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De Sales Introduction to Devout Life 1885

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De Sales Introduction to Devout Life 1885 This is a reproduction of a library book that was digitized by Google as part of an ongoing effort to preserve the information in books and make it universally accessible. https://books.google.com 6000097794 AN INTRODUCTION THE DEYOUT LIFE BY ST. FRANCIS DE SALES 'gebu fibilton CAREFULLY REVISED AND COMPARED WITH THE LATEST FRENCH EDITION DUBLIN M. H. GILL AND SON SO UPPER SACKVILLE STREET i88S /U-OL /. <?. gti&H ©bstat: P. J. TYNAN, S. T. D. Imprimatw : ji EDUABDUS CARD. MAO OABE Archibpiscopus Dublinensis, HlBKBNIJE PRIMAS. DEDICATORY PRAYER. O Sweet Jesus, my Lord, my Saviour, and my God, behold me here prostrate before thy majesty, devoting and consecrating this book to thy glory ; give life to its words by thy blessing, that those souls for which I have written it, may receive from it the sacred inspirations which I desire for them. And particularly that of imploring for me thy im mense mercy ; to the end that, whilst showing others the way of devotion in this world, I may not myself be eternally rejected and confounded in the other ; but that, with them, I may for ever sing, as a canticle of triumph, the words which, with my whole heart I pronounce, in testimony of my fidelity amidst the dangers of this mortal life : Live Jesus, live Jesus ; yea, Lord Jesus, live and reign in our hearts for ever and ever. Amen. PREFACE St. Jfianns iie Sales. Dear reader, I pray you to read this Preface for your satisfaction and for mine. The bouquet-maker, Glycera, was so skilful in diversifying the arrangement and mixture of the flowers which she used, that with the same flowers she made a great variety of bouquets: so much so that the painter, Pansias, failed when he endea • voured to copy so great a diversity, for he could not change his painting so many ways as Glycera did her bouquets. Thus the Holy Ghost disposes an I arranges with such variety the instructions regarding devotion which He gives by the tongues vi Preface of St. Francis de Sales. and pens of his servants, that, although the doc trine is always one and the same, the discourses which are held on it are, nevertheless, very differ ent, according to the various methods in which they are composed. I certainly cannot, neither do I wish, nor ought I to write in this Introduction 'but what has been written by our predecessors on this subject. They are the same flowers which I present to you, my reader; but the bouquet which I have formed from them will be different from theirs, on account of the difference of the method of making it. Almost all those who have hitherto treated of devotion have had the instruction of persons wholly retired from the world in view, or have taught a kind of devotion leading to this absolute retire ment : whereas my intention is to instruct such as live in towns, in households, or in courts, and who, by their condition, are obliged to lead, as to the exterior, an ordinary life, and who frequently, under the pretext of a pretended impossibility, will not even think of undertaking a decout life, believing, that as no animal dares to taste the seed of the herb called Palma Christi, so no man ought to aspire to the palm of Christian piety so long as he lives in the turmoil of worldly affairs. Now, Preface of St. Francis de Sales. vii to such persons I shall make it appear that, as the mother-of-pearl oyster lives in the sea without taking in a drop of salt-water; and as, near the Chelidonian islands, springs of fresh water may be found in the midst of the sea ; and as the fire fly moves through the flames without singeing its wings; even so, a vigorous and resolute soul may live in the world without being infected by any of its contaminations, may discover sweet springs of piety amidst its bitter waters, and may fly through the flames of earthly concupiscences without burn ing the wings of the holy desires of a devout life. This, it is true, is a difficult task, and therefore I could wish that many would endeavour to accom plish it with more ardour than has been hitherto used ; and I, weak as I am, shall endeavour by this treatise to contribute some kind of help to those who, with a generous heart, undertake so worthy an enterprise. Yet it was neither by my own choice nor incli nation that this Introduction now appears in pub lic. A truly honourable and virtuous soul, having some time since received of God the grace of as piring to a devout life, desired my particular assistance for that purpose ; and I, being in many ways obliged to her, and having long before dis Tiii Preface of St. Francis de Sales. covered in her a •warm disposition for this design, and, having conducted her through all the ex ercises suitable to her desires and condition, I left her certain instructions, in writing, to make use of, and she afterwards communicated those to a great, learned, and devout religious man ; who, believing that many might profit from their perusal, ear nestly requested me to publish them. I readily acquiesced, from a conviction that his judgment was superior to mine, and because his friendship had great power over my will. Now that the whole may be more profitable and agreeable, I have revised and arranged it into a kind of method, adding several advices and in structions which appeared suited to my intention. But all this. I have done, having scarcely any lei sure ; for which reason you will find nothing in this treatise exact or in order, but only a heap of good admonitions, delivered in plain and intelli gible words, without my having bestowed as much as a thought on the ornaments of language, hav ing business of more consequence on my hands. I address my discourse to Philothea, because, desiring to reduce what I at first had written for one only, to the common advantage of many souls, I make use of a name applicable to all such as Preface of St. Francis de Sales. ix. aspire to devotion ; for the Greek word, Philotheu,. signifies a soul loving, or in love with, God. Re garding, then, throughout this work, a soul which ,. by the desire of devotion, aspires to the love of God, I have divided it into five parts. In the first, I endeavour, by remonstrances and exercises, to- convert the simple desire of Philothea into an ab solute resolution, which she at last makes, by a firm protestation, after her general confession, followed by the most Holy Communion ; in whichv giving herself up to her Saviour, she happily enters into his holy love. Then, in the second part, I try to lead her farther on ; I show her the two great means whereby she may unite herself more and more to his Divine Majesty, viz., the use of the sacraments, whereby God comes to us, and. holy prayer, hy which He attracts us to Himself In the third, I show her how she ought to exercise herself in the virtues most proper for her advance ment ; not stopping, except at some particular advices, which she could hardly have received elsewhere, or discovered herself. In the fourth part, I expose some of the ambushes of her enemies to her view, showing her how she may escape them, and proceed forward in her laudable under taking. In the fifth, and last, I make her retire a. 3 Preface of St. Francis de Sales. little to refresh herself, recover breath, and repair her strength, that she may afterwards more hap pily gain ground, and advance in a devout life. In this capricious age I foresee that many will say : " It belongs only to religious to give par ticular directions concerning piety, since they have more leisure than a bishop can have, who is charged with a diocese so heavy as mine is ; that such an undertaking too much distracts the un derstanding, which should be employed in affairs of importance." But I say to thee, dear reader, with the great St. Denis, that it belongs princi pally to bishops to conduct souls to perfection, •since their order is as supreme among men as that of the seraphim is among the angels ; so that their leisure cannot be better employed. The ancient bishops and fathers of the Church, it must be granted, were at least as careful of their charge as we are ; yet they did not decline to superintend the particular conduct of several souls who had recourse to their assistance, as appears by their epistles ; in this they imitated the apostles, who, amidst the general harvest of the world, picked up certain remarkable ears of corn with a special and particular affection. Who is ignorant that Timothy, Titus. Philemon, Onesimus, St. Thecla, Preface of St. Francis de Sales. xi .and Appia, were the dear pupils of the great St. w Paul ; as St. Mark and St. Petronilla were of St. Peter? — St. Petronilla, I say, who, as Baronius and Galonius learnedly prove, was not St. Peter's real, but only his spiritual daughter. And does not St. John write one of his canonical epistles to the devout Lady Electa ? It is painful, I confess, to direct souls in par ticular ; but it is a pain that gives comfort, like that which i9 felt by the labourers in the harvest and vintage ; who are never better pleased than when they have most to do, and when their burdens are the heaviest.
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