Every Day with Saint Francis de Sales - April

[Hildegard of Bingen]

Every Day with Saint Francis de Sales


Teachings and Examples from the Life of the Saint by Salesiana Publishers

APRIL 1st  (page 93)

     Friendship based on the pleasures of the senses is coarse and does not deserve the name of friendship.  The same holds true for friendships based on vain and frivolous qualities, since they also have their roots in the senses.  By pleasures of the senses I mean those that principally originate from the external senses, such as pleasure in looking at beautiful things or listening to a sweet voice, pleasure of touch and the like.  Friendships based on such things deserve to be called follies rather than friendships!

                                                                                                                                                                                (INT. Part III, Ch. 17; O. III, p 196)


      On April 1st, 1618, Francis de Sales, on a visit to Grenoble, gave a eulogy on Saint Hugo, one of those saints to whom he had a particular devotion.  "I honor this saint," he said, "because he did so much to populate the frightening solitude of Chartreuse with a countless number of religious, whose virtue spread a marvelous perfume of holiness throughout the Church."  Francis never tired of turning over in his mind this rich expression of Saint Hugo, "The evil I do is truly evil and truly mine; the good that I do is not attributable to me or really mine."

(A.S. IV, p. 2)

We shall never have peace if it is not practiced amid repugnance, aversion and disgust.  True peace does not lie in not fighting, but in conquering.

Perfection does not consist in being perfect or in acting perfectly.  It is the striving for perfection that is important.

 

Every Day with Saint Francis de Sales

Teachings and Examples from the Life of the Saint by Salesiana Publishers


APRIL 2nd (page 94)

      Venial sin, no matter how slight it may be, displeases God.  Therefore, if it displeases God, any will and affection that one has for venial sin is nothing less than a disposition to offend the Divine Majesty.  Is it possible that an upright soul should not only displease God but even nourish within itself an affection and a will to displease Him?

(INT. Part I, Ch. 22; O. III, p. 63)

      Francis de Sales, wishing to publicly proclaim his devotion to Saint Francis of Paula, received the cord of the Minims in the monastery at Grenoble.  He knelt before the mantle with which the saint had passed over the sea with dry feet, which was exposed for this occasion. The people, who wanted to express their own devotion, threw themselves on top of him and used his shoulders as their support.  The saint made no effort to stop them from doing all this.  When he was leaving the church the religious made their apologies, saying that they admired his patience.  He replied, "Is it not necessary for each one to show his devotion in some way or other?  I can assure you that I paid very little attention to those who were all around me.  I was thinking of Saint Francis, who spiritually and personally gave me his cord and obliged me, with ties both external and internal, to consider all the Minims as my brothers."


                                                                                                                    (A.S. IV, p. 38)

There is nothing more contrary to charity - or to the love of God - than to have little concern for one's neighbor.