure deeds? As soon as you are aware of their first approach, turn right away. In absolute detestation of such vain things, run to your Savior’s cross, take up his crown of thorns, and press it around your heart, so that the little foxes cannot get near to it” (167).
“When the divine Spouse invites the soul, he says, ‘Put me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm.’ Yes, for whoever has Jesus Christ in his heart will soon have him in all his outward ways. For this reason, dear Philothea, I have wished above all else to engrave and inscribe on your heart this holy and sacred motto, ‘Live, Jesus!’” (172).
“If you can stand fasting, you will do well to fast on certain days in addition to those prescribed by the Church. Besides the usual effects of fasting, namely, elevating our spirits, keeping the body in subjection, practicing virtue, and gaining reward in heaven, it is valuable for restraining gluttony and keeping our sensual appetites and body subject to the law of the spirit” (173).
“We are very much exposed to temptation both when our bodies are too pampered and when too run down, for the one makes the body demanding in its softened state and the other desperate with affliction” (173).
“Steady, moderate sobriety is preferable to periods of violent abstinence, interspersed with periods of great self-indulgence” (174).
“We must love our neighbor as ourselves, and to show that we love him we must not shun his company, and to show that we love ourselves we must dwell within ourselves” (176).
“Besides the mental solitude to which you may retreat even in the midst of highest society, as I have already observed, you must also love real, physical solitude. […] You should remain for some time alone with yourself in your room, garden or some other place. There you will have leisure to withdraw your spirit into your heart and refresh your soul with pious meditations, holy thoughts, or a little spiritual reading after the example of the great bishop of Nazianzus” (178).
“To a certain extent outward neatness represents inward cleanliness. God himself requires bodily cleanliness. God himself requires bodily cleanliness in those who come near the altar and have the principal charge of devotions” (179).
“If you are truly in love with God, Philothea, you will speak often of God in familiar conversation with your servants, friends, and neighbors. […] Always speak of God as of God, that is, reverently and devoutly, not with outward show or affectation but in a spirit of meekness, charity, and humility” (181).
“Just as bodily poison enters through the mouth, so what poisons the heart gets in through the ear and the tongue that utters it is a murderer” (182).
“Nothing is so opposed to charity, and much more to devotion, than to despise and condemn one’s neighbor. Derision and mockery are always accompanied by scoffing, and it is therefore a very great sin” (183).
“(…) [E]very man has enough on which he ought to judge himself without taking it upon him to judge his neighbor. To avoid future judgment it is equally necessary both to refrain from judging others and to judge ourselves” (184).
