The book Introduction to the
Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales is a beautiful instruction by the saint
to lead readers to have an understanding of what devotion is and how to truly
go about practicing it. This writing is
divided into five sections: the first
being to show what is needed to be done to fully accept this devout way of life,
the second is focused on the Sacraments and prayer, the third is about
practicing virtue, the fourth is about how to avoid temptation and the fifth is
to confirm the devotion.
In the first section, he first
gives a warning about false devotion and how to go about avoiding it in order
to find true devotion. He tells of those
who are able to, in a way, put on a show in order to fool everyone into thinking
that they are devout. But one who is
practicing authentically has, by God’s grace, the perfection of charity in
their soul that “not only makes us do good but also do this carefully,
frequently, and promptly” (pg. 28). Careful,
frequent and prompt responses out of love from a person are the characteristics
of being devout. He goes on to talk
about devotion as making mortifications sweet just as a bee takes a bitter
liquid from a thyme blossom and makes it into sweet honey.
When de Sales speaks of beginning
devotion, he focuses on the need for one to cleanse their soul of all sins,
mortal and venial, as well as all affection for it. He offers a way to pray with ten meditations in
order to clear one’s soul from these affections and to resolve to permanently reject
them. The meditations include considering
our creation and how “God has drawn you out of…nothingness to make you what you
now are and he has done so solely out of his own goodness and without need of
you” (pg. 41). He also suggests
meditations on Paradise, Hell, and judgment among others.
He begins the second section by
writing, “Since prayer places our intellect in the brilliance of God’s light
and exposes our will to the warmth of his heavenly love, nothing else so
effectively purifies our intellect of ignorance and our will of depraved
affections” (pg. 70). This surely is a beautiful
description of the importance of prayer.
He goes on to tell of the importance of mental, interior prayer and that
even if drawn to do so during vocal prayer, to not turn away the inspiration to
do so. And in order to do so, he details
his method of the meditations that he gave in the previous section. He also speaks of having an oratory within
the very heart of a person, as St Catherine of Siena had when she was deprived
of having anywhere to pray and meditate.
He says, “withdraw your spirit from time to time into your heart and
there, apart from the world of men, you can converse heart to heart with God on
the state of your soul” (pg. 87).
The third section is on virtues and
how to go about practicing them. While many
people seem to revere those who exercise extreme virtues, as many saints have,
it is more necessary to not focus on these, but to look to those that are less
extreme and obvious in the spirit of humility.
For example, he mentions that “to give alms and to forgive injuries are
both charitable acts, yet the first is held in honor by everyone while the
second is despised by the eyes of the world” (pg. 129). This shows that, even though giving to the
poor is a great action indeed, it is much easier to accomplish and is perceived
as showing greater strength than forgiving someone, which may be thought of as
weak.
St. Francis also focuses on friendship
in this portion of this writing. He warns
against friendships that are frivolous and do not have much meaning or true
spiritual benefit to them. Also, he
warns of the dangers of flirtatious friendships or “fond loves” that can lead
to carnal sins. But he does write of “true
friendship” in which there are “mutual and reciprocal exchanges [that] concern charity,
devotion and Christian perfection” and that they will be “excellent because it
comes from God, excellent because it leads to God, excellent because its bond
will endure eternally in God” (pg. 162).
To flee from temptation is the
focus of the fourth segment of this book.
He talks about why it is that we can want to give in to it as “we can
never please the world unless we lose ourselves together with it. It is so demanding that it can’t be satisfied”
(pg. 223). To give in to the world is to
satisfy it; until then, to fight temptation and to live a devout life is to be
ridiculed constantly by the world. The three
steps of temptation that he gives are the proposal of sin, pleasure or
displeasure of it and consenting to it or refusing it. While no one can avoid every thought or occasion
of sin, as long as it is displeasing to the soul, it can be conquered, just as
St. Catherine of Siena was, by God’s grace, filled with grief when presented
with many temptations by the devil.
The fifth and final part of this
book on devotion includes exercises in order to be renewed in one’s devotion to
God. It contains examinations to
consider concerning the affections of the soul, the soul when it comes to
neighbors among others, as well as considerations for virtue, the saints’
examples and Jesus’s love. After this
renewal de Sales encourages the reader to repeat “with all your heart the
ardent words of St. Paul, St. Augustine…and others: ‘No, I am no longer my own. Whether I live or die, I am my Savior’s. I no longer have anything in me or of me; my
very self is Jesus and my being is his being…’” (pg. 275). These words show the depth of the devotion
that is proposed by this saint.
Of this book by St. Francis de
Sales, there can be much more said, so much more reflected upon and considered. The readability of this book is that in which
when one reads it today, it would not seem as though it was from the 1600’s,
but from recent years. It is so relevant
now as it was then. In this way, it is
quite simple. Yet, in the spiritual and
devotional wisdom given by this saint, it is deep, beautiful and rich. This is truly a timeless book and every
Catholic would benefit greatly from reading it if they wish to practice an
authentic life of devotion to God.
Work
Cited
De Sales, St. Francis. Introduction to the Devout Life. Trans. John K. Ryan. New York:
Doubleday, 2003. Print.
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