Better make penitents by gentleness than hypocrites by severity. Saint Francis de Sales More Quotes by Saint Francis de Sales More Quotes From Saint Francis de Sales Strive to see God in all things without exception. Do not smother yourself...If you start smothering yourself with a host of cares and longings and wishes ... you will be disabling yourself from serving God with all your heart. Saint Francis de Sales care wish heart Frequent not the company of immodest persons, especially if they be also impudent, as is generally the case; ...these corrupted souls and infected hearts scarcely speak to any, either of the same or a different sex, without causing them to fall in some degree from purity; they have poison in their eyes and in their breath, like basilisks. On the contrary, keep company with the chaste and virtuous; often meditate upon and read holy things; for the word of God is chaste, and makes those also chaste that delight in it. Saint Francis de Sales eye sex fall There is no artifice as good and desirable as simplicity. Saint Francis de Sales simplicity editing writing Be patient with everyone, but above all with yourself. Saint Francis de Sales patient compassion inspirational Trouble that is easily recognized is half-cured. Saint Francis de Sales judgment half trouble A spoon full of honey gets more flies than a barrel full of vinegar. Saint Francis de Sales vinegar spoons honey He who can preserve gentleness amid pains, and peace amid worry multitude of affairs, is almost perfect. Saint Francis de Sales almost-perfect pain worry Whatever happens, abide steadfast in a determination to cling simply to God. Saint Francis de Sales steadfast whatever-happens determination Go to your confessor; open your heart to him; display to him all the recesses of your soul; take the advice that he will give you with the utmost humility and simplicity. For God, Who has an infinite love for obedience, frequently renders profitable the counsels we take from others, but especially from those who are the guides of our souls. Saint Francis de Sales humility heart giving Flowers often grow more beautifully on dung-hills than in gardens that look beautifully kept. Saint Francis de Sales perspective garden flower All the science of the Saints is included in these two things: To do, and to suffer. And whoever had done these two things best, has made himself most saintly. Saint Francis de Sales saint suffering two It is right that you should begin again every day. There is no better way to complete the spiritual life than to be ever beginning it over again. Saint Francis de Sales should spiritual way Work hard every day at increasing your purity of heart, which consists in appraising things and weighing them in the balance of God's will. Saint Francis de Sales balance hard-work heart Have Jesus always for your patron, His Cross for a mast on which you must spread your resolutions as a sail. Your anchor shall be a profound confidence in Him, and you shall sail prosperously. Saint Francis de Sales anchors profound jesus The truly patient man neither complains of his hard lot nor desires to be pitied by others. He speaks of his sufferings in a natural, true, and sincere way, without murmuring, complaining, or exaggerating them. Saint Francis de Sales suffering desire men O my child, bethink you that just as the bee, having gathered heaven's dew and earth's sweetest juices from amid the flowers, carries it to her hive; so the Priest, having taken the Saviour, God's Own Son, Who came down from Heaven, the Son of Mary, Who sprang up as earth's choicest flower, from the Altar, feeds you with that Bread of Sweetness and of all delight. Saint Francis de Sales flower taken children Marital intercourse is certainly holy, lawful and praiseworthy in itself and profitable to society, yet in certain circumstances it can prove dangerous, as when through excess the soul is made sick with venial sin, or through the violation and perversion of its primary end, killed by mortal sin; such perversion, detestable in proportion to its departure from the true order, being always mortal sin, for it is never lawful to exclude the primary end of marriage which is the procreation of children. Saint Francis de Sales order children sex The declared enemies of God and His Church, heretics and schismatics, must be criticized as much as possible, as long as truth is not denied. It is a work of charity to shout: 'Here is the wolf!' when it enters the flock or anywhere else. Saint Francis de Sales catholic powerful long Every vocation becomes more agreeable when united with devotion. Saint Francis de Sales vocation united devotion We must fear God out of love, not love Him out of fear. Saint Francis de Sales fear-god saint
