Maxims and Counsels
OF
ST. FRANCIS DE SALES
For Every Day of the Year.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY
MISS ELLA McMAHON
Second Edition.
DUBLIN
M. H. GILL & SON
50 UPPER SACKVILLE STREET
1884
Imprimatur:
JOHN, CARDINAL McCLOSKEY,
Archbishop of New York.
September 4, 1882.
Re-imprimatur:
✠ EDUARDUS CARD. MAC CABE,
Archiepiscopus Dublinensis, Hiberniæ Primas.
INTRODUCTION.
Pious Soul:
The Spiritual Father who presents himself to you under this title is the gentle Bishop of Geneva, who, in the opinion of St. Jane Chantal and St. Vincent de Paul, was the most perfect imitation of our Saviour living among men.
Love for souls is his great passion. He is not astonished at either falls or discouragement, which he cures by remedies as gentle as they are efficacious. Whatever your disposition you will find sometimes a word of consolation, sometimes a counsel of perfection, or a means of accomplishing a difficult step in the ways of God, and of elevating yourself to Him.
This collection is like the inner life of the Saint unconsciously written by himself. He first practised, and then taught. One is gentle from motives of virtue, only when he possesses moral strength; now we find in these lines the secret of that strength which made St. Francis de Sales the gentlest of men. He admirably inculcates the method of sanctity which he perfectly possessed—a sanctity which seems so easy to realise that we feel a desire to reproduce it. It is the flower which the Spiritual Father causes to bloom in your soul. It will soon bear fruit if you are faithful.
These counsels have been carefully gleaned from the complete collection of the holy Doctor.
MAXIMS AND COUNSELS
OF
ST. FRANCIS DE SALES
For Every Day of the Year.
1.
Keep yourself faithfully in the presence of God; avoid hurry and anxiety, for there are no greater obstacles to our progress in perfection.
2.
Cast your heart gently, not violently, into the wounds of our Saviour; have an unlimited confidence in his mercy and goodness.
3.
To make good progress we must devote ourselves to getting over that portion of the path which lies close before us, and not amuse ourselves with the desire to attain the last step before we have accomplished the first.
4.
We must make our imperfections die with us from day to day. Dear imperfections, which cause us to recognise our misery, which exercise us in contempt of self, and the practice of virtue, and notwithstanding which God accepts the preparation of our hearts which is perfect.
5.
I recommend simplicity to you; look before you, and not at the dangers which you behold in the distance. Keep your will firmly bent upon serving God with your whole heart. While you are thus occupied in forecasting the future you expose yourself to some false step.
6.
Have no care for the morrow; think only of doing well to-day, and when to-morrow shall have become to-day then we shall think about it.
7.
We must make a provision of manna for each day only; and let us not be afraid that God will fail to send down more upon us to-morrow and the day after to-morrow, and every day of our pilgrimage.
8.
Since the Heart of our Lord has no more loving law than meekness, humility, and charity we must firmly maintain these dear virtues in us.
9.
True sanctity lies in love of God, and not in foolish imaginings, raptures, &c. Let us devote ourselves to the practice of true meekness and submission, to renouncement of self, to docility of heart, to love of abjection, to consideration for the wishes of others: this is true sanctity and the most amiable ecstasy of the children of God.
10.
May you belong to God for ever in this mortal life, serving Him faithfully through its trials, bearing the cross after Him, and may you be his for ever in life eternal with the whole celestial court!
11.
The great good of our souls is to live for God, and the greatest good to live for God alone.
12.
He who lives but for God is never sad, save at having offended God.
13.
He who lives but for God seeks only God, and since God is with him in adversity as well as in prosperity, he dwells in peace in the midst of tribulation.
14.
He who lives but for God frequently thinks of Him during all the occupations of life.
15.
Then let us belong wholly to Him, and live but for Him, desiring only to please Him, and for his creatures in Him, through Him, and for Him.
16.
Make your little efforts sweetly, peacefully, and amiably to please this Sovereign Goodness, and do not be astonished at difficulties.
17.
We must be constant in aspiring to the perfection of holy love, in order that love may be perfect; for the love which seeks anything less than perfection cannot fail to be imperfect.
18.
Never permit your soul to be sad and live in bitterness of spirit or scrupulous fear, since He who loved it and died to give it life is so good, so sweet, so amiable.
19.
To live contentedly in our exile, we must keep before our eyes the hope of our arrival in the country where we shall live for ever.
20.
God, who calls us to Him, sees how we are approaching, and will never permit anything to happen but what is for our greater good.
21.
God knows what we are, and will hold out his paternal hand to us in a difficult step, in order that nothing may arrest us.
22.
Never look forward to the accidents of life with apprehension; anticipate them with a perfect hope that God, whose child you are, will deliver you from them, according as they come.
23.
God has preserved you so far; only keep yourself faithful to the law of his providence and He will assist you at all times, and where you cannot walk He will carry you.
24.
Do not think of what may happen to-morrow, for the same eternal Father who cares for you to-day will care for you to-morrow and always; either He will not send you trouble, or, if He does, He will give you invincible courage to bear it.
25.
The child can never perish who remains in the arms of a Father who is almighty.
26.
If God does not always give us what we ask, it is to keep us near Him and give us an opportunity to urge and constrain Him by a loving violence.
27.
Behold this great Artisan of mercy. He converts our miseries into graces and the poison of our iniquities into salutary remedies for our souls. Tell me, I pray, what will He not do with the afflictions, the labours, the persecutions which assail us?
28.
An over-sensitive mind can neither receive nor endure anything without telling of it, and it is always a little astonished at the lowly places which humility and simplicity choose.
29.
I see you with your vigorous heart which loves and wills powerfully. I like it, for what are those half-dead hearts good for? We must make a particular exercise once every week of willing to love the will of God more tenderly, more affectionately than anything in the world, and that, too, not only in bearable but in the most unbearable events.
30.
Even at a time when you had not so much confidence in God, did you perish in affliction? Then why have you not courage to meet all other trials?
31.
Plant in your heart Jesus Christ Crucified, and all the crosses of this world will seem to you like roses.
32.
We must not only be willing that God should strike us, but we must accept that He shall strike us where He wills.
33.
Lord Jesus, without reserve, without an if, without a but, without exception, without limitation, may thy holy will be done in all things, at all times.
34.
Daily strengthen yourself more and more in the resolution, which you formed with so much affection: of serving God according to his good pleasure.
35.
Never think you have attained the purity of heart which you owe to God until your will is freely and joyfully resigned to his holy will in all things, even in the most repugnant.
36.
Regard not the appearance of the things you are to do, but Him who commands them, and who, when He pleases, can accomplish his glory and our perfection through the most imperfect and trifling things.
37.
A true servant of God has no care for the morrow; he performs faithfully what is required of him to-day, and to-morrow he will do what is required of him without a word.
38.
So, no matter how God treats you, it is all the same to you, you tell me.... Ah! how suddenly self-love insinuates itself into our affections, however devout they may appear.
39.
Here is the great lesson: We must discover God’s will, and, recognising it, we must endeavour to do it joyfully, or at least courageously.
40.
The meek Saviour would have us meek, so that, though surrounded by the world and the flesh, we may live by the Spirit; that, amidst the vanities of earth, we may live in heaven; that, living among men, we may praise Him with the angels.
41.
The sight alone of our dear Jesus crucified can speedily soften all sorrows, which are but flowers compared with his thorns. And then our great rendezvous is an eternal heaven; and compared with the price of eternity, what are the things which end with time?
42.
Continue to unite yourself more and more with our Lord. Plunge your heart into the charity of his, and say always with your whole soul: “May I die and may Jesus live!” Our death will be a happy one if we have died daily.
43.
The repugnance you feel testifies no want of love; for it seems to me that, if we believed that being flayed God would love us more we would flay ourselves, not without repugnance, but in spite of the repugnance.
44.
Cultivate not only a solid love, but a tender, gentle, meek love for those about you; I have learned from experience that infirmities destroy, not our charity, but our meekness towards our neighbour, if we are not strongly on our guard.
45.
Lord Jesus, what true happiness for a soul consecrated to God to be strongly exercised in tribulation before leaving this life!
46.
How can we know frank, ardent love but in the midst of thorns, crosses, weariness, above all, when this weariness is prolonged?
47.
Nothing can give us deeper peace in this world than to frequently contemplate our Lord in all the afflictions He endured from his birth to his death: contempt, calumnies, poverty, abjection, weariness, suffering, nakedness, wrongs, and grief of every kind.
48.
A heart which esteems and grandly loves Jesus crucified, loves his death, his sufferings, his insults, his poverty, his hunger, his thirst; and when Jesus grants this heart a small share in them, it is jubilant with gladness and lovingly embraces them.
49.
Every day, not in prayer, but in your walks, you should recall to mind our Lord amid the thorns of our redemption, and consider what happiness it would be to share them.
50.
Let us faithfully cultivate that resignation and pure love of God which is never wholly practised but amid sufferings; for to love God, when He feeds us with sweetness is nothing more than children do; but to love Him when He feeds us with gall is to offer Him the cup of our loving fidelity.
51.
I recommend you to God, that you may obtain the gift of holy patience; and it is not in my power to propose to Him anything for you, save that He may, according to his holy will, fashion your heart for his dwelling, and reign there eternally; and whether He fashion it with the brush, the hammer, or the chisel, must be according to his good pleasure.
52.
The heart which unites itself to the Heart of God cannot help loving and accepting with sweetness the arrows with which God pierces it.
53.
I desire that your cross and mine should be wholly the cross of Jesus Christ; and as to the imposition of this or that burden, or making any choice, God knows what He is doing and why He does it—it is certainly for our good.
54.
Our sweet Saviour is pleased that we should speak to Him of the trouble He sends us, and that we should complain, provided it be lovingly and humbly, and to Himself, just as little children do when their mother has punished them.
55.
God wishes that, like Job, I should serve Him in the midst of dryness, suffering, and temptation; like St. Paul, that I should serve Him according to his desire. You will see that one day He will do all and even more than you can desire.
56.
I praise God for the constancy with which you bear tribulations. Nevertheless I still see in you a little over-eagerness and restlessness which form an obstacle to the final effect of your patience.
57.
The effect of patience is to possess one’s soul, and, in proportion to our patience do we acquire complete and perfect possession of our soul.
58.
We must lose everything rather than courage, confidence, and good-will.
59.
Would to God that we paid little attention to the condition of the road which alarms us, but kept our eyes steadily fixed upon Him who guides us, and the happy end to which He leads us.
60.
When you have meditated upon the grievous anguish which our Master endured in the Garden, and in union with Him prayed to the Father for consolation, if it does not please Him to send it, think no more of it, but brace your courage to work out your salvation on the cross, as if you were never to descend therefrom, and as if you were never to see the atmosphere of your life clear and serene.
61.
For the honour of God yield completely to his will, and do not think that you can serve Him better another way, for we serve Him well only when we serve Him as He wills.
62.
We are always wishing for this or that, and though we have our sweet Jesus in our breasts, we are not content. Yet it is all we can desire. One thing alone is necessary, and that is, to be near Him.
63.
Train yourself to serve our Lord with a strong and fervent gentleness: it is the true way of serving Him.
64.
Frequently kiss in your heart the crosses which our Lord Himself has placed in your arms. Heed not whether they are of perfumed or precious wood: they are more truly crosses when they are of coarse, heavy, ordinary wood.
65.
This sweet love of our hearts casts us down only to raise us up. He lurks and hides, peeping through the lattice, to see the expression of our countenance.
66.
Keep Jesus closely in your arms, for it is thus the Spouse holds Him as a bouquet of myrrh, that is of bitterness: but He is not bitter; He only allows us to be bitter to ourselves.
67.
Being a good servant of God is not always having consolation and sweetness, nor being always free from aversion and repugnance to good.
68.
To be a good servant of God is to be charitable to our neighbour, maintaining in the superior will an invincible resolution to do God’s will: to possess great humility and simplicity in confiding one’s self to God; to rise as frequently as one falls; to inure one’s self to humiliations, and to tranquilly bear with others and their defects.
69.
Frequently behold our Lord who looks down upon you, poor little creature that you are, and sees you in the midst of your labours and distractions.
70.
Frequently raise your heart to God, ask his help, and let the foundation of your consolation be the happiness of belonging to Him.
71.
Let us raise up our hearts, and behold that of God all goodness, all love, all love for us! Let us adore and bless his will in all things, let Him prune, let Him cut where He will, for we are eternally his.
72.
Let us place ourselves before our Crucified Sun, as the weary bee basks in the rays of the sun, and then let us say to Him: “O beautiful Sun of hearts, Thou dost vivify all by the rays of thy goodness; behold us exhausted before thee, whence we will not move, Lord Jesus, until Thy fire hath revived us!”
73.
Let us not forget the maxim of the saints, which warns us that every day we must feel that we begin our perfection; and if we bear this well in mind we will not be astonished at the miseries we find in ourselves. The work is never done, it must be always recommenced; and recommenced with a good heart.
74.
What we are about to commence will be better than what we have done, and when we shall have accomplished that, we will recommence something else which shall be still better, and then something else, until we leave this world to begin another life, which will have no end, for nothing, nothing better can come to us.
75.
See, then, whether one should weep when he finds trouble in his soul, and whether he ought not courageously to push on ever further, since he must never pause, and whether he ought not to have the resolution to prune, since we must use the knife, even to the division of soul and mind.
76.
Why do you weep, O woman? No, you must no longer be a woman, you must have the heart of a man. But courage! take heart! we have our sweet Jesus with us.
77.
The love of God does not consist in consolations, otherwise our Lord would not have loved his Father when He was sorrowful unto death, and when He cried, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” This was the greatest act of love which it is possible to imagine.
78.
Our imperfections should not please us, but they should not take away our courage. God does not like our imperfections and venial sins, but He loves us in spite of them.
79.
Live joyfully; our Lord looks down upon you, and looks upon you with love, and with a tenderness proportioned to your foolishness.
80.
Turn your eyes from yourself, and direct them towards God with an humble courage to speak to Him of his ineffable goodness in loving our poor human nature, in spite of its infirmities.
81.
Our enemy is a great bawler; be in no way troubled about him, for he cannot hurt you; despise him, and pay no attention to him. He made as much noise and thundered as loudly about the saints; but behold! they are lodged in the place which the miserable creature lost.
82.
Fear not; you are walking upon the sea, amid the winds and the waves, but it is with Jesus. If fear seizes you, cry loudly, “Lord, save me!” He will stretch forth his hand to you; clasp it firmly and go joyfully on.
83.
Despise, I pray you, all those thoughts of vainglory. For they are really but flies which cannot harm but only annoy you. It is an incompatible thing to be in this world and not to feel the movements of the passions.
84.
Let yourself be governed by God; do not think so much of yourself.
85.
I expressly forbid you to be over-eager, as this is the mother imperfection of all imperfections.
86.
Simplify your judgment. “If your eye is simple, your whole body will be light.” Do not make so many reflections and replies, but go on with simplicity and confidence.
87.
For you there are but God and yourself in the world, and you should not concern yourself for all the rest, save as God commands you.
88.
Give your soul a thousand times to God, and sometimes say not a word to Him, but simply contemplate his gentleness. This is one of the great sources of spiritual gain, for as the mind converses so frequently and so easily with its God it will be perfumed with all his perfections.
89.
The Christian soul is the spouse not yet of Jesus glorified, but of Jesus crucified; that is why the rings, ornaments, and tokens with which He adorns her are crosses, and thorns, and the nuptial banquet is gall, hyssop, and vinegar.
90.
Do not look here and there so much. Turn your eyes upon God or yourself; you will never see God without goodness, or yourself free from misery; and you will find his goodness kind to your misery, and your misery the object of his mercy.
91.
Rarely examine closely what others do; look upon them simply, kindly, and amiably. Do like the bees, gather honey from all the flowers.
92.
My commandment is, that you do like little children; while they feel their mother holding them by the sleeve, they go on boldly and run about everywhere, nothing daunted by the falls that are caused by the weakness of their legs. Thus, while God holds you by your good-will to serve Him, go on boldly, undaunted by your little stumblings, provided you cast yourself into his arms and give Him the kiss of charity.
93.
Go joyously and with a light heart as far as you can, and if you cannot always go joyously, go always courageously and confidently.
94.
We must have patience, and little by little, correct and overcome our bad habits, for life on the whole is a continual warfare.
95.
Rest is reserved for heaven; on earth we must always struggle between hope and fear, on condition that hope be ever the stronger when we consider the almighty power of Him who helps us.
96.
Frequently during the day cast your heart, your mind, and your care upon God with great confidence, saying, “I am thine, save me.”
97.
Be kind to your neighbour in spite of rebellious murmurings and outbursts of anger.
98.
Do not be astonished to find yourself overwhelmed with evil inclinations. God permits them in order to make you humble.
99.
Self-love may be mortified in us, but it never dies; from time to time it sends forth shoots which prove that, though cut down to the root, it is never completely destroyed.
100.
Self-love never leaves us. It sleeps sometimes like a fox, then suddenly springs upon the chickens. We must therefore be constantly watchful of it, and patiently defend ourselves against it.
101.
Let us keep firm hold of the merciful hand of our good God, for He wishes to draw us after Him.
102.
Live wholly according to the Spirit, live quietly in peace, have perfect confidence that God will help you.
103.
Be careful to purify your heart more and more each day. Now, this purity consists in weighing everything in the scales of the sanctuary, which are only the will of God.
104.
Let us be what we are, and be that well, in order that we may honour the Master Workman who has made us. Though we were the most excellent creatures under heaven, what would it avail us if we were not pleasing to the will of God?
105.
We must always and in all things live peaceably.
106.
I approve of your making an act of humility every day, humbling yourself to an inferior, performing some menial office in the house.
107.
It is not possible that you should so soon be mistress of your soul, or that you should control it so absolutely at first.
108.
Dispose your soul to tranquillity in the morning, and be careful during the day to recall it frequently to that state, and to keep your soul within your control.
109.
Do not be terrified if you are guilty of some little impatience; do not let it trouble you, but when you recognise it quietly humble yourself before God.
110.
Try to preserve a sweet tranquillity of mind; say to your soul: “Courage! we have made a false step, but let us keep steadily on and keep watch over ourselves.”
111.
Make no account of the judgments of men.
112.
Be silent concerning all things, and you will have interior peace, because for you and me the only secret of acquiring this peace is to endure to the utmost the judgments of men.
113.
Consider for whom you labour, and those who strive to trouble you shall labour in vain.
114.
Among beggars, those whose sores are the most terrible consider themselves the most fortunate, for they excite more compassion and receive more abundant alms. We are only beggars, and the most miserable among us are the most fortunate, for these God looks upon with greater compassion.
115.
Be glad that men make no account of you.
116.
Consider how all the vexations of the past have vanished; those of the future shall vanish in the same way.
117.
The great point of humility is to see, to honour, to serve, and converse fittingly with those whom we dislike, keeping ourselves humble, gentle, and submissive to them, for remember that the humiliations which are the least visible are the keenest.
118.
Let our Lord turn us to the left or to the right, and send us in a hundred directions. He never abandons us but to get closer possession of us; He never leaves us but to guard us better; He never struggles with us but to enter our souls and bless us.
119.
Courage! Let us keep on in the low valleys of the small and humble virtues. I love these three little virtues: gentleness of heart, firmness of mind, and simplicity of life.
120.
I recommend to you more than anything else the exercise of holy gentleness and sweetness in all the events of this life.
121.
Accustom yourself in all that you do to act and speak gently and quietly, and you will see that in three or four years you will completely control that abrupt impulsiveness.
122.
He who can preserve peace in the midst of the confusion and complexity of business, and sweetness in the midst of suffering, is almost perfect.
123.
I recommend to you great evenness of temper, sweetness and gentleness of heart; for these virtues, like the oil of a lamp, maintain the flame of good example; for there is nothing more edifying to our neighbour than charitable kindliness.
124.
When shall we be wholly imbued with sweetness and gentleness towards our neighbour? You needed only that; your zeal was good, but it had this fault; it was a little bitter, over-urgent, and captious.
125.
Raise your eyes to heaven, and among the mortals now immortal there you will not find one who attained eternal happiness but through continual afflictions and trouble.
126.
Let us humble ourselves profoundly, and acknowledge that if God be not our shield and armour, we shall be pierced through and through with every kind of sin.
127.
I desire that you should be extremely lowly and humble in your own eyes, condescending and gentle as a dove.
128.
Do not be quick to speak; say much by a modest and judicious silence.
129.
Behold God in all things without exception, acquiescing in all his commands with great simplicity.
130.
Say frequently, in the midst of your contradictions and sufferings: This is the path to heaven; I behold the gate, and I am sure that the storms will not prevent my reaching it.
131.
Take no trouble on account of what the world thinks of you; despise its good opinion and its contempt, and let it say what it will of good or evil.
132.
Do not think that our Lord is further from you in the midst of turmoil.... It is not tranquillity which brings Him to our hearts, but the fidelity of our love.
133.
From day to day withdraw your heart from all kinds of amusement and vanity, ... from all that turns you from a blessed eternity.
134.
I desire to love God or die; death or love, for life without love is worse than death.
135.
O God! it is towards Thee that I am sailing.... We reach the port through all storms, provided we have an upright heart, a good intention, firm courage, our eyes fixed upon God, and all our confidence in Him.
136.
Do not be vexed at the annoyances which come from the complexity of business; believe me, true virtue is not nourished in exterior repose any more than good fish in stagnant water.
137.
Keep your hearts well under control, beware of over-anxiety. Place your confidence in the providence of our Lord. Be fully convinced that heaven and earth shall pass away rather than that our Lord shall fail to protect you while you are his obedient daughter, or, at least, desirous to obey Him.
138.
Live wholly in our Lord, let Him be the atmosphere in which your heart breathes at ease.