Saint de Sales Francis

“ The soul of Mary was released from her body as naturally as fragrance sent from a flower and as the ripe fruit falls from the tree.—St. Francis of Sales.
As the palm conceals its flower until the heat of the sun causes it to expand, so the just soul conceals the flowers of its virtue by humility, until Our Lord, by calling her to Paradise, gives the highest degree of perfection to her love.—The same.
The thought of death is not sad for a soul who loves God, because it is the beginning of her eternal happiness.—St. ”

“ Mary Magdalen, who had been the scandal of Jerusalem, was enrolled after her conversion under the standard of virginal purity, and became like a brilliant crystal vase, capable of receiving and containing the most precious waters of grace.
The virginity of Our Lady, therefore, is not sterile, like that of the Angels, but it is so fruitful that from the moment she vowed it to God, until the present time, it has always borne its fruit. A soul that is perfectly dedicated to the service of God is never alone; many others, drawn by the sweetness of its perfumes, flock after to copy its example. ”

“ The present moment's grace may be that which will decide our eternity.—Nepveu.
The Heart of Mary is a garden of delights, in which we can gather the most precious fruits. This most beautiful garden is closed against the impure spirit; it is full of Divine perfumes, cultivated by a Heavenly Hand, and adorned with the most charming flowers of virtue. Of these there are three which particularly attract our admiration, and fill the house of God with the sweetest fragrance—they are the violet of humility, the lily of chastity, and the rose of charity.—St. Bernard. ”

“ Heart full of goodness and compassion for our miseries! Oh, break the ice of our hearts, turn our affections towards the adorable Heart of Our Saviour, and impress on them the love of your virtues. Watch over Holy Church, protect it, and be to it an impregnable fortress, so that it may be secure amidst all the assaults of its enemies. Be you our way to God, our succour in our trials, our consolation in sufferings, our strength in temptations, and our refuge in persecutions. Above all things assist us at the point of death, when hell will exert all its efforts for our eternal ruin. ”

“ Let this Ave Maria, which comes to us fragrant as a Canticle of heaven, and repeated by as many echoes as there are faithful souls on earth, be sweet to our lips, and sweeter still to our hearts. It is a rare and enviable favour indeed to be able to salute a queen, and yet every day, at every moment, men and women, old and young, all of every condition, can salute the Queen of heaven and earth, who contains in her hands all the treasures of God, and can be sure of being always heard, and that each salutation addressed to her will meet with a corresponding benefit. ”

“ Prayer.—O Sovereign Queen of Angels! you are the Mother of Orphans, as your faithful servant, St. Bonaventure, says: Mater Orphanorum. Sinners are truly orphans—for they have had the misfortune to lose their God, the most tender of Fathers. To you, therefore, I have recourse, O Mother of Mercy. I have had the misfortune to lose my true Father, by sin; and yet, since you have not abandoned me, O my Mother, I feel a lively hope that through your goodness you will deign to intercede for me, and reconcile me to my Father, Whom I have so grievously offended. ”

“ The glorious Virgin was like a most beautiful rose amongst thorns, and although never for an instant did she cease to diffuse an odour of surpassing sweetness, yet the fragrance of her infancy was the most acceptable to the Divine Majesty.—St. Francis of Sales.
Chastity is the lily of virtues, because it renders men equal to the Angels; if virtues be separated from purity, they are no longer virtues. Purity is chastity, and it possesses a glory of its own, for it clothes both soul and body with its beauty.—The same. ”

“ O my Jesus! what a sweet night is this! The Church sings that the heavens everywhere distil honey. It would seem that those blessed Angels, who make the air resound with their song, gather this celestial honey from the breast of the sweet Virgin Mary, and from her chaste Spouse St. Joseph.
What is there that we can give to our little King that we have not received from His Divine abundance? Let us, then, give Him our hearts, which He prizes above all. O Saviour of our souls, transform our hearts into gold, through charity; into myrrh, through mortification; into incense, by prayer ”

“ Let us not fear, then, for when He holds this heart of ours in His hands He will know well how to render it perfect. To make it less unworthy of God let us resolve to imitate Mary; for amongst all the Saints who are proposed to us as a model we should in a special manner consider our most glorious and dear Patroness, the Queen of all Saints. What mirror more beautiful, more precious, or purer, can we place before our eyes? Is she not the most excellent example of evangelical teaching? Who amongst creatures is more adorned and enriched with every kind of virtue and grace? ”

“ Let us also quote the beautiful words of a Saint. 'The "Ave Maria," well recited, is the enemy that puts the devil to flight, and the weapon that kills him. It is the sanctification of the soul, the gladness of Angels, the melody of the predestinated, the Canticle of the New Testament, the joy of Mary, and the glory of the Most Holy Trinity. The Ave Maria is a celestial dew that fertilizes the soul, a beautiful rose which we present to Mary, and a precious pearl which we bestow upon her. ”

“ O place our hearts in the hands of God, that He may fill them with His Divine Spirit! Most diligent Virgin, you co-operated in the redemption of the world, when you redeemed your Son Jesus with two turtle-doves; be pleased to redeem our hearts from the slavery of sin, that they may be always pure and holy before God. Most clement Virgin! when you heard from the lips of the holy Simeon the prophetic announcement of all your dolours, you submitted yourself quickly and perfectly to the Will of God. O help us to support always with patience and resignation all the tribulations of life! ”

“ She who gives birth to the Son of God has certainly no need of the consolations of the world!
Let us then delight to dwell near the sacred manger, where the Saviour of our souls so powerfully speaks to us in His silence and teaches us so many virtues; and let the joy and consolation of the Son and of the Mother form all the happiness of our souls! How well it becomes Mary to caress this Infant! How enchanting her charity in allowing all who wish it to look at Him, to touch and embrace Him! Do you also ask her to give Him to you, and she will do so. ”

“ O Mother, full of mercy, interest yourself in our behalf, that we may be able to enjoy the ineffable happiness for which our God deigned to inclose Himself for nine months in your most holy womb. If you deign to pray for us to your Divine Son, you will be assuredly heard. Let the bowels of your maternal mercy speak in our favour. If you, our tender Mother, have no compassion for us, what will become of your most miserable children? What will be our destiny when your Divine Son, as Judge of the living and the dead, will call us to His judgment-seat? ”

“ How dear will this offering be to Him! He will look upon us with mercy in return for our gift; and we shall gladden the Most Holy Virgin, who so much desires our welfare. Let us take with us from her Divine Infant one of His precious tears, the sweet dew of Heaven, and place it on our heart, that it may henceforth feel no other sorrow than that which rejoices this Blessed Infant—that is, sorrow for sin! We should all be like so many simple shepherds watching over the flocks of our affections, ready to adore this our Infant Saviour, as soon as the Angels call us. ”

“ Saturday, moreover, is the day between Friday, the day of mourning, and Sunday, the day of joy—and the Holy Virgin is the mediatrix between God, Who is Eternal Beatitude, and man, who is subject to endless evils and miseries. Mary is the way to arrive at Jesus, and Saturday is a prelude to the solemnity of Sunday. Saturday is as a magnificent portal consecrated to the Mother of God, by which we enter the Sanctuary of God Himself. The Saints held this day in great esteem—on it they redoubled their pious exercises—and many begged, as a signal favour, that they might die on a Saturday. ”

“ O my dear Sisters, Daughters of the Visitation of Our Lady and of St. Elizabeth, since you have Mary for your Mother, you should have nothing so much at heart as to imitate her particularly in her humility and charity. These are the two virtues which especially animated her when she visited the house of Zachary. Like her, you should visit, diligently and joyfully, your Sisters, when they are suffering, and endeavour to aid each other in your spiritual and temporal infirmities. Be most careful and diligent in those things in which humility and charity are most required. ”

“ Charity is red, by the ardour with which it burns for God, is adorned with the variety of every virtue, and obtains and wears for ever the crown of eternal rewards.—St. Francis of Sales.
Bees never sting so sharply as when they are themselves mortally wounded. How can we fail to be wounded with love for our adorable Saviour, when we contemplate Him wounded for us, even unto death and the death of the Cross; to be wounded, I say, with a wound the more painfully loving, as His was more lovingly painful; nor can we ever love Him as much as His death and His love merit.—The same. ”

“ Francis of Sales. Everything, says a pious author, in this admirable Saint enchants and fascinates us; whoever reads his writings attentively, feels constrained, not only to honour and venerate him, but also to love him. With him there is a peculiar grace to console, as well as to perfect, the soul. He adapts himself to the capacities of humble minds, whilst no one has more knowledge than he of the most exalted perfection.
The sweet mildness of this Saint sprang from the meekness of which his soul was full. ”

“ Give your soul to God a thousand times in the day; fix your interior eyes upon His sweetness, in imitation of Mary; place Him upon your breast as a delicious nosegay, and make every possible effort to excite within you an impassioned love for this Divine Spouse.—St. Francis of Sales.
There is no doubt that he who perfumes the world by the odour of his good example, thus teaching others the way of justice, will one day shine in eternity as a most splendid star in the firmament.—The same. ”

“ The adorable Redeemer of the human race, the eternal object of the love of His Heavenly Father, considered His Mother from that first moment, as a delicious garden which was to produce the fruit of eternal life, and He cultivated this garden in order that every kind of perfection should flourish therein. He adorned her with the gold of charity and with a wondrous variety of virtues, that she might be able to sit at His side as a Queen—that is to say, occupy the first place amongst the elect, and, in this manner, enjoy the delights that are found at the right hand of the Eternal God. ”

“ The Ave Maria is the universal prayer of each and all. The infant begins to lisp it, and on his knees, with his hands raised to heaven, says Ave Maria! The aged, weakened by infirmity, may be incapable of reciting long prayers, but they will always have sufficient strength to repeat devoutly the Ave Maria. This is the favourite prayer of just souls. Oh, how many times in the day does it rise from their hearts full of burning love, and ascend, like purest burning incense to the throne of Mary! ”

“ Thus does a soul abandoned to the Will of God remain in His arms, like a child on the bosom of his mother. When she places him on the ground he walks, and when she takes him again in her arms he allows himself to be carried, and is in no way troubled to know whither he is taken. Thus the soul cultivates tranquillity of heart, and advances continually in union with the Divine Goodness.
The exercise of union with God can be practised by means of short but frequent aspirations of the soul to God, such as: 'Ah, Jesus, who will give me to be but one spirit with Thee? ”

“ From all eternity the Heavenly Father had ordained in His love to form her heart to the perfection of charity, that she might love His Divine Son with the most perfect maternal love—as He had loved Him from all eternity with the most perfect paternal love. The Son of God cast His eyes upon this Virgin, and chose her for His Mother, and co-operator in the great work of the world's redemption, a merciful Mother, a most powerful advocate of mankind—the most amiable, the most loving, and the most beloved of all creatures. ”

“ I will not deceive you; Christian perfection is difficult, and very great courage is required for so high an undertaking. This perfection consists in an entire self-abnegation, and in a total renunciation of all earthly things. [1]
O my God! when will Our Lady be, as it were, born in our hearts? As for myself I see clearly that I am quite unworthy of such a favour; and as for you, what are your sentiments? Her Divine Son was born in a stable. Let us take courage and prepare Him a place in our hearts; a place made deep by humility, low by simplicity, and wide by charity. ”

“ Prayer.—O Holy Virgin and Mother of God! deign to succour those who implore your assistance. Cast an eye of compassion upon us, and be moved at the sight of our miseries. O Mother of Grace! have you forgotten men in their tribulations and need, by reason of the sublime dignity to which you have been raised? No, without doubt your heart will be ever interested in our favour, nor can your great mercy ever forget misery so profound as ours. ”

“ Humility is the root of every virtue. As the flower receives its nourishment from the root, and withers when it is cut off from it, so virtue, however perfect it may be, languishes and dies if it be not rooted in humility.—Nouet.
Bees suck honey from the lily, the iris and the rose; but they draw it also from the smallest flowers, such as rosemary and thyme. ”

“ O Mother of God! you pray for all, and above all, for sinners; deign, then, to pray for me, a more obstinate sinner than any other, and therefore a more worthy object of your pity! You see plainly the urgent need I have of your intercession; therefore interest yourself in my regard, and obtain for me, from your Divine Son, the grace of sincere conversion and holy perseverance. ”

“ O Mary, I place in you a holy confidence, and from you I expect my salvation. I shall walk without fear in the midst of all my enemies, if you will deign to number me amongst those whom you protect. Sincere love of you is the safest weapon with which to fight and overcome; number me, then, amongst your children, for I have chosen you for my tender Mother. ”