Every Day with Saint Francis de Sales - March

[Hildegard of Bingen]

Every Day with Saint Francis de Sales


Teachings and Examples from the Life of the Saint by Salesiana Publishers


MARCH 29th(page 89)

     Observe how kind Divine Providence is to us! God encourages us to have confidence in Him. A son will never perish while he is in the arms of his Almighty Father. If God does not always give us what we ask, He only does this to keep us near Him. He wants us to ask Him for help, storming heaven with a loving violence. He is kind and merciful. As soon as we submit ourselves to His will, He immediately grants our wishes.

(Letters 1513; O. XVIII, p. 369)

     Francis de Sales often said that he considered March 29 to be one of the most beautiful days of his life, because on that day in 1610 the saintly baroness de Chantal had abandoned her country, her possessions and her family to go to Annecy to initiate the Institute of the Daughters of the Visitation. The saintly founder also added that he had never offered a more worthy or dearer victim to the Divine Majesty.
 

(A.S. III, p. 719)

Happy are pliant hearts; they will never break.

MARCH 30th (page 91)

     Holy detachment is one of the virtues which Our Lord Jesus Christ spread abroad with a delightful scent. It was a lovely flower in Hist most holy passion. It is the most excellent of virtues because it shares in the firmness of charity, in the perfume of humility, in the merit of patience and in the fruit of perseverance. Great is this virtue, worthy of being practiced by all the children of God.

(Sermons 29; O. IX, p. 283)

     On March 30th, 1607, Francis de Sales was admitted to share in the prayers and good works of the Carthusians by Superior General Don Bruno d'Haffierngue. This good religious wrote out the certificate of affiliation in glowing terms, clearly showing the esteem he had for the holy prelate. On his part, Francis de Sales commented, "My life of continual activity and busyness needs to be backed up by the prayers of these holy hermits." With pleasure he conferred Holy Orders and made his annual retreat at the Grand Chartreuse. He considered it a high honor that there were both monks and nuns of this order in his diocese. He never passed by places where the Carthusians were, without visiting them and telling them that he was a son of the order. He took great pleasure every time he could occupy a modest place among his confreres.

(A.S. III, p. 737)

To seek conversations and to fly from them are two extreme defects, the first more so than the second.

Nothing appeases an enraged elephant so much as the sight of a little lamb.

 

MARCH 31st (page 92)

     If we have a taste for divine things, worldly things will no longer excite our appetite. How can it be possible, after having considered the goodness, the stability and the eternity of God, to have a heart in love with the vanities of this world? We must put up with the vanity of the world, but we must love only the truth of God.

(Letters 439; O. XIII, p. 382)

     On March 31st, 1599, Francis de Sales, having concluded his business in Rome, celebrated Mass in Saint Peter's Basilica, received the blessing of Pope Clement VIII, and left Rome to return to Savoy. However, he wanted to pass through Loreto to thank the Madonna for all the graces he had received. He remained kneeling for a long time in the miraculous room where the Holy Ghost worked the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word. Canon de Chisse interrupted his prayers. In reply, Francis said, "For goodness sake, my dear brother, leave me alone here for another hour. I want to renew all the promises and vows made to the mother of God since my youth. To satisfy his devotion he remained there for the rest of the day. Then he spent a good part of the night with the bishop of Loreto, who wanted the saint's evaluation of a book he was writing.

(A.S. III, p. 760)

If in the effort to be virtuous person you draw the contempt of the world upon yourself, no matter! One must rejoice in any humiliation suffered for virtue.

Walk always near to God, for the gentleness of His shadow is more salutary than the brightness of the sun.