Rob Colquhoun

St Francis de Sales

 

Write a book review or summary for ‘an introduction to the devout life.’

 

            This book is a true masterpiece of mystical and devotional literature, instructing us how to make ‘a lovely, a pleasant and a happy life’ (I, I). Addressed to “Philothea” (she who would love God), the book is divided into 5 parts:

 

1. "Instructions and Exercises Needed to Lead the Soul from Its First Desire for the Devout Life Until Brought to a Full Resolution to Embrace It."
2. "Various Instructions for Elevating the Soul to God by Prayer and the Sacraments."
3. "Instructions on the Practice of Virtue."
4. "Necessary Counsels Against the Most Frequent Temptations."
5. "Exercises and Instructions for Renewing the Soul and Confirming It In Devotion."

 

One of the most striking parts of the book is that it encourages the universal call to holiness. This was especially innovative for the seventeenth century. St Francis writes, “My purpose is to instruct people living in towns, in families and at court… I am trying by means of this book some help to those who will take up this worthy task with a generous heart.” (Introduction, Preface). He considered it heretical that the army, workshop, court or home should be incompatible with devotion. He asked Pope Paul V to canonize Blessed Amadeus, the duke of Savoy, and was an advocate of saints among the laity. He urged his flock to belong to God in the midst of their busyness.

 

St Francis looks at the topic of genuine devotion. Devotion is perfect charity that is active, ready and diligent. True devotion is a “Spiritual sugar that takes away the bitterness of mortification” and “the queen of virtues, the crown of sweetness.” (I part, I-II chapter). Exhorting the faithful to seek a holy guide (I, IV), St Francis looks for the development of spiritual agility and vivacity. He states, “If you want to set out earnestly on the path of devotion, find some good person to guide and direct you. This is most important advice.” (I, IV). He even remarks that holiness is possible in all given circumstances even to the extent that it has been noted that Lot remained chaste in Sodom (I, III). True holiness could be gained by a hearty, vigorous contrition, detesting not only the sin but every affection, circumstance and inducement that tends toward it. (I, IX). By cleansing the heart from attachment to sin (I, VII), we learn the path to true devotion, which is like Jacob’s ladder (I, II).

 

St Francis recognises the varieties of devotion for different people. He insisted that a person must adapt his or her spiritual life to the particular demands in their state of life. He did not consider that it was suitable for a Bishop to live like a Carthusian monk, or people with a family to want to be like the Capuchins not acquiring any property (I, III). He believed that true devotion “does not spoil any sort of life situation or occupation, but on the contrary enriches it and makes it attractive” as it “makes the care of the family peaceful, the love of husband and wife more sincere, the service of the ruler more loyal and every sort of occupation more pleasant and loveable.” (I, III). St Francis provides a series of ten meditations that intend to motivate us to purify ourselves from sin and be resolved to be wholly committed to the virtuous life. He states “Our sins are shameful when we commit them, but when they area turned to confession and penitence they are a source of spiritual welfare and benefit.” (I, XIX). He loved to use a wide variety of similes and metaphors in order to diversify and enlighten his writing. In part I, XXII-XXIII we read many similes of animals and birds.

 

The second part of his great masterpiece concentrates on the importance of prayer. This takes us through meditations, retreats and sacraments to bring us into the presence of God. These are to be done with joy if they are to have any meaning at all. Prayer brings our mind into the brightness of divine light, and exposes our will to the warmth of divine love. (II, I), we must be enlightened and instructed by Jesus, by him and for him. In this way we gradually by his grace will learn to speak, act and will like him (II, I). St Francis recommends the prayer of mind and heart, based on the life and passion of our Lord. By looking at God often in meditation our whole being can be filled by God. We should never permit our hearts to remain long sullied by sin (II, XIX).

 

St Francis’ method of preparation for prayer was to place oneself in the presence of God and then to ask for his help (II,II). This helps us discover a lively and attentive awareness of the omnipresence of God. (II,II). With this in mind we also realise that God is especially present in our own hearts and the very centre of our spirits. He also advises imagination in order to enhance our prayers such as imagining our Saviour in his sacred humanity. God as our saviour in his humanity sees from heaven all the persons in the world. By acknowledging we are unworthy (II, III) we can adore him and serve him well in our times of adoration.  Our author also suggests the scene of a mystery as a basis for meditation. These methods of prayer are strongly linked and influenced by Ignatian spirituality.

 

St Francis looks carefully at meditation. Salesian spirituality is a vision of a world where the divine heart and human hearts meet. Human hearts are created to beat in rhythm with the heart of God. Meditation encourages this as it produces ‘good movements of the will.’ (II, VI). However, he quickly reminds us that good movements must be changed into deliberate decisions, precise and particular for correction and improvement. (II, VI). If we were not to practice the virtues we meditate our minds and emotions might swell with pride (II, VIII). Good movements of the will are the desire of heaven and eternal glory, zeal for the salvation of others, compassion, admiration, joy and confidence in the goodness and mercy of God. Meditations should finish by an act of thanksgiving, oblation and a petition to implore him to give us the graces and virtues of his Son. (II, VII). St Francis calls Philothea to recollect again and again in the solitude of the heart where separated from everyone, you can speak to God heart to heart about yourself. (II, XII).

 

Most interestingly, the exercise of meditation can be interwoven throughout the day, by ejaculatory prayers. These prayers do not necessarily need words, as those who love God cannot stop thinking of him, longing for him and speaking of him. This is because, “They would engrave, if it were possible, the holy and sacred name of Jesus on the breast of every person in the world.” (II, XIII). St Francis believed that these ejaculatory prayers are one of the most important practices of devotion.

 

In the third part of his work of genius the rules for the practice of virtue are considered. Charity that is benevolent, liberal, prudent and kind is the centrepiece in the deliberation of such virtue. Containing a vast array of practical wisdom for different circumstances, this section considers virtues such as humility, diligence, patience and chastity. God does see rank or position as important because “The glorious King does not reward his servants according to the dignity of their office.” (III, II). Such positions can be considered a hindrance to the workings of grace as “before we can receive the grace of God into our hearts they must be thoroughly empty of all self glory.” (III, IV). Most prudently, when St Francis speaks of humility and meekness he recommends that we never cast down our eyes without humbling our heart, and not to pretend to be among the last unless we really desire so in our hearts. Being a gentle Saint, he never wanted any of his readers to give way to anger. (III, VIII). Even when our hearts fall we must raise them gently, humbling ourselves greatly before God. (III, IX).

 

Although he recognised that it is charity that places us in perfection, there are three pathways on this journey. Obedience is to consecrate our hearts, chastity consecrates the body and poverty consecrates our worldliness to the love and service of God. (III, XI). But among these chastity is the lily of the virtues (III, XII), because it leads to integrity and places men almost equal to angels. Using decorative terminology, he reminds us that St Jerome mentions how Satan urges virgin souls to long for carnal pleasures just like a moth beholding a flame hovers curiously around it. He compared impure friendships to Heraclitan honey and urged propriety in dress to facilitate virtue. St Francis provides further advice to the widowed, unmarried and married, especially recommending that it is a poor fraud to offer a worn, troubled heart, instead of one that is pure and intact. (III, XLI).

 

Our holy author knew full well that when men resolved to live a more holy life, others would launch forth in fervour in slander and protest. In seeing the world as an unjust judge, he recommends that such hypocrisy, affectation and raillery one might receive is only idle gossip from those who do not care about you. (IV, I). He knew full well that wherever we may be, we can and should aspire to a perfect life. This requires patience, especially with oneself, as “Just as a shrub that is often transplanted cannot take root and as a result cannot come to maturity and yield the desired fruit, so that soul which transplants its heart from plan to plan cannot profit or gain proper growth in perfection, since perfection does not consist in beginnings but in accomplishments.” He observed that the general rule concerning the passions and emotions of our soul is that we should know them by their fruits. (IV, XIII). In another delightful analogy, he tells us that bees detest all artificial scents, and the sweetness of the Holy Spirit cannot be combined with the deceitful pleasures of the world. (IV, XIV). He wanted all readers to take an annual spiritual examination, and to have counsels and exercises for renewing souls. Above all his writing is infused with a healthy realism that recognises human weakness but does not limit the concept of perfection. He remembers the need for love of neighbour, and the relationship between love of God and love of neighbour. He wanted all to be joyful and to strive to overcome all melancholy feelings and all sadness, and to try to live in peace.

 

The introduction to the devout life is a great personal synthesis of combining holiness with shrewd psychological insight through the capacity to impart spiritual teaching creatively. The book was the fruit of an apostolate of spiritual direction on behalf of devout lay women. St Francis was declared a doctor of the Church in 1877 in recognition for his service to the Church and the way he humanised the idea of absolute Christian commitment. He describes with exquisite detail the essence of devotion: a spiritual alertness to respond to what love requires of us. He fully recognised the need to abandon oneself to divine providence by noting that there was no need for castles in Spain when one has to go on living in a house in France. Overall the work is an invitation to soar on high to God frequently, readily and to cooperate with charity promptly and wholeheartedly. The book has a wonderful ability to stir the hearts of its readers with such clarity of thought and imaginative expressions. May it continue to be never out of print.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

St Francis de Sales (intro by John Reville), Introduction to the Devout life, Tan Books, Illanois, 1994

St Francis de Sales (introduced and edited by J. Power), Finding God wherever you are, New City Press, NY, 1996.

Francis de Sales /Jane de Chantal, Letters of Spiritual direction, Paulist Press, New York, 1988.

St Francis de Sales (ed. Charles Dollen), Introduction to the devout life, Alba House, New York, 1992.

Louise Stackpoole Kenny, St Francis de Sales, A biography of the Gentle Saint, Tan Books, Illanois, 2002.

St Francis de Sales, Treatise on the Love of God., Tan Books, Illanois, 1997.

All Class notes and articles.