Top 91 Francis De Sales Quotes
#1. Stretch out your hand to Him like a little child to his father so that He may lead you on.
Francis De Sales
#3. If after all your efforts you cannot succeed, you could not please our Lord more than by sacrificing to Him your will, and remaining in tranquility, humility, and devotion, entirely conformed and submissive to His divine will and good pleasure.
Francis De Sales
#4. Truly, by the watering of our Savior's blood, made with the hyssop of the cross, we have been restored to a white incomparably better than that possessed by the snows of innocence.
Francis De Sales
#5. You must grow in love by means of the root, rather than the branches. (S II 7)
Francis De Sales
#6. Learn to see God in the details of your life, for He is everywhere.
Francis De Sales
#7. There are two sorts of good wills. The one says, "I would do well, but it gives me trouble, and I will not do it." The other, "I wish to do well, but I have not as much power as I have will; it is this which holds me back." The first fills Hell, the second Paradise.
Francis De Sales
#8. See, this divine lover is at the gate. He does not merely knock, but He remains there knocking. He calls to the soul.
Francis De Sales
#9. There will be nothing which the fullness of His love does not replenish.
Francis De Sales
#10. When human aid fails us, all is not wanting; for God takes over and takes care of us by His special Providence.
Francis De Sales
#11. God is merciful to those who want to love Him and who have placed their hopes in Him.
Francis De Sales
#12. Especially beware of bad books; and for nothing in the world let your soul be carried away by certain writings which weak brains admire, because of some vain subtleties which they find therein.
Francis De Sales
#13. The King of Glory does not reward His servants according to the dignity of their office, but according to the humility and love with which they have exercised it.
Francis De Sales
#14. Oppose vigorously any tendency to sadness ... You must persevere. By means of sorrow the enemy tries to make us weary of good works, but if he sees that we don't give them up and that being done in spite of his opposition they have become very meritorious, he will stop troubling us.
Francis De Sales
#15. The body is poisoned through the mouth, even so is the heart through the ear ... And even if we do mean no harm, the Evil One means a great deal, and he will use those idle words as a sharp weapon against some neighbor's heart.
Francis De Sales
#16. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, not even if your whole world seems upset. If you find that you have wandered away from the shelter of God, lead your heart back to Him quietly and simply.
Francis De Sales
#17. Examine your heart often to see if it is such toward your neighbor as you would like his to be toward you were you in his place. This is the touchstone of true reason.
Francis De Sales
#18. God desires from us more fidelity to the little things that he places in our power than ardor for great things that do not depend upon us.
Francis De Sales
#20. We must be very faithful, but without anxiety or eagerness; we must use the means that are given to us according to our vocation, and then remain in peace concerning all the rest. For God ... will always be attentive to provide us with whatever is necessary.
Francis De Sales
#21. If your church continues in this liberty of conscience, making no scruple to take away what she pleases, soon the Scripture will fail you, and you will have to be satisfied with the Institutes of Calvin, which must indeed have I know not what excellence, since they censure the Scriptures themselves!
Francis De Sales
#22. You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; and just so, you learn to love by loving. All those who think to learn in any other way deceive themselves.
Francis De Sales
#23. Even as birds on the wing meet the air continually, we, let us go where we will, meet with that Presence always and everywhere.
Francis De Sales
#24. Everybody finds themselves sometimes deficient in what they need, and put to inconvenience ... the richest people may easily be without something they want, and that is practically to suffer poverty. Accept such occurrences cheerfully, rejoice in them, bear them willingly.
Francis De Sales
#25. When we abandon all to Him, He takes a tender care of us, and His Providence for us is great or small according to the measure of our abandonment.
Francis De Sales
#26. One single day of devotion is worth more than a thousand years of worldly life.
Francis De Sales
#27. Never be hurried in anything. Do all things calmly and in a spirit of repose. Do not lose your inward peace even if everything seems to be going wrong. What is anything in life compared to peace of soul?
Francis De Sales
#28. Never does our good God leave us save to hold us better; never does He let go of us save to keep us better; never does He wrestle with us save to give Himself up to us and to bless us.
Francis De Sales
#29. Frequently give up some of your property by giving it with a generous heart to the poor ... It is true that God will repay us not only in the next world but even in this.
Francis De Sales
#30. There is always more profit and more consolation in the public Offices of the Church than in private acts of devotion, God having willed to give the preference to communion in prayer over all individual action.
Francis De Sales
#31. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections.
Francis De Sales
#32. Grace is never wanting. God always gives sufficient grace to whoever is willing to receive it.
Francis De Sales
#33. A man who can own pearls does not bother about shells, and those who aspire to virtue do not trouble themselves over honors.
Francis De Sales
#34. When all shall fail us, then God will take care of us, and then all will not fail us since we shall have God.
Francis De Sales
#35. Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit.
Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.
Francis De Sales
#36. Many would be willing to have afflictions provided that they not be inconvenienced by them.
Francis De Sales
#37. The acts of daily forbearance, the headache, or toothache, or heavy cold; the tiresome peculiarities of husband or wife, the broken glass ... all of these sufferings, small as they are, if accepted lovingly, are most pleasing to God's Goodness.
Francis De Sales
#38. Let is walk ... joyously, dear souls, among the difficulties of this passing life ... These pains will have an end when our life ends, after which there will be only joy, only contentment, only eternal consolation.
Francis De Sales
#39. He would never exhort the faithful to persevere if he were not ready to give them the power to do so.
Francis De Sales
#40. Little deeds that proceed from charity please God and have their place among meritorious acts.
Francis De Sales
#41. When we find that we have been aroused to anger we must call for God's help like the apostles when they were tossed about by the wind and storm on the waters. He will command your passions to cease and there will be a great calm.
Francis De Sales
#42. I was hungry and you gave me to eat; I was cold and you clothed me; come, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'
He who is the the King of the poor and of kings will say this at His great judgment.
Francis De Sales
#43. Do not think that you will be able to succeed in your affairs by your own efforts, but only by the assistance of God; and on setting out, consign yourself to His care, believing that He will do that which will be best for you.
Francis De Sales
#45. Do not become upset when difficulty comes your way. Laugh in its face and know that you are in the hands of God.
Francis De Sales
#46. Our possessions are not ours- God has given them to us to cultivate, that we may make them fruitful and profitable in His Service, and so doing we shall please Him.
Francis De Sales
#47. The same everlasting Father who cares for you today will care for you tomorrow and every day.
Either he will shield you from suffering or give you unfailing strength to bear it.
Be at peace then and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings.
Francis De Sales
#48. He will unfailingly be pleased with our patience and take note of our diligence and perseverance.
Francis De Sales
#49. Although, dear Lord, I have no feeling of confidence in Thee, I know all the same that Thou art my God, that I am wholly Thine, and that I have no hope but in Thy goodness; therefore I abandon myself entirely into Thy hands.
Francis De Sales
#50. Fits of anger, vexation,and bitterness against ourselves tend to pride and they spring from no other source than self-love, which is disturbed and upset at seeing that it is imperfect.
Francis De Sales
#51. For acting thus you will remain innocent among the hissings of the serpents, and like a sweet strawberry you will receive no venom from the contact of venomous tongues.
Francis De Sales
#52. Be patient and one day you will be in Heaven, where there will be only peace and joy ... You will possess an enduring tranquility and rest.
Francis De Sales
#53. Truly it is a blessed thing to love on earth as we hope to love in Heaven, and to begin that friendship here which is to endure for ever there.
Francis De Sales
#54. The truly patient man neither complains of his hard lot nor desires to be pitied by others. He speaks of his sufferings in a natural, true, and sincere way, without murmuring, complaining, or exaggerating them.
Francis De Sales
#55. In short, it is more than reasonable that so holy a rule as is the holy Word of God should be kept in fixed languages, since it could not be maintained in this perfect integrity within bastard and unstable languages.
Francis De Sales
#56. Certainly all virtues are very dear to God, but humility pleases Him above all the others, and it seems that He can refuse it nothing.
Francis De Sales
#57. The Council also commands933 that the public services of the Church shall not be celebrated in the vulgar tongue, but in a fixed language, each one according to the ancient formularies approved by the Church.
Francis De Sales
#58. God takes pleasure to see you take your little steps; and like a good father who holds his child by the hand, He will accommodate His steps to yours and will be content to go no faster than you. Why do you worry?
Francis De Sales
#59. From the heights of heaven Jesus Christ mercifully looks down upon you and graciously invites you there.
Francis De Sales
#60. Be patient with everyone, but above all with yourself ... do not be disheartened by your imperfections, but always rise up with fresh courage.
Francis De Sales
#61. God's favor floats as it were over all this and finds joy in turning all those miseries to the greater profit of those who love Him. From toil He makes patience spring forth.
Francis De Sales
#64. Take patiently the petty annoyances, the trifling discomforts, the unimportant losses which come upon all of us daily; for by means of these little matters, lovingly and freely accepted, you will give Him your whole heart, and win His.
Francis De Sales
#65. Make friends with the angels, who though invisible are always with you. Often invoke them, constantly praise them, and make good use of their help and assistance in all your temporal and spiritual affairs.
Francis De Sales
#66. If we rebuke our heart by a calm, mild remonstrance, with more compassion for it than passion against it and encourage it to make amendment, then repentance conceived in this way will sink far deeper and penetrate more effectually than fretful, angry, stormy repentance.
Francis De Sales
#67. We are crucified to the world, and the world must be as crucified to us. It esteems us as fools, let us esteem it as mad.
Francis De Sales
#68. Ought we not to love dearly the neighbor, who truly represents to us the sacred Person of our Master? And is this not one of the most powerful motives we could have for loving each other with an ardently burning love?
Francis De Sales
#69. Make yourself familiar with the angels and behold them frequently in spirit; for without being seen, they are present with you.
Francis De Sales
#70. If we walk steadily and faithfully ... God will lift us up to greater things.
Francis De Sales
#72. If, when stung by slander or ill-nature, we wax proud and swell with anger, it is a proof that our gentleness and humility are unreal, and mere artificial show.
Francis De Sales
#74. Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them - every day begin the task anew.
Francis De Sales
#75. Be patient, you are in good company. Our Lord Himself, our Lady, the apostles, and countless saints, both men and women, have been poor.
Francis De Sales
#76. This unresting anxiety is the greatest evil which can happen to the soul, sin only excepted.
Francis De Sales
#77. We must never undervalue any person. The workman loves not that his work should be despised in his presence. Now God is present everywhere, and every person is His work.
Francis De Sales
#78. Let us make our way through these low valleys of the humble and little virtues. We shall see in them the roses amid the thorns, charity that shows its beauty among interior and exterior afflictions, the lilies of purity.
Francis De Sales
#79. Have Jesus always for your patron, His Cross for a mast on which you must spread your resolutions as a sail. Your anchor shall be a profound confidence in Him, and you shall sail prosperously.
Francis De Sales
#80. He asks for your own heart. Give it such as it is ... Are we not aware that everything that is remitted into His divine hands is converted to good?
Francis De Sales
#81. If you have firm trust in God, the success that comes to you will always be that which is most useful for you whether it appears good or bad in your private judgment.
Francis De Sales
#82. It is wonderful how attractive a gentle, pleasant manner is, and how much it wins hearts.
Francis De Sales
#83. Humility consists in not esteeming ourselves above other men, and in not seeking to be esteemed above them.
Francis De Sales
#84. Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly.
Francis De Sales
#86. The children of the world are all separated one from another because their hearts are in different places; but the children of God, having their heart where their treasure is, and all having only one treasure which is the same God, are, consequently, always joined and united together.
Francis De Sales
#88. He enables [his children] to walk before him; he holds their hand in difficulties; he himself carries them along in hardships that he sees as being otherwise unbearable to them.
Francis De Sales
#89. It is a fact that people are always well aware of what is due them.
Unfortunately, they remain oblivious of what they owe to others.
Francis De Sales
#90. We must unceasingly ask for [perseverance] by making use of the means which God has taught us for obtaining it: prayer, fasting, almsgiving, frequenting the sacraments, association with good companions, and hearing and reading Holy Scripture.
Francis De Sales
#91. The greatest defect we have in our prayers and in all that happens to us, particularly in that which concerns tribulations, is our lack of confidence ... Faith is great or little according to the measure of our confidence.
Francis De Sales
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