Introduction À La Vie Dévote
1609
This 1609 masterpiece argues that holiness is not for hermits alone. Saint Francis de Sales, with remarkable gentleness, addresses ordinary Christians in ordinary vocations: the merchant, the soldier, the parent, the servant. Writing to a fictional seeker named Philothée, he demonstrates that true devotion does not require fleeing the world but rather transforms one's present circumstances into a path toward God. His practical wisdom covers prayer, resistance to temptation, the management of one's affairs, and the cultivation of charity, all delivered with a warmth that feels less like a sermon and more like a conversation with a wise friend. The book revolutionized spiritual literature by insisting that laypeople deserve accessible, hopeful guidance for their spiritual lives, not just monastic rules. Four centuries later, it remains a testament to the possibility of sanctity in the midst of ordinary life.
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“If, when stung by slander or ill-nature, we wax proud and swell with anger, it is a proof that our gentleness and humility are unreal, and mere artificial show.””
— Saint Francis de Sales
“Be who you are and be that well.””
— Saint Francis de Sales
“We all colour devotion according to our own likings and dispositions. One man sets great value on fasting, and believes himself to be leading a very devout life, so long as he fasts rigorously, although the while his heart is full of bitterness;–and while he will not moisten his lips with wine, perhaps not even with water, in his great abstinence, he does not scruple to steep them in his neighbour’s blood, through slander and detraction.””
— Saint Francis de Sales
“When you speak of your neighbour, look upon your tongue as a sharp razor in the surgeon’s hand, about to cut nerves and tendons; it should be used so carefully, as to insure that no particle more or less than the truth be said.””
— Saint Francis de Sales
“Therefore, when you make ready to pray, you must say with your whole heart, “God is indeed here.””
— Saint Francis de Sales
“THE order of God’s Providence maintains a perpetual vicissitude in the material being of this world; day is continually turning to night, spring to summer, summer to autumn, autumn to winter, winter to spring; no two days are ever exactly alike. Some are foggy, rainy, some dry or windy; and this endless variety greatly enhances the beauty of the universe. And even so precisely is it with man (who, as ancient writers have said, is a miniature of the world), for he is never long in any one condition, and his life on earth flows by like the mighty waters, heaving and tossing with an endless variety of motion; one while raising him on high with hope, another plunging him low in fear; now turning him to the right with rejoicing, then driving him to the left with sorrows; and no single day, no, not even one hour, is entirely the same as any other of his life. All this is a very weighty warning, and teaches us to aim at an abiding and unchangeable evenness of mind amid so great an uncertainty of events; and, while all around is changing, we must seek to remain immoveable, ever looking to, reaching after and desiring our God.””
— Saint Francis de Sales
“strive when your meditation is ended to retain the thoughts and resolutions you have made as your earnest practice throughout the day. This is the real fruit of meditation, without which it is apt to be unprofitable, if not actually harmful”
— Saint Francis de Sales
“go on bravely in the spirit of humility to make your general confession;”
— Saint Francis de Sales
“Almost all those who have written concerning the devout life have had chiefly in view persons who have altogether quitted the world; or at any rate they have taught a manner of devotion which would lead to such total retirement. But my object is to teach those who are living in towns, at court, in their own households, and whose calling obliges them to a social life, so far as externals are concerned.””
— Saint Francis de Sales
