Salesian Literature

If ever a man revealed himself in his letters it was St. Francis de Sales.  His rich sympathetic nature stands out vividly.  We are reminded of Cardinal Newman’s words in his Historical Sketches: “I want to hear a Saint converse; I am not content to look at him as a statue; his words are the index of his hidden life, as far as that life can be known to man, for ‘out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh’.  Now the ancient saints have left behind them just that kind of literature which more than any represents the abundance of the heart, which more than any other approaches to conversation; I mean correspondence.”

 

In this pamphlet you are going to hear St. Francis de Sales converse through his letters to Madame Madeleine de la Fléchére, his cousin. They were about the same age and he became her spiritual director during the Lenten course of sermons he preached at Rumilly in France in 1608.

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Foreword

Letter 1: Putting up with Ourselves

Letter 2: A Sense of Proportion

Letter 3: The Distractions of a Busy Life

Letter 4: Combining Frailty with Fidelity

Letter 5: In Moments of Melancholy

Letter 6: The Right Use of Mortification

Letter 7: A Happy Frame of Mind

Letter 8: The Perfection of Motherhood

Letter 9: A Gift from God

Letter 10: One Thing at a Time

Letter 11: Throw Yourself into God's Arms

Letter 12: A Constant Challenge

Letter 13: Always Something to Do

Letter 14: Holding God's Hand

Letter 15: The Secret of Inward Peace

Letter 16: The Throne of God's Love

Letter 17: Laying Good Foundation

Letter 18: A Call to Arms

Letter 19: Besieged by Troubles

Letter 20: The Real Test of Love

Letter 21: Walking with God

Letter 22: The Loss of a Loved One

 

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