Salesian Literature

Letters on:

Overcoming Fear, Temptation, Failure and Discouragement

1. We must be patient as we seek perfection    ::    2. Have courage, for you have only just begun   ::    3. Be gentle and charitable to your soul

4. God loves greater infirmity with greater tenderness   ::    5. We must bear ourselves until God bears us to Heaven   

6. Self-love can be mortified, but never dies   ::    7. We must attain holy indifference   ::    8. Lean on the mercy of God

9. To change the world, we must change ourselves   ::    10. In patience shall you possess your soul   ::    11. Do not worry yourself about temptations  

12. We must not be fearful of fear   ::    13. Constrain yourself only to your serving God well   ::    14. True simplicity is always good and agreeable to God

15. We must do all by love and nothing by force   ::    16. Be then all for God

​

3. Be gentle and charitable to your soul

To a woman distressed by her sins

 

Madame,

 

I truly and greatly desire that when you think you can obtain any consolation by writing to me, you should do so with confidence.

 

We must join these two things together: an extreme affection for practising our exercises very exactly – whether these concern prayer or virtues – and a calmness, quietness, and lack of dismay if we happen to commit a fault in them.  For the practice of our exercises depends on our fidelity, which ought always to be entire, and grow from hour to hour; but faults come from our infirmity, which we can never put off during this mortal life.

 

My dearest daughter, when faults happen to us, let us examine our heart at once, and ask it if it has still alive and entire the resolution of serving God.  I hope it will answer us yes, and that it would rather suffer a thousand deaths than withdraw itself from this resolution.

 

Then let us ask it, “Why then do you now fail; why are you so cowardly?”  It will answer, “I have been surprised, I know not how; but I am now fallen, like this.”

 

Well, my child, it must be forgiven; it is not by infidelity it falls; it is by infirmity.  It needs then to be corrected, gently and calmly, and not to be vexed more and troubled.  We ought to say to it: “Well now, my heart, my friend, in the name of God take courage; let us go on, let us beware of ourselves, let us lift ourselves up to our help and our God.”  Ah! My dear daughter, we must be charitable toward our soul, and not scold it, so long as we see that it does not offend out of set purpose.

 

You see, in this exercise we practise holy humility.  What we do for our salvation is done for the service of God; for Our Lord Himself has worked out in this world only our salvation.  Do not desire the battle, but await it with firm foot.  May Our Lord be your strength.  I am, in Him,

 

Your very affectionate servant,

Francis

Back to Top

​