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Maxims and counsels of St. Francis de Sales for every day of the year — John Shaqi

Maxims and counsels of St. Francis de Sales for every day of the yearFrancis, de Sales, Saint

Religion

Maxims and counsels of St. Francis de Sales for every day of the year

Name: Maxims and counsels of St. Francis de Sales for every day of the year
Author: Francis, de Sales, Saint

Francis, de Sales, Saint

Christian saints -- Quotations; Christianity -- Quotations; Devotional calendars; Francis, de Sales, Saint, 1567-1622 -- Quotations

_=Maxims and Counsels=_

                                   OF

                          ST. FRANCIS DE SALES

                     _=For Every Day of the Year=_.

                     TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY

                           MISS ELLA M^cMAHON

                          _=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.

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Maxims and counsels of St. Francis de Sales for every day of the year

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