Category Archives: de Sales, Francis
An even greater fullness of His love
These days my prayer is FULL of distractions. I remember two things to help me. One is advice from St. Francis de Sales. He says that when we encounter distractions, the best thing to do is to gently bring our minds back to the Lord. I think often our temptation when we find ourselves thinking …
The greater the reason we have to trust in God
One more from Francis de Sales: The more miserable we are, the more we ought to trust in God’s goodness and mercy. Had God not created man, God would always have been good, but he would not have been actually merciful, since he would not have shown mercy to anyone; for to whom can mercy …
Learn to live in peace
More from St. Francis de Sales: Learn to live in peace and gently bear up with your little miseries. You belong unreservedly to God. He will lead you safely to the port. If, however, he does not deliver you immediately from your imperfections, it means that he has some other plan for you and that …
“Sure that he loves you still”
The next few days I would like to feed you some quotes from St. Francis de Sales, the great writer for lay folks. This first one addresses those of us who are overly concerned about doing everything right (another word for pride :-): Take great care not to get overly upset whenever you commit some …
“Death is a benefactor”
Yesterday, All Soul’s Day, shortly after midnight Sr. Sarah’s mother went home to the Lord. She was able to be with her when she died. Just an hour or so ago Sr. Sarah shared with me this excerpt from a book of meditations based on St. Francis de Sales. It is a great comfort to …
Distracted Prayer (2)
A little more on distracted prayer. One of the most helpful things I ever learned about dealing with distractions in prayer was that it’s not something you necessarily need to repent of and it’s not an indication of “good” or “bad” prayer. Distractions will come; it’s impossible (and not healthy) to turn our minds completely …
The musician
A story from St. Francis de Sales that I call to mind when prayer gets “tough”: One of the world’s finest musicians, who played the lute to perfection, in a brief time became so extremely deaf that he completely lost the use of his hearing. However, in spite of that he did not give up …
God is holding on to you
Do you have times when you feel that no matter how well-intentioned you are, you still blow it? Here are St. Francis de Sales’ thoughts on the matter: You should be like a little child who while it knows that its mother is holding its sleeve walks boldly and runs all round without being distressed …
“God’s heart so abounds in love . . .”
From Francis de Sales–about how much God loves you: God’s heart so abounds in love and his good is so great and infinite that all men may possess it while no one man thereby possesses less of it. This infinite goodness can never be exhausted, even though it fill the spirits of the universe. (Treatise …
“If you get tired kneeling, sit down”
“You can only give God what you have . . . ” (St. Francis de Sales)
