Francis de Sales: Faith
William J. Gallagher, OSFS
Foreword
Faith is a real challenge to the Christian. So often we look upon it as something far removed from our everyday world
and activity. It is one of those things we save for very special occasions, like the good silverware. Or, perhaps, it
is simply that list of items recited in the Apostles’ Creed. How much does such faith actually influence our
lives?
And, what is more important, is this really Christian faith? Not at all. Faith is our act of believing God, of
accepting that which he makes known to us. God invites us to share in his own mysterious life as his adopted heirs.
This is what we believe and what we assent to when we make an act of real Christian faith. Such an act, then,
changes the course of our entire life and should influence everything we do.
By faith we fix our eyes on the goal God has established for us and we join Jesus Christ in the work of salvation.
It is quite important, then, that we try to understand this vital activity of the Christian. It is also important
for us to strive to grow in faith and to make faith the guiding principle of our lives.
St. Francis de Sales provides us with an explanation not often found. His purpose is precisely to point out the
real qualities of a strong belief in God and a firm assent to Gods S invitation. He does not stop with telling us
what those qualities are. He also shows us how we can make them the real characteristics of our own faith.
The reader will soon find that faith is a real challenge — a challenge that is constantly present, demanding
attention and vigilance. Answering the challenge with conviction is the way to eternal life.
Jesus left that place and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Then out came a Canaanite woman from that
district and started shouting, “Sir, Son of David, take pity on me. My daughter is tormented by a devil. But he
answered her not a word. And his disciples went and pleaded with him. “Give her what she wants,” they said,
‘because she is shooting at us. He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.”
But the woman had come up and was kneeling at his feet. “Lord,” she said, “help me.” He replied, “It is not
fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the housedogs.” She retorted, “Ah yes, sir; but even house-dogs
can eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, you have great faith.
Let your wish be granted.” And form that moment her daughter was well again. --- Matthew 15: 21-28
This particular passage of the Gospel provides an excellent opportunity to explain what we mean by faith and
those qualities that our faith should have.
What Faith Is
‘Woman, you have great faith,” says our Lord. Does he mean that her faith was greater than ours? Certainly not with
respect to what is believed, because the object of faith is the truths revealed about God or about the Church. Faith
is simply the intellect’s adherence to those truths. Let us consider this for a moment. The intellect finds revealed
truths are beautiful and good. In this way it comes to believe them and the will comes to love them, because just as
goodness is the object of the will, so beauty is the object of the intellect. In the realm of sense activity, our
sense appetite seeks goodness and our eyes love beauty. The same happens in the interior man with respect to the
truths faith. Since these truths are good and true, they are not only loved and desired by the will, but they are
also esteemed by the intellect because of the beauty found in them. They are beautiful because they are true. Beauty
is never without truth, nor truth without beauty. Moreover, beautiful things that are not true are also not beautiful
in as much as they are false and deceitful.
Now the truths of faith, being very true, are loved because of their beauty. I say loved, for although goodness
is the immediate abject of the will’s love, nevertheless when the intellect presents to it the beauty of revealed
truths, it also discovers goodness there. The will then loves this goodness and beauty. To have great faith it is
so necessary that the intellect perceive this beauty that, when our Lard wants to bring someone to the full
knowledge of truth, he always reveals it to him. The intellect, feeling drawn or charmed by it, communicates
this truth to the will which also loves it. Finally, the love that these two powers have for known truths
causes the person to leave everything in order to believe them and embrace them. Faith, then, is simply the
adherence of the intellect and the will to the truths of the divine mysteries.
Quantity of Truths and Quality of Faith
Faith cannot be greater for one truth than for another. Nor can it be less with regard to the number of things
we believe. We must all believe the very same thing, both with regard to the object of faith as well as with
regard to the number of truths we believe. All are equal in this because everyone must believe all the truths
of faith, both those revealed by God himself and those revealed by God through his Church. I must believe as
much as you, and you as much as I, and all Christians must believe in the same way. Thus, when our Lord said,
“Woman, you have great faith,” it was not because the Canaanite believed m ore than we believe. Rather, it was
because many things made her faith more excellent. For while it is true that there is only one faith which all
Christians must have, nevertheless, not everyone possesses it in the same degree of perfection. To understand
the various degrees of perfection of faith, we must carefully consider the conditions that render it great and
the virtues that accompany it.
Faith and Charity
Faith is the basis and foundation of all the other virtues, but especially of hope and of charity. When I say this
about charity, I also include the many virtues that follow and accompany charity. When charity is united and joined
to faith, it vivifies it. There is, then, a dead faith and a dying faith. Dead faith is that which is separated from
charity — a separation that prevents us from performing the works consistent with the faith we profess. This dead
faith is that which many Christians, the mundane, possess. Indeed, they believe all the mysteries of our holy
religion but, their faith lacking the company of charity, they do not perform any of the good works consistent
with it. Dying faith is that which is not entirely separated from charity. Those who profess it perform some
good works, though rarely and feebly, because charity cannot exist in the soul that has faith without working
to some degree, be it great or small. Either it must perform good works or it will perish, because it cannot
exist if it is not working. Just as the soul cannot remain in the body without performing its vital functions,
so charity cannot be joined to our faith without performing the works that are consistent with that faith. It
cannot be otherwise.
Do you want to know if your faith is dead or dying? Examine your works and actions. It is when all signs of life
cease that a person is dead. So it is with faith. While in winter living trees resemble dead ones, in their season
they produce leaves, flowers, and fruit. In the same way, dead faith has the same appearance as living faith, but
only the latter bears the fruit of faith in all seasons. Living faith is excellent because, being united to charity
and vivified by it, it is strong, firm, and constant. The good works it accomplishes deserve the praise, “You have
great faith! Let all your wishes be granted.”
Such faith is great because of the good works it performs and also because of the many virtues that accompany
it. It governs these virtues like a queen who labors for the defense and preservation of divine truths. The
obedience of these virtues demonstrates her excellence. The greatness of kings is not demonstrated merely by
virtue of the number of provinces and subjects they have, but together with this by the love and submission of
their subjects. If with all their wealth, their vassals pay no attention to their orders nor to their laws, we
would not call them great, but petty. So charity, united to faith, is not only followed by all the virtues, but
as a queen she commands them and all obey and fight for her and according to her will. From this comes the
multitude of good works of a living faith.
Vigilant Faith
There is a vigilant faith, which also depends on its union with charity. There is also a faith that is sluggish,
weighed dawn, and apathetic, the opposite of vigilant faith. It is lax in applying itself to the consideration of
the mysteries of our religion. It is completely torpid and, hence, it does not penetrate revealed truths. Oh, it
sees them and knows them since its eyes are not altogether closed. It is not asleep, but drowsy and sleepy. It
resembles those who slumber and, although their eyes are open, see almost nothing. Although they hear talking,
they neither know nor understand what is said. Why? Because they are numb with sleep. This dozing faith has its
eyes open because it believes the mysteries. It hears sufficiently what has been stated about them, but with a
drowsiness that hinders its understanding of them. Moreover, such faith is like people who have a dull and dreamy
mind. They open their eyes and seem very thoughtful and attentive to something, but are ignorant of what it is.
Those whose faith is drowsy believe all the mysteries in general, but ask them what they know about them and they
know nothing. Their faith is in great danger of being attacked and seduced by many enemies and even of falling on
dangerous heights.
Vigilant faith not only performs good works as living faith does, but it also penetrates and understands revealed
truths, quickly and with depth of perception. It is active and diligent in seeking and embracing those things that
can increase and strengthen it. It watches and perceives from afar all its enemies. It is always on the alert to
discover good and to avoid evil. It guards itself against anything that could serve to ruin it. Being vigilant,
it walks firmly and easily keeps from falling on dangerous heights.
Vigilant Faith and the Cardinal Virtues
This vigilant faith is accompanied by the cardinal virtues: fortitude, prudence, justice, and temperance. They
serve as the armor it uses in putting its enemies to flight. It remains firm, invincible, and unshaken in their
midst. Its strength is so great that it fears nothing, not only because it is strong, but also because such faith
knows its strength and its support, who is Truth itself. There is nothing stronger than truth, in which consists
the valor of faith. Men indeed have such strength. They possess power and mastery over all the animals, but
because we do not realize this, we fear like weaklings and cowards, and stupidly take flight before the beasts.
On the contrary, the strength of faith consists partly in its knowledge of its power. Faith uses it when the
occasion arises and cuts its enemies to flight.
Faith uses prudence to acquire whatever can strengthen and increase it. Such faith is not satisfied with simply
believing all the truths revealed by God and made known through the Church, which is necessary for salvation.
Rather it is even more and more on the watch to discover new truths. Not only that, but also it penetrates them
in order to draw from them the pith and substance that provide its nourishment, delight, enrichment, and growth.
This prudence is not the same as that of many mundane people who are very diligent in amassing wealth, honors
and other such trifles that enrich them and raise them in the eyes of men, but that profit them nothing for
eternal life. What false prudence! Although it should help me gain towns, principalities, and kingdoms, what
would it profit me if with all that I am damned? Of what use will my valor be, if I use it only to acquire
the transitory things of this mortal life? Certainly, even though I should be the strongest and most prudent
man in the world, if I do not use this valor and prudence for eternal life, it amounts to nothing.
Nevertheless, there is s o much human prudence! It manifests itself in a thousand ways. Certainly we see that the
greatest part of our evils comes from this false prudence. For now, however, let us limit ourselves to what
concerns faith. Most Christians who have faith (for they must have it to be such) believe all that we must
believe in order to be saved. Very well, you will be saved, says St. Bernard, if you believe and do what faith
teaches you is required to obtain eternal life. To be saved few things are necessary: to believe all the
mysteries of our religion and keep the commandments of God. The prudence of the mundane is satisfied with
this and wants to do no more than what is necessary in order to have eternal life and in order to flee whatever
can cause their damnation. Therefore, they do not work for God but only for themselves since their prudence
extends no further than to doing what they know would prevent them from being lost. They are not numbered
among those “vigilant servants’ who always have “their eyes fixed on their master’s hands.” The vigilant
servants are extremely diligent and attentive in doing everything that they know can render their services
pleasing to him. This way of acting clearly shows that they are not working for themselves, but rather
because of the love that they have for their master. They use all their prudence not only to fulfill their
duty toward him, but also to do all they find pleasing to him. These are the “faithful servants.” They
will, then, possess eternal life and, moreover, great glory and peace in the presence and enjoyment of
the divine Majesty.
There are many, writes St. Bernard, who say: “I keep the commandments of God.’ Very well, you will be saved. That is
your reward. ‘I am not a thief.” You will not be hanged. There is your reward. “I have not committed murder.” You
will not be executed. There is your reward. “I have dishonored no one.” You will not be dishonored. There is your
reward. “I do what I know is necessary for salvation.” Very well, you will have eternal life. There is your reward.
But you will be considered a “good-for-nothing servant.” Vigilant faith does not act in this way. It serves God not
as a mercenary servant, but as a faithful one, because it uses all its strength, prudence, justice, and temperance to
do everything that it knows and recognizes to be pleasing to our Lord and Master. It not only observes what is required
for salvation, but it seeks out, embraces, and practices faithfully everything that can bring it closer to its God.
Attentive Faith
Great faith is living, vigilant, strong, and prudent. Such faith has a fifth quality — to be attentive. Attentive
faith is very great and excellent, and by means of this attention reaches the highest point of perfection. This is
the faith that the Canaanite woman possessed. Let us consider her attention briefly. Our Lord crossed the border of
Tyre and Sidon. Wanting to hide in order not to manifest his glory, he planned to withdraw into a house so as not to
be seen or noticed. His renown was increasing from day to day. He was followed by a large crowd, attracted by the
miracles and marvelous works he performed. So, he entered a near-by house. But there was a pagan woman who remained
on the look-out for him, who watched carefully to see when the Saviour about whom she had heard so many wonderful
things would pass by. She was attentive like the hunting dog that watches to seize the prey that must pass its way.
When our Lord arrived, the Canaanite woman, waiting to seize her prey, came to make her request and cried out to him,
“Lord, Son of David, have pity on me, for my daughter is cruelly tormented by the devil.” Consider a moment the great
faith of this woman. She asks our divine Master only to have pity on her, and believes that if he does, that will be
sufficient to cure and deliver her daughter, troubled by the evil spirit. Her faith would not have been so great if
she had not been attentive to what she had heard said of our Lord and what she had gathered from it. Those who
followed him or who lived in the houses neighboring the one into which he withdrew, had indeed seen and heard about
the wonders and miracles he had worked, by which he confirmed the doctrine he taught. They had as much faith as the
Canaanite woman, because a large number of them believed what was said of him. Their faith, however, was not as great
as this woman’s because it was not as attentive as hers.
This is an ordinary occurrence we observe among ordinary people. Consider a gathering of people where good and holy
things are being discussed. A man filled with greedy desires will really hear what is said, but when the conversation
is over, ask him about it. He cannot relate a word of it. Why? Because he was not attentive to what was said. His
attention was on his treasure. The same is true of the sensuous, pleasure-loving man. Although he appears to be
listening to the topic of conversation, nevertheless he remembers nothing about it because he is more attentive to
his pleasure than to what is being discussed. However, if someone is there who gives all his attention to listening
to what is said, he will be able to report quite well what he has heard. Why is it that so little profit is derived
from sermons, or from the mysteries that have been taught and explained to us, or from those on which we have
meditated? Because the faith with which we hear them or meditate on them is not attentive. This is why we truly
believe them but without great conviction. The faith of the Canaanite woman was not like this. “Woman, you have
great faith,” not only because of the attention with which you hear and believe what they say of our Lord, but
also because of the attention with which you pray to him and make your request of him. There is no doubt that
the attention we bring to the effort to understand the mysteries of our religion and that with which we meditate
on and contemplate them, makes our faith greater.
But what is prayer and meditation? The words seem to have come from another world. Few people desire to understand
them. What is meditation or contemplation? In a word, it is prayer. To pray with attention is to possess a lively,
vigilant, attentive faith like that of the Canaanite woman. This attentive faith or prayer is accompanied by a great
variety of virtues described in Holy Scripture. Since they are innumerable, I will be satisfied in limiting myself to
touching upon those most suited to you and that especially stand out in the prayer of the Canaanite woman. The
particular virtues that accompanied her request were four: confidence, perseverance, patience, and humility.
Confidence
She had confidence, which is one of the principal conditions that renders our prayer great before God. “Lord,”
said the woman, “have pity on me for my daughter is extremely tormented by the devil.” It is as if she meant to
say: this evil spirit torments her cruelly and excessively, and because of that have pity on me. What great
confidence! She believes that if the Lord has pity on her, her daughter will be cured. She doubts neither his
power nor his will, for she cries out: simply have pity on me. She meant, “I know you are so gentle and kind
to everyone that I have no doubt that begging you to have pity on me, you will do so, and as soon as you do,
my daughter will be cured.”
Certainly the greatest fault we have in our prayers and in all that happens to us, particularly in that which
concerns tribulations, is our lack of confidence. St. Peter and the other Apostles, being in the boat with
their Lord and seeing the storm break, began to be afraid and to invoke his assistance. In that they did well,
for it is to him we ought to have recourse and from whom we ought to expect all our help. But when they saw the
waves swelling higher and higher and their good Master still sleeping, they became very excited and cried out,
“Save us Lord, we are going down.” The Saviour reproved them and said to them, “You men of little faith.” What
did he mean if not, “How little is your faith, since on this occasion when you ought to show it more, your
confidence is lacking. Because your confidence is so little, so also is your faith.”
Perseverance
The Canaanite woman, however, had great confidence when she prayed, even in the midst of the squalls and tempests,
which were not able to shake it ever so slightly. For she backed it up with the perseverance with which she
resolutely continued to cry out, “Lord, Son of David, have pity on me.” Did she say anything else? No, she
had no other words on her lips but these. She persevered in using them during the whole time that she cried
out after our Lord. How great a virtue is this perseverance! When I talk about perseverance, however, it is
not my intention to speak about that final perseverance that we must have in order to be saved, but that
which ought to accompany our prayer. How few people there are who really understand what it is! There are
those who have only just begun their effort to be devout, who have only begun to pray and to follow our
Lord, who already seek and desire consolations, and who cannot persevere in prayer except with its delights.
If they suffer something distasteful in prayer, if God withdraws the joy or the facility they have usually had,
they complain, fret, and say, “The trouble is I am not humble. God need only listen to me. He will not look at
me because he only looks at saints.” And what more? Other such nonsense and myriad thoughts that they entertain,
allowing themselves to become weary and discouraged. They grow weary of praying with this dryness and dejection of
heart. What do they want? Ecstasies, raptures, joys, and consolations. If God does not give us promptly what we
ask or does not show us that he hears us, we lose courage. We do not persevere in prayer. We quit completely, then
and there.
The Canaanite woman did not act in this way, although she saw that our Lord paid no attention to her prayer,
since “he answered her not a word,” and it seemed as if in this he did her an injustice. Nevertheless, this
woman persevered in crying out after him to such a degree that the Apostles were constrained to tell him that
he should dismiss her.
Although our Lord turned a deaf ear to all of this, she did not fail to continue her accustomed prayer. She
showed her perseverance for it is no little virtue to persevere in always praying the same prayer and
accomplishing the same exercises. What prayer shall we say? That which our Lord gave us: “Our Father who are in
heaven...” I am not saying that we should say no other. It is not wrong to diversify our prayers and meditations.
The Church teaches us this by the variety of her prayers. However, we should say this prayer often. How happy we
will be if we add to it perseverance. In dryness and distaste, we should persevere in praying without growing weary,
neither complaining nor seeking to be delivered —being satisfied in the midst of all of this to cry out unceasingly,
“Lord, Son of David, have pity on me.”
Cicero, somewhere in his works, says in effect that there is nothing that wearies a traveler so much as a long
road when it is flat or a short one when it is rugged and hilly. What does he mean? Perseverance is a very
difficult thing. Although the traveler walks along a beautiful, level road, its length wearies him. When he
sees night coming on, he is troubled and disturbed. In a word, he certainly would have found it more pleasing
had the road been diversified by some valley or hill. In the same way, the rugged and hilly road, although it
be short, wearies and tires the traveler, since he must always do the same thing. It does not matter that it
is short. He would prefer that it were longer and that there were some plain and valley. This is the caprice
of the human mind that has no perseverance in what it undertakes.
Let us persevere in prayer at all times. If our Lord seems not to hear us, it is not because he wants to refuse
us. His purpose is to oblige us to cry louder and to make us feel still more the greatness of his mercy. Those
who know anything about hunting know that in the winter the dogs cannot scent their prey. The air is cold and
the frost prevents the dogs from detecting them as they do at other times. The same thing happens in the spring.
The variety and the fragrance of the flowers also removes their facility in perceiving the animal’s scent. To re
medy this, the hunter takes a mouthful of vinegar, and holding the dog’s head, puts it in the dog’s nose. He does
this, not to discourage it in seeking its prey, but to urge and excite it to do its work. In much the same way,
our Lord does not deprive us of joy and consolation in order to discourage us, but to excite us to draw much
closer to his divine goodness and to exercise us in perseverance.
Patience
He also does this to elicit the proofs of our patience, the third virtue that accompanied the prayer of the
Canaanite woman. The Savior, seeing her perseverance, wanted to prove her patience as well. By patience we
maintain, as much as possible, equanimity among the inequalities of the happenings of this life.
So our Lord replied to his Apostles, who begged him to send her away, in a way that must have stung her
deeply and, apparently, made her lose her composure. “It is not reasonable,” he said, “that I should take
the children’s food and throw it to the house dogs. I have not come for all lost sheep, but to find the
lost sheep of the house of my Father.” But, Lord, is not this sheep from the house of your Father? Will
she be lost? Did you not come for everyone, for the Jewish people and for the pagans? It is quite clear
that our Lord came for everyone. This is very plain in Holy Scripture.
When he said this, he wanted it understood that he was promised only to the Jews, who had been named the
children of God. It had been foretold that he himself would come and walk among this people, teach them
with his own mouth, cure their sick with his own hands, personally perform miracles in Israel. Therefore,
he must not take the food of the children of God, of the Jewish people, and throw it to the house dogs,
the Gentiles, a nation that did not know him.
How then are we to understand that our Lord came for the Gentiles as well as for the Jews? Just as he
himself had come to walk among the children of Israel, he will walk among the Gentiles by means of his
Apostles. He will cure their sick, not with his own hands, but through those of his Apostles. He will
preach his doctrine to them by the mouth of his Apostles. He will find their lost sheep through the
labor of his Apostles. This is why he spoke these words, apparently so rude and cutting, which savor
of contempt and disdain for this poor pagan woman. Ordinarily, nothing offends as much as cutting words,
spoken with contempt for those to whom they are said, especially if they are said by persons of
distinction and authority. We have seen men die of sorrow and grief because of the contemptuous words
spoken to them by their princes, even though it happened in a moment of surprise or passion.
When this woman heard our Lord, she did not become impatient. She was neither offended nor saddened,
but prostrating at his feet, she replied, “Ah, yes, sir, I am a dog. I confess it. But I take you at
your word, for the dogs follow their masters and eat the scraps that fall under the table.”
Humility
This humility was the fourth virtue that accompanied the faith and the prayer of the Canaanite woman —
a humility so pleasing to the Savior that he granted her all that she asked of him. “Woman, you have
great faith! Let your wish be granted.” Certainly all the virtues are very dear to God, but humility
pleases him above all the others. It seems he can refuse it nothing. This woman manifested the greatness
of her humility in confessing that she was a dog, and that as such she did not ask for the favors reserved
to the Jews, who were the children of God, but only that she might gather the scraps that fell under the
table.
There are many people who say they are nothing, that they are only vileness, misery, and such like things.
The world is full of this kind of humility. But they cannot bear to have another tell them that they
are worthless, that they are fools, and the like. They will avow it as much as they want, but don’t
you dare say it to them, because they will be offended. I might add the thought that comes to mind in
passing. Confessors would be very happy if they could move their penitents to confess that they are
sinners. But no! Let the confessor show them their faults and attempt to have them admit they are wrong!
Very often the penitents neither want to nor can they believe it.
The Canaanite woman, hearing herself called a dog, was not only not offended, but she believed it, confessed
it, and asked for only what belonged to dogs. She showed admirable humility, meriting the praise of our Lord.
“Woman, you have great faith! Let your wish be granted.” In praising her faith, he praised all the virtues
that accompanied it.
Let us then arouse our faith again! Quicken it by means of charity and the practices and good works performed
in charity. Let us watch carefully to preserve it and to increase it as well by the attentive consideration
of the mysteries that it teaches us as by the exercise of the virtues about which we have spoken, particularly
humility, by which the Canaanite woman obtained all that she desired. Let us imitate this woman when she
persevered in always crying out after our Savior and Master: “Lord, Son of David, take pity on me.” He will
say to us at the end of our days: “Let your wish he granted” and because of what you have done, come, enjoy
eternity. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Advice from Francis de Sales
Be patient with everyone, but, above all, with yourself. I mean, do not be disturbed because of your imperfections;
always rise bravely from a fall. I am glad that daily you make a new beginning. There is no better means of
progress in the spiritual life than to be continually beginning afresh, and never to think we have done
enough.
Go on in all simplicity; do not strive so anxiously to win a quiet mind. Do not examine so closely into the
progress of your own soul. Do not crave so much to be perfect, but let your spiritual life be formed by your
duties — and by the actions which are called forth by circumstances. Do not be overly concerned about future
difficulties. God, who has led you safely so far, will lead you on to the end. Be altogether at rest in the
loving holy confidence which you ought to have in his heavenly providence.
You should make a special point of asking God every morning to give you, before all else, that true spirit of
meekness which he would have his children possess. You must also make a firm resolution to practice this
virtue, especially in your conversations with those persons to whom you chiefly owe it. You must make it your
main object to conquer yourself in this matter; call it to mind a hundred times during the day, commending
your efforts to God. It seems to me that no more than this is needed in order to subject your soul entirely
to his will. Then you will become more gentle day by day, trusting wholly in his goodness.
Devotion is neither more nor less than a general inclination and readiness to do that which we know to be
acceptable to God. It is that “free spirit” of which David spoke when he said, “I will run in the way of thy
Commandments when thou hast set my heart at liberty.’ People of ordinary goodness walk in God’s way, but the
devout run in it, and at length they almost fly therein. To be truly devout, we must not only do God’s will,
but we must do it cheerfully. You should not only have devotion and be devout, but you should render it
amiable, useful, and agreeable to all. The sick will love your devotion for the charitable consolations they
derive from it; your family will love it, if it renders you more amiable and gentle in your disposition,
more solicitous about their welfare, more kind in reproving. Your relations and friends will love it if it
renders you more kind and condescending to their inclinations, when not contrary to the will of God. Briefly,
then, it is necessary to make your devotion more amiable to all; this is indeed true zeal.
Cast many times a day your whole heart, mind, and care on God, with the utmost confidence, saying to him in
the words of David, “I am thine, O Lord; save me.” Live entirely for God. For the love he has borne to you,
endure yourself, with all your miseries. I do not mean by this, that you should be continually tying up your
mind in order to hold it in peace, for you must do everything with the simplicity of a loving heart, keeping
near our Lord as a little child keeps near his father. When you happen to fall into any faults, whatever they
may be, ask pardon meekly, saying to him that you are certain he loves you well and will forgive you, and
this always simply and gently.
To every man, however holy he may be, there always remains some imperfection, so that we do no injury to the
saints when, in recounting their virtues, we relate their sins and defects; but, on the contrary, those who
write their lives, for this reason do a great injury to mankind by concealing their sins for fear of
diminishing the esteem of their sanctity. Beholding the defects of the saints, while admiring their lives, we
learn how great is the goodness of God who forgave them, and we learn to avoid the like and to do penance for
them, as the saints have done.
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