The Sermons of St. Francis de Sales: On Prayer

The Sermons of

St. Francis de

Sales on Prayer

Volume I In The

Series

St. Francis De Sales

Copyright © 1985 by the Visitation Monastery of Frederick, MD, Inc.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 84-52310

Cover design by Milo Persic, [email protected].

Back cover image courtesy of DeSales Resources and Ministries, Inc., Stella Niagara, NY.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

TAN Books

Charlotte, North Carolina

www.TANBooks.com

2012

The Sermons of St. Francis de Sales

TABLE OF CONTENTS

About St. Francis de Sales

Preface

Translator's Note

Introduction

1. The Goal of Prayer

Given on the Third Sunday of Lent, March 22, 1615, concerning the usefulness and necessity of prayer, the operations of the understanding, meditation, petitions, contemplation, and the goal of prayer

2. The Spirit of Prayer

Given on the Fourth Sunday of Lent, March 29, 1615, concerning who can pray, and the three conditions for praying well

3. The Kinds of Prayer

Given on Passion Sunday, April 5, 1615, concerning the prayers of sinners, what to ask God for, vital prayer, vocal prayer, obligatory and non-obligatory prayers, and the Divine Office

4. The Heart of Prayer

Given on Palm Sunday, April 12, 1615, concerning direct and indirect prayer, bodily posture during prayer, the four levels of the soul, meditation, contemplation, and ejaculations

ABOUT ST. FRANCIS DE SALES

St. Francis de Sales, the holy bishop, founder, and Doctor of the Church, is known throughout the Church for his great sanctity, learning, theological knowledge, gentleness, and understanding of the human soul. Through these marvelous gifts he converted and guided innumerable souls to God during his own lifetime, and re-converted thousands from Calvinism. He continues to direct many souls through his spiritual writings and published sermons. Today St. Francis de Sales is known as one of the great figures of the Catholic Counter-Reformation and of the 17th-century rebirth of Catholic mystical life.

St. Francis was born in 1567 in the castle belonging to the de Sales family in Thorens, Savoy, located in what is now southeastern France. As he grew older, the young nobleman studied literature, law, philosophy and theology in Paris and Padua, and received a doctorate in civil and canon law. Though he could have had a brilliant secular career, he set his heart on following God's call to the priesthood, and was ordained in 1593 at the age of 26. He was consecrated Bishop of Geneva at age 35, and remained the Bishop of Geneva for the remaining 20 years of his life.

Shortly after becoming a bishop, St. Francis met St. Jane Frances de Chantal, a widow; between these two saints there grew a deep spiritual friendship. St. Francis became the spiritual director of Jane Frances, and with her, he founded the religious order of nuns known as the Order of the Visitation, or the Visitandines.

St. Francis de Sales wrote two of the greatest Catholic masterpieces on the spiritual life: the Introduction to the Devout Life and Treatise on the Love of God. The former shows how holiness is possible for all people in the state of grace, including people living in the world. This book was a bestseller in the 17th century and is still popular today. The Treatise on the Love of God covers all aspects of the virtue of charity, the supernatural love of God. Because of his writings, St. Francis de Sales has become the patron of writers