prepare a place for them in monasteries, provided that
God prepares in their heart a place for a monastery :
that is, I approve that you should have them brought
up in monasteries, with the intention of leaving them
there, on two conditions ; the one, that the monasteries
be good and reformed, and make profession of the
interior life : the other, that when the time of their
profession arrives, which is not before sixteen years, it
be faithfully ascertained if they are willing to make it
with devotion and good-will; for if they have not an
294 &' Francis de Sales.
affection for it, it would be a great sacrilege to enclose
them in it.
We see how hard young persons received against
their will find it to accommodate themselves and
devote themselves to the religious life. They ought
to be placed there with gentle and sweet inspirations.
If they stay there so, they will be very happy ; and
their mother also, for having planted them in the
gardens of the spouse, who will water them with a
hundred thousand heavenly graces. Make then this
arrangement for them ; I am quite of this opinion.
But as to our Aimee,* inasmuch as she wishes to
stay in the whirlwind and tempest of the world, you
must, without doubt, with a care a hundred times
greater, make her safe in true virtue and piety ;
you must furnish her barque much more completely
with all the gear required against the wind and the
storm ; you must plant deeply in her mind the true
fear of God, and bring her up in the holiest practices
of devotion.
And as for our C. B.,t I am sure that Monseigneur
his uncle, will have more care in the education of his
little soul than in that of his exterior. If it were
another uncle, I would tell you to keep the care of
him yourself, that the treasure of innocence may not
be lost. And do not fail to instil into his spirit
gracious and sweet odours of devotion, and often to
* The eldest daughter.
f Celse-Be'nigne, the son. The uncle is Monseigneur Fre"miot,
Archbishop of Bourges.
Various Letters. 295
recommend to his uncle the feeding of his soul. God
will do with him as he pleases, and to this men must
accommodate themselves.
I can say no more to you concerning the apprehen-
sion you have of your trouble, nor the fear you have
of impatiences in suffering it. Did I not say to you.
the first time I spoke to you of your soul, that you
applied your consideration too much to any trouble or
temptation that may arise ; that you must look ^t it
only in a large way ; that women, and men also, some-
times, make too much reflection on their troubles ;
and that this entangles thoughts and fears, and desires,
in one another, till the soul finds itself so much
embarrassed that it cannot get free from them ?
Do you remember M. N., how his soul was en-
tangled and mazed with vain fears at the end of the
Lent, and how hurtful it was to him ? I beseech you
for the honour of God, my child, be not afraid of God,
for he does not wish to do you any harm : love him
strongly, for he wishes to do you much good. Walk
quite simply in the shelter of our resolutions, and re-
ject as cruel temptations the reflections which you
make on your troubles.
What can I say to stop this flow of thoughts in
your heart ? Do not give way to anxiety about heal-
ing it, for this anxiety makes it worse. Do not force
yourself to conquer your temptations, for these efforts
will strengthen them ; despise them, do not occupy
yourself with them. Represent to your imagination
Jesus Christ crucified, in your arms and on your breast,
296 .SV. Francis de Sates.
and say a hundred times, kissing his side ; here is my
hope, here is the living fountain of my happiness,
this is the heart of my soul, the soul of my heart :
never shall anything separate me from his love ; I
hold him, and will not let him go, till he has put me
in a state of safety. Say to him often : What have I
upon earth, and what do I desire in heaven, but you,
O my Jesus ? You are the God of my heart and my
portion for ever.* Why do you fear, my child ? Hear
our Lord, who cries to Abraham, and to you also :
Fear not, I am thy helper.^ What do you seek upon
earth, save God ? and you have him. Remain firm
in your resolution. Keep yourself in the barque
where I have placed you, and the storm may come;
as Jesus lives you shall not perish : he will sleep,
but in time and place he will awake to restore calm
to you. Our St. Peter, says the Scripture, seeing
the storm, which was very fierce, was afraid ; and as
soon as ever he became afraid, he began to sink and
drown, at which he cried: O Lord, save me.% And
our Lord took him by the hand, and said to him :
Man of little faith, why didst thou doubt? Regard
this holy Apostle, he walks dry foot on the waters ;
the waves and the wind could not make him sink,
but the fear of the wind and the waves makes him
perish if his master rescue him not.
Fear is a greater evil than the evil itself. O
daughter of little faith, what do you fear ? No, fear
not ; you walk on the sea, amid the winds and the
* Ps. Ixxii. 25. f Gen. xv. I. J Matt. viii. 25.
Various Letters. 297
waves, but it is with Jesus. What is there to fear ?
But if fear seizes you, cry loudly : Lord, save me.
He will give you his hand : clasp it tight, and go
joyously on. In short, do not philosophize about
your trouble, do not turn in upon yourself, go straight
on. No, God could not lose you, so long as you live
in your resolution not to lose him. Let the world
turn upside down, let everything be in darkness, in
smoke, in uproar, God is with us; and if God
dwelleth in darkness, and on the Mount of Sinai, all
smoking, and covered with the thurders, with lightnings
and noises, shall we not be well near him ?
I must tell you a word about myself, for you love
me as yourself. We have had these fifteen days a
very great jubilee, which will be throughout the
world, on the commencement of the Pope's"* admini-
stration, and the war of Hungary. This has kept me
occupied, though consoled by receiving many general
confessions and changes of conscience; then there is
the sea of my ordinary occupations, amid which,
{I say it to you) I live in full repose of heart, resolved
to employ myself henceforth faithfully and earnestly
for the glory of my God, first in myself, and then in
all that is under ray charge. My people begin to
love me tenderly, and this consoles me.
All your friends in this part are well, and honour
you with quite a special love.
Live, live, my dear child, live all in God, and fear
not death, the good Jesus is all ours; let us be
* Paul V.
298 St. Francis de Sales.
entirely his. Our most honoured Lady, our Abbess r
has given him to us ; let us keep him well ; courage,
my child. I am entirely yours, and more than yours.
LETTER XIII.
To THE SAME.
Advantage of interior trials for perfection. God communicates
himself in afflictions rather than in consolations.
Exaltation of the Cross, September i^th, 1606.
Do NOT distress yourself about me in all these matter*
you write of; for, you see, it is with me as it was once
with Abraham. A deep sleep fell upon him in a dark
mist, in some fearful place, and a great and darksome-
horror seized upon him ;* but it was only for a short
time, for suddenly he saw a lamp of fire , and heard the
voice of God promising his benedictions. My spirit
certainly lives amid your darknesses and temptations,,
for it closely accompanies yours ; the account of your
troubles touches me with compassion ; but I clearly
see that the end of them will be happy, since our goodi
God is advancing us in his school, in which you arc
more on the alert than at another time. Only write
to me with open heart about your ills and your goods ;.
and put yourself in no anxiety, for my heart is equal
to all.
Courage, my dear child, let us keep on, keep on, all
* Gen. xv. 12, 17.
Various Letters. 299
through these low valleys ; let us live with the cross
in our arms, with humility and patience.
What does it matter whether God speaks to us
amid thorns or amid flowers. Indeed, I do not
remember that he has ever spoken amid flowers,
though several times in deserts and thorny bushes.
Go on then, my dear child, and make progress during
this bad weather and this night. Above all, write very
sincerely to me : this is the great command to speak
to me with open heart, for on this depends all the
rest. Shut your eyes to any feeling you might have
about my peace, which, believe me, I shall never lose
through you, as long as I see your heart firm in its
desire to serve God, and never, never, please God,
shall I see you otherwise; so give yourself no trouble
about that.
Be brave, my dear child, we shall get on, with
God's help, and believe me this weather is better for
a journey than if the sun were melting us with its
burning heats. I saw the bees, the other day, staying
quietly in their hives, because the air was foggy they
went out now and then to see how the weather was
getting on, but they did not hasten out, occupying
themselves with feeding on their honey. O God !
courage : light is not under our control, nor any
consolation save what depends on our own will. But
so long as this is under the shelter of the holy resolu-
tions we have made, and the grand seal of the heavenly
Chancery is on your heart, there is nothing to fear.
I will tell you two words about myself. For some
3oo St. Francis de Sales.
days I was half-ill. A day's rest has cured me; I
have a good heart, thank God, and hope to make it
still better, as you wish.
My God ! with what consolation do I read the
words in which you say that you wish my soul per-
fection almost more than your own. That is a true
spiritual daughter ! But let your imagination fly as
far as it likes, it will never get as far as my will
carries me in wishing you the love of God.
The bearer starts at once ; and I must go to make
an exhortation to our Peniteuts-of-the-crucifix. I can
say no more except a blessing ; I give it you then in
the name of Jesus Christ crucified. May his cross be
our glory and our consolation, my dear child ! May
it be lifted up among us, and planted on our head, as
it was on that of the first Adam ! May it fill our
heart and our soul, as it filled the soul of St. Paul,
who knew nothing else. Courage, my child, God is
for us, Amen. I am all yours, immortally ; and God
knows it, who has willed it so, and has effected itj
with his own sovereign and personal hand.
LETTER XIV.
To THE SAME.
On the Love of God.
Annecy, February nth, 1607.
I HAVE been ten entire weeks without having a particle
of news of you, my dear, my very dear, child, and
Various Letters. 301
your last letters were at the beginning of November ;
but the chief thing is that my fine patience almost
disappeared from my heart, and I think would have
disappeared altogether, if I had not remembered that
I must keep it, in order to preach it to others. But
at last, my dearest child, yesterday comes a packet,
like a fleet from the Indies, rich in letters and spiritual
songs. Oh ! how welcome it was, and how I cherished
it ! There was one of the 22nd November, another
of 3oth December, and the third of the ist January
of this year; but if all the letters I have written you
during this time were in one packet, they would be in
far greater number, for as far as possible I have always
written, both by Lyons and by Dijon : be this said to
discharge my conscience, which would hold itself for
ever guilty, did it not respond to the heart of a daughter
so uniquely loved. I am going to tell you many things
in a desultory fashion, according to the subject of your
letters. My God ! how rightly you act by depositing
your desire to leave the world in the hands of divine
Providence, that it may not uselessly engage your soul,
as it indubitably would do if you let it act and move
at its fancy. I will think very much about it, and will
offer many masses to obtain the light of the Holy Spirit
to decide about it properly, for, look you, my dear
child, this is a principal affair, and must be tested by
the weights of the sanctuary. Let us pray God, let
us beg his will to make itself known, let us dispose
ours to wish nothing but by his and for his, and let us
remain at rest without eagerness or agitation of heart.
302 St. Francis de Sales.
At our first meeting, God will, if he please, be mer-
ciful to us ; but why then, my dear child, I beg you,
should I put off your Saint-Claude journey ? If there
are no other inconveniences than those which now
appear, I think there is no cause to put it off.
As to the journey I want to make yonder, what
trouble to prepare it, and what risk to make it ! But
God who sees my intention will arrange it by his good-
ness, and we will talk of it before the time arrives.
And about my little sister also; she went to Dijon
with the good M. de Crespy, who would not too soon
confide her to Madam Brulart, for fear she would make
her a Carmelite.
I write now that she may be taken to you imme-
diately after Easter; but write to me whether I shall
send to meet you at Montelon or at Dijon, and if you
will take this little one to Dijon ; or if I shall have her
taken to Dijon, and you take her to Montelon, or how?
Come then for the Thursday before Pentecost, and go to
Besan9on, by all means, to see the holy Winding Sheet ;
all that is quite to my taste; you will see there Cor-
delier nuns of the 3rd Order, who are much praised.
And perhaps an abbess of another order, who is four
leagues from there, namely, at Baume, .... who is
very virtuous, of one of the first families of my diocese,
and who loves me singularly. Meantime our little
Frances will accompany you, or you will leave her,
according to your desire and the counsel of the good
Father de Villars. This little Frances I love, because
she is your little one and your Frances.
Various Letters. 303
Well now, believe me, my child, I have been think-
ing for more than three months that I would write and
tell you to give up your hoop this Lent. Do so, then,
as God inspires it; you will not cease to look gay
enough without it in the eyes of your spouse and your
abbess.
We must, after the example of our St. Bernard, be
quite clean and neat; but not particular or dainty.
True simplicity is always good and agreeable to God.
I see that all the seasons of the year meet in your
soul, that sometimes you feel the winter, on the
morrow drynesses, distractions, disgust, troubles, and
wearinesses, sometimes the dews of May, with the
perfume of holy flowrets, sometimes the ardours of
desire to please our good God. There remains only
autumn, of whose fruit, as you say, you do not see
much; still it often happens that in threshing the
corn, and pressing the grapes, there is found more
than the harvest or vintage promised. You would like
all to be spring and summer, but no, my dear child,
there must be change in the interior, as in the exterior.
It is in heaven that all will be spring as to beauty,
autumn as to enjoyment, and summer as to love.
There will be no winter, but here winter is wanted
for abnegation and a thousand little virtues which are
exercised in time of sterility. Let us always walk our
little step ; if we have a good and resolute affection
we can never go otherwise than well. No, my dearest
child, it is not needed for exercise of virtues that we
should ever keep actually attentive to all. That would
304 St- Francis de Sales.
certainly too mucli entangle and hamper your thoughts
and affections. Humility and charity are the main-
stays, all the other ropes are attached to them. It
needs only to keep ourselves well in these virtues ; one
the lowest, the other the highest, as the preservation
of the whole edifice depends on the foundation and
the roof. Keeping the heart closely to the exercise
of these, there is no great difficulty in getting the
others. These are the mothers of the virtues, which
follow them as little chickens their mother hens.
Oh ! indeed I greatly approve your being school-
mistress. God will be pleased, for he loves little
children, and as I said at catechism the other day to
induce our ladies to take care of the girls, the angels
of little children love with a special love those who
bring up children in the fear of God, and who instil
into their tender hearts true devotion, as on the con-
trary our Lord threatens those who scandalize them
with the vengeance of their angels.
See, then, how well we are getting on. If you are
not at Dijon for Lent, no matter. You will not cease
to be near our good God, to hear him and serve him,
in the very service of your father, to whom I owe so
much honour and respect for the favour he does me in
loving me. I praise God that you were willing to
have your lawsuit arranged since my return. I have
been so pressed and urged to make appointments that
my room has been quite full of clients, who, by the
grace of God, mostly returned in peace and repose.
I confess that this dissipated my time, but there is no
Various Letters. 305
help for it ; we must yield to the necessity of our
neighbour.
How consoled am I with the cure of this good
person hitherto attached to profane love or false friend-
ship. These are maladies which are like light fevers ;
they leave after them excellent health. I am now
going to speak to our Lord of our affairs at the altar,
then I will write the rest. No, you will not go
against obedience in not lifting your heart so often to
God, and not practising perfectly the counsel I have
given you. It is good and fit counsel, but no com-
mand. In a command, words are used which make
themselves well understood ; do you know what coun-
sels require ? They require us not to despise them,
and to love them. That is quite enough, but they do
not lay under any obligation. Courage, my sister,
my child, make your heart very fervent this holy
Lent. I have charged the bearer, who is M. Favre,
my vicar general, to send you this as soon as he
arrives, that you may have leisure to send him back
your answer, as he will be at Dijon eight whole days.
I have not yet been able to revise the life of our
good villager to complete it ; but that you may know
all I know, I may tell you that when I can get a
quarter of an hour of spare time, I am writing an
admirable life of a saint* of whom you have not yet
heard tell, and I pray you also not to say a word of
it; but it is an affair of time, and one I should not
have dared to undertake if some of my most confiden-
* The Saint doubtless refers to the " Love of God."
X
306 St. Francis de Sales.
tial friends had not urged me to it ; you shall see a
good piece of it when you come. I shall be able to
join that of our good villager to it, in some little
corner, for it will be at least twice as large as the
great life of Mother (St.) Teresa ; but as I say, I want
nothing to be known of it until it is quite done, and
I am only beginning it. It is to recreate myself, and
to twirl, like you, my distaff.
I have received your hymns, which I like much,
for though they are not of such good rhyme as many
others, they are of good sentiments. And if I am not
prevented I will have them sung at my catechism. And
in exchange I send you this book, in which you will see
many beautiful things, which were in part made from
my first sermons by M. the President of this town, a
man of rare virtue and a true Christian.
What more shall I tell you ? I have just come
from giving catechism where we have had a bit of
merriment (debauche) with our children, making the
congregation laugh a little by mocking at balls and
masks, for I was in my best humour, and a great
audience encouraged me with its applause to play the
child with the children. They tell me it suits me
well, and I believe it. May God make me a true
child in innocence and simplicity ; but am I not also a
true simple (one) to say that to you ? I can't help it, I
make you see my heart as it is, and in the variety of
its movements, that, as the Apostles say, you may
think no more of me than is in me. Live joyful and
courageous, my dear child. You must have no doubt
Various Letters. 307
that Jesus Christ is ours ; yes, said once to me a little
girl, he is more mine than I am his, and more than I
am my own.
I am going to take him for a little while into my
arms, this sweet Jesus, to carry him in the procession
of the confraternity of the Cord, and I will say to
him, the Nunc Dimittis, with Simeon; for of a truth,
if he is with me, I care not whither I go. I will
speak to him of your heart, and believe me, with all
my power, I wil! beg him to make you his dear, his
well-beloved servant. Ah ! my God ! how am I in-
debted to this Saviour, who so loves us, and how would
I, once for all, press and glue him on my breast.
I mean also on yours, as he has willed that we
should be so inseparably all in him. Adieu, my most
cherished, and truly most dear sister and daughter.
May Jesus ever be in our hearts, may he live and
reign there eternally ; may his holy name, and that of
his glorious Mother, be ever blessed ! Amen.
I am ever the servant of Monsieur, your father-in-
law.
LETTER XV.
To A LADY.
Sign of good prayer. Advice on this exercise and on the choice of
books of' piety ; on Paschal Confession and Communion.
November, 1607.
MADAM, MY VERY DEAR SISTER, I am surprised you
receive so few of my letters. I think I leave none
x a
308 St. Francis de Sales.
of yours without some answer. However, God be
praised.
Do not torment yourself about your prayer, which
you say is without words ; for it is good, if it leaves
good effects in your heart. Do not force yourself to
speak in this divine love; he speaks enough who looks
and is seen. Follow, then, the path into which the
Holy Ghost draws you, though I do not wish you to
give up preparing yourself for meditation, as you used
to do at the beginning. This you owe on your side,
and you should of yourself take no other way ; but
when you intend to put yourself in it, if God draws
you into another, go with him into it; we must on
our side make a preparation according to our measure,
and Avhen God carries us higher, to him alone be the
glory of it.
You can profitably read the books of Mother (St.)
Teresa, and St. Catherine of Sienna, the Method of
serving God, the Abridgment of Christian Perfection,
the Gospel Pearl, but do not be eager in the practice
of all you see there that is beautiful ; go quite gently,
aspiring after these beautiful teachings, and admir-
ing them very highly, and remember that there is no
call for one to eat a feast prepared for many. Thou
hast found honey, says the wise Man, eat what is sufficient
for thee.* The Method, Perfection, Pearl, are books
which are very obscure, and go by the mountain tops ;
we must hardly occupy ourselves with them. Read
* Prov. xxv. 1 6.
Varioiis Letters. 309
and read again the Spiritual Combat, this should be
your dear book, it is clear and entirely practical.
No, my dear child, since you confess to good con-
fessors, have no fear; for if they had not the power
to hear you, they would send you away. And so, it
is not at all necessary to make in your own parish
those general confessions about which you write ; it is
enough to make your Easter duty there, by con-
fessing, or at least communicating. If you are in
the country, the priest whom you find in the parishes
can also confess you. Let yourself not be oppressed
by scruples, nor by too many desires : go on calmly
and courageously. May God ever be your heart, my
dear sister, and I am in him your, &c.
LETTER XVI.
To A LADY.
We must always keep our soul in repose before God.
MY DEAREST MOTHER, As you have told me that my
letters always consoled you much, I wish to lose no
occasion of letting you have them to testify in some
way the desire I have to be useful to your soul, to
your soul, I say, which I cherish extremely.
Keep it always seated and at rest before God
during exterior works, and standing up and moving
about during interior; as the bees, who do not fly
about in their hives or while doing their house- work,
3io St. Francis de Sales.
but only when they go out. While we are at our
affairs, we must aim at quiet of heart, and at keeping
our soul tranquil ; at prayer if it wants to fly, let it
fly, if to bestir itself, let it do so, though then also
tranquillity and simple repose of the soul in seeing
God, in willing God, and in relishing God, is very
excellent.
When I begin to write to you I do not think what