The Deacon

If St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622) could have foreseen an audience that would include, 400 years later, those ordained to the permanent diaconate, it would have been interesting to note how he might have rearranged the “bouquet” (p. 1) of teachings presented in his book “Introduction to the Devout Life” (Noll Library, OSV, $29.95). A second question would have naturally followed — would he have changed it at all?

Before compiling the writings that make up “Introduction to the Devout Life” (1609), de Sales had already targeted a specific readership, and in his mind justifiably so. Prefacing his book with an apology, he explains this and addresses other possible objections to the type of work he proposes. Others who have written such works have done so for those living consecrated vows apart from the world. “But my object,” he explains, “is to teach those who are living in towns, at court, in their own households, and whose calling obliges them to a social life, so far as externals are concerned” (p. 2).

The Need for Such a Book

Does a sublime spirituality suit Christians such as these, immersed in worldly concerns? De Sales insists that it does, likening each of these souls to a moth that “hovers in the flames without burning her wings” (p. 2). The challenges they will face justify all the more the need for the “noble work” of seeking a devout life (2). He advises that success in this endeavor will “not [be] easy,” adding, “and for that very reason, I would have Christians bestow more care and energy than they have until now on the attempt” (p. 2).

As to his own suitability to the task, de Sales admits that being bishop of Geneva in a Calvinist-dominated land afforded him “scarce a moment’s leisure” for writing (p. 3). In spite of this, he considered “the guidance of individual souls” a central calling of his episcopacy, comparing it to picking up sheaves for “the universal world-harvest” (p. 4).

This motivation alone may have sufficed for writing the book, though de Sales relates other circumstances that led to the writing of “Introduction to the Devout Life.” He recalls how a certain soul once sought his help after she conveyed to him her great desire for living a devout life. After consenting to her request to keep written records of his teachings, a friend of de Sales learned of these writings and urged him to make them public, believing “they might be profitable to others” (p. 3).

A final, personal nudge moves de Sales to write the book, a conviction springing from an awareness of his own inadequacy. “It is true,” he confesses, “that I who write about the devout life am not myself devout, but most certainly I am not without the wish to become so, and it is this wish that encourages me to teach” (p. 5). Providentially, de Sales completes the Preface to the book on July 22, 1608, the memorial of St. Mary Magdalene; one would be hard pressed to find a soul more devoted than she.

Devotion as a Movement

“Introduction to the Devout Life” addresses not so much the topic of devotion as it does the means by which to attain it. De Sales does not neglect, however, to provide an essential definition of the word, distinct from its many external pretenses. No true devotion can be found, he notes, in those who “dress up their exterior with visible acts” with hearts devoid of charity (p. 10). For de Sales, the essence of all true devotion rests simply in one who carries out the works of love (pp. 5-6).

The preposition in the title of the book — “to” — may provide the best lens through which to read de Sales, insofar as the word suggests both a direction and a destination. What promotes, or hinders, the movement of the soul in devotion occupies the breadth and depth of de Sales’ spiritual reflections. When appropriate, de Sales provides specific spiritual exercises to assist the soul in the type of movement it needs.

In Part I, the author presents the movement that is necessary for a soul to progress from its first desire for devotion to its initial attainment. The liberation from mortal sin through the Sacrament of Penance provides the necessary first step towards purification. From this follows the first series of spiritual exercises designed to free the soul from lingering, if not nagging, attachments to sin.

Having first attained devotion, the soul has no guarantee of remaining secure in it. In Part II, therefore, de Sales addresses the two means by which a soul must resolve to keep it.

One does this first through prayer, especially mental prayer that focuses especially on the life and passion of the Lord. When one does this frequently, he writes, one “will be filled with him” and “will grow in his likeness” (p. 51). Second, one sustains the devout life through the sacraments of the Church, especially the Eucharist, which is, he writes, “the heart of all devotion … that ineffable mystery which embraces the whole depth of divine love” (p. 71).

Growing and Defending Devotion

In Part III, de Sales reflects on the virtues a soul must develop to grow in devotion. Among the many necessary virtues, he advises readers to take special aim at the virtue that counteracts the vice they struggle with most (p. 92). Furthermore, for every soul, he encourages the development of the three virtues most suited to acquiring love: obedience, chastity and poverty (p. 119). These three, he writes, form “the spiritual cross, and all three must be raised upon a fourth, which is humility” (p. 119). It is in the humble imitation of Christ that the soul seeks its salvation. For this reason, it is willing to do so “amid suffering and afflictions; bearing insults, contradictions and troubles with all the gentleness [it] can possibly command” (p. 96).

In Part IV, de Sales deals with the threats to devotion’s undoing, unveiling the multifarious means Satan employs to steal one away from it. The soul must withstand these attacks because “all spiritual falls … invariably throw us [even] lower than we were at the beginning” (p. 225). The remedy in the face of every spiritual battle is Christ, who on the cross fought these battles for us, whether we know it or not, and chances are we do not (p. 196).

In Part V, de Sales addresses the inescapable need of devotion’s restoration, advising that even a clock, however good, must be continually wound and, in the course of time, its “bent works” straightened (p. 225). So, too, in order to sustain all that it has gained, devotion in the life of a soul requires a regular, spiritual renewal.

A Delightfully Practical Guide

In “Introduction to the Devout Life,” St. Francis de Sales has produced not only a practical guide, but also a delightful read, conversational, yet artfully crafted through his deft use of metaphor to unveil the elusive realities of spiritual battle.

The result is a useful guide to the soul whose vocation has plunged it into the lower affairs of the world while it hungers for higher things.

A beneficial read for both diaconal and lay spirituality, this classic work has remained in publication since 1609. Its short chapter format lends itself to today’s hectic lifestyle, providing the reader with a brief, daily spiritual respite. What better way to gather this spiritual bouquet, which the author arranged “with scarce a moment’s leisure”?

DEACON ANTHONY J. CLISHEM, Ed.D., serves as the Office of Catechetical Formation leader for the Diocese of Joliet, in Illinois.