Letters - Direction - Chantal 3

LETTERS OF St. FRANCIS DE SALES

Do all through love, nothing through constraint

Sales, October 14, 1604[1]

Madam,

I have a very great desire to make myself clearly understood in this letter; please God, I will find the means to match my desire! I am sure that you will be encouraged by my response to part of what you asked me about, especially the part about the two doubts which the enemy is suggesting to you concerning your choice of me as your spiritual director. So I am going to tell you what I can, in order to put into a few words what I think you need to consider in this matter.

First of all, the choice you have made gives every indication of being a good and legitimate one; so, please, have no further doubt about this. Indications such as these: the strong impulse of your heart which carried you to this decision almost by force, yet with joy and contentment; the time I took to deliberate before agreeing to your wish; the fact that neither you nor I relied on ourselves but sought the opinion of your confessor who is a good, learned and prudent man; the fact that we allowed time for your first enthusiasm to subside in case it had been misplaced, and we prayed about this, not for one or two days only, but for several months; without a doubt, all these are infallible signs that we acted according to God’s will.

Impulses that come form the evil spirit or from the human mind are very different: they are frightening, vehement, vacillating. The first thing they whisper to the agitated soul is not to listen to any advice, or if it does, to listen only to the advice of persons of little or no experience. These impulses urge us to hurry up and close a deal before having discussed the terms, and they are satisfied with a short prayer which serves as a pretext in deciding most important questions.

Our case was not at all like this. Neither you nor I made the final decision in this matter; it was made by a third person who had no reason to consider anything but God’s will. The fact that I hesitated at first – and this was because of the deliberation I was bound to make – ought to put your mind completely at rest. You may be sure it was not from any disinclination to serve you spiritually (my inclination to do so is great beyond words), but in a decision of such moment I didn’t want to follow either your desire or my inclination, but only God and His providence. So please stop right there and don’t go on arguing with the enemy about it; tell him boldly that it was God who wanted it and who has done it (cf. Pss. 115:3; 135:6). It was God who placed you under that first direction, profitable for you at that time; it is God who has brought you under my direction and He will make it fruitful and useful to you, even though the instrument is unworthy.

As to your second point, my very dear sister, be assured that, as I was just saying from the very beginning when you consulted with me about your interior, God gave me a tremendous love for your soul. As you became more and more open with me, a marvellous obligation arose for my soul to love yours more and more; that’s why I was prompted to write you that God had given me to you. I don’t believe that anything could be added to the affection I felt for you, especially when I was praying for you. But now, my dear daughter, a new quality has been added – I don’t know what to call it. All I can say is that its effect is a great inner delight which I feel whenever I wish you perfect love of God and other spiritual blessings. I am adding nothing to the truth, and I speak in the presence of the “God of my heart” (cf Ps. 73:26) and yours. Every affection differs in some particular way from every other affection; that which I have for you has a certain something about it which brings me great consolation, and when all is said, is extremely good for me. Hold that for the truest truth and have no more doubt about it. I don’t intend to say so much, but one word leads to another, and I think you will know what I mean.

To me it’s an amazing fact, my daughter, that holy Church in imitation of her Spouse, teaches us to pray, not for ourselves only, but always for ourselves, and our fellow Christians. “Give us…,” she says, “grant us…” and similar all-inclusive terms. It had never occurred to me when praying in this general way to think about any person in particular; but since leaving Dijon, whenever I say “we” I think of particular individuals who have recommended themselves to my prayers; ordinarily you are the one who comes to mind first, and when not first (which is rarely the case), then last, so that I have more time to think of you. What more can I say than that? But for the honour of God, do not speak about this to anyone, for I am saying a little too much, though I say it in total honesty and purity. This should be enough to help you answer all those temptations in the future, or at least to give you the courage to laugh at the enemy and spit in his face! I’ll tell you the rest some day, either in this life or the next.

In your third point you ask me what remedies there are for the suffering caused by the temptations the devil suggests to you against the faith and the Church. At least, that’s what I understand to be the difficulty. I shall tell you what God inspires me to say. In this kind of temptation we must take the same stance that we take against temptations of the flesh, not arguing at all, but doing as the Israelite children did with the bones of the Paschal Lamb, not trying to break them but simply throwing them into the fire (cf. Ex. 12:10). In no way must we answer or even pretend to hear what the enemy is saying, no matter how hard he pounds on the door. We mustn’t even say “Who is it?” “That’s true,” you tell me, “but he is so annoying and is making such a loud racket that those inside can’t even hear each other speak.” It’s all the same; be patient, speak by means of signs: we must prostrate ourselves before God and stay there at His feet; He will understand very well from this humble gesture that you are His and that you want His help even though you are unable to speak. But especially, stay inside; don’t so much as open the door either to see who is there or to chase this pest away. Finally he will grow tired of shouting and will leave you in peace. “It’s about time!” you will tell me.

[…] So, courage then! Things will improve soon. So long as the enemy doesn’t get in, the rest doesn’t matter. Still, it’s a very good sign that he is raging and beating at the door; it’s a sign that he doesn’t have what he’s after. If he had it, he would no longer carry on this way. He would come in and stay. Remember this so as never to get caught up in scruples.

And here is another remedy for you. The temptations against faith go directly to the understanding to draw it to argue, and to get caught up in all these things. Do you know what you should do while the enemy wastes his time trying to scale the walls of your intellect? Slip out the gate of your will and take the offensive against him. That is, when a temptation against faith starts raising questions in your mind such as, “How can this be? But what if this? What if that…?”, instead of debating the enemy with arguments, let your affective side attack him with full force, and even let your thoughts be reinforced by your voice, crying out “You traitor, you wretch! You left the Church of the angels, and you are trying to get me to leave that of the saints! Disloyal, unfaithful, perfidious one! You gave the apple of perdition to the first woman (Gen. 3:1-6) and now you want me to bite it too! ‘Get behind me, Satan! It is written: you shall not tempt the Lord your God’ (cf. Mt. 4:10,7). NO, I will not argue with you. When Eve tried to dispute with you, she was lost; she argued and was seduced. Live Jesus in whom I believe, live the church to which I cling!” Say these and similar impassioned words. You must speak also to Jesus Christ and to the Holy Spirit in whatever way He inspires you, and even pray as well to the Church: “O Mother of the children of God, may I never be separated from you; I want to live and die in you.”

I don’t know if I’m making myself clear. What I’m trying to say is that we have to strike back with the heart and not with our reason, with intense feelings and not with arguments. It’s true that at such times of temptation our poor will is without feeling. So much the better. Its blows will strike the enemy that much harder. And when he discovers that instead of delaying your progress, he is giving you the opportunity of expressing countless virtuous affections, particularly that of affirming your faith, he will finally leave you alone.

As a third remedy, it would be good once in a while to take fifty or sixty strokes of the discipline, or only thirty, depending on what you can take. It’s surprising how effective this measure has been for someone I know. Undoubtedly that’s because the physical sensation distracts from interior suffering and calls forth the mercy of God. moreover, when the devil sees that his partner, the flesh, is being subdued, he gets afraid and runs away. But this third remedy must be taken in moderation, depending on the good it achieves, as you will know after trying it out for a few days.

When all is said and done, these temptations are simply trials like any other, and you must calm yourself, for as Scripture reminds us: “Blessed is he who undergoes temptation; for having been proved, he will receive the crown of glory” (cf. Jas. 1:12). I have seen few people make progress without experiencing trials, so you must be patient. After the squall, God will send the calm. But make use especially of the first two remedies I have suggested.

As for your fourth point […][2]

But if you really like the prayers you are used to saying, please don’t drop them; and if you happen to leave out some of what I am telling you to do, have no scruples about it, for here is the general rule of our obedience written in capital letters:

“DO ALL THROUGH LOVE, NOTHING THROUGH CONSTRAINT;

LOVE OBEDIENCE MORE THAN YOU FEAR DISOBEDIENCE.”

I want you to have the spirit of liberty, not the kind that excludes obedience (this is freedom of the flesh), but the liberty that excludes constraint, scruples and anxiety. If you really love obedience and docility, I’d like to think that when some legitimate or charitable cause takes you away from your religious exercises, this would be for you another form of obedience and that your love would make up for whatever you have to omit in your religious practice.

I want you to get a French translation of all the prayers you will be saying; not that I want you to say them in French, for they are more devotional for you in Latin, but I want you to understand them better. The same goes for the Litanies of the Name of Jesus, of Our Lady, and the other prayers. But do all this without anxiety and in a spirit of gentleness and love.

Your meditations will focus on the life and death of Our Lord. I approve of your using the Exercises of Tauler, the Meditations of Saint Bonaventure, and those of Capiglia, for in the end, it is always the life of Our Lord presented there, as it is in His Gospels.[3] But you must simplify all this in the manner I have written out for you. Meditations on the four Last Ends will be good for you, on condition that you always close your meditation with an act of confidence in God, never thinking about death and hell on the one hand, without picturing the Cross on the other, so that after having been moved to fear by the first consideration, you will have recourse to the other through confidence. Your period of meditation should not exceed three quarters of an hour. I like spiritual canticles, but sing with feeling.

As for brother ass, I approve of a Friday fast and a frugal supper on Saturdays. It’s a good idea to hold him down during the week, not so much by cutting down on the quantity of food he is given (moderation must be observed), but by cutting back on the variety of foods you put before him. Nevertheless, I recommend that you treat him once in a while by giving him oats, as Saint Francis did, to make him go faster. That’s where taking the disciple comes in, for it has a marvellous power of quickening the spirit by stinging the flesh; but use it only twice a week.

Do not go to communion less frequently than you’ve been doing, unless your confessor tells you to. It is a special comfort for me on feast days to know that we go to communion together.

Now for your fifth point. True, I have a particular affection for Celse-Bénigne and your other children. Since God has put into your heart a desire to see them totally devoted to His service, you must bring them up with this in mind, gently encouraging them to think along these lines. Find the Confessions of Saint Augustine and read carefully Book VIII and what follows. There you will see Saint Monica, a widow like yourself, and her care for her son Augustine; you will find other things too that will encourage you.

As for Celse-Bénigne, you will have to inspire him with generous motives and plant in his little soul a noble and courageous ambition to serve God; and you will have to minimize the idea of purely human glory, but do this very gradually; as he grows up, with God’s care that he and his sisters sleep alone, as far as possible, or with persons whom you can trust as completely as you would yourself. I can’t tell you how important this is: experience teaches me this every day.

If François wants to be a nun of her own accord, fine;[4] otherwise, I do not approve of her being influenced by any recommendations, but only, as in the case of other young girls, by gentle inspirations. As much as possible, we must touch the hearts of others as do the angels, delicately and without coercion. Still, I think it’s a good idea that you send her to be educated at the monastery of Puits d’Orbe where I hope true devotion will flourish again very soon. I would like you to cooperate toward this end. Try to remove traces of vanity from the hearts of your daughters; vanity seems almost innate to their sex.[5] I know you have the Letters of Saint Jerome in French; read the one he wrote about Pacatula and the others about the education of girls.[6] You will find them refreshing. But do all this in moderation. “Gentle inspirations” sums all I have to say on the subject.

I see that you owe someone two thousand crowns. As soon as you can, get this pad, and be very careful not to withhold from others anything you owe them. Give alms in little ways, but very humbly. I like the practice of visiting the sick, the elderly – women especially – and very young children. I like the practice of visiting the poor, especially poor women – humbly and with kindness.

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[1] Oeuvres, XII, 352-370: Letter CCXXXIV. The meaning alluded to in the previous letter actually took place, not in Annecy, but at St. Claude, a pilgrimage town located roughly midway between Dijon and Annecy. Francis and Jane were able to talk at length. Still, a short time later Jane wrote that she was being tired by doubts concerning both her choice of him as director and some unspecified matters of faith. This is Francis’s response.

[2] Much of this “fourth point” is devoted to daily prayers and practices similar to those proposed in the Introduction to the Devout Life, Part II.

[3] Of the titles mentioned the first two are spurious works attributed to Johann Tauler (1294-1361) and Saint Bonaventure (1221-1274); the third, by Andrew Capiglia, a Spanish Carthusian, had been translated in French in 1601. Note that Francis was unable to refer his directees to the Gospel texts since no approved Catholic translation was available to them; hence the referral to meditation books as another means of praying with the life and death of Christ.

[4] In fact, Françoise was not so inclined.

[5] See Wendy M. Wright, Bond of Perfection (New York: Paulist, 1985), pp. 135-138.

[6] See select Letters of St. Jerome with an English translation by F. A. Wright (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard, 1980), letters CXXVIII, XXII, and CVII.

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A Spirituality for Everyone

St. Francis de Sales presents a spirituality that can be practised by everyone in all walks of life