:: Bloom where you are planted :: Recollections with St. Francis de Sales

RECOLLECTIONS WITH St. FRANCIS DE SALES





JULY 2002 - APRIL 2003



    April 2003:

Practice of Virtues: Simplicity

1.   Personal Study and Reflection

1.1 Scripture References

Deut. 6: 4-6: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart "
Mt. 11: 25-29: "You have revealed them to infants.'
Lk. 10: 38-42: "There is need of only one thing "
Phil. 3:12-14: "Straining forward to the goal."
Prov. 6: 16-19: Sins against the virtue of simplicity

1.2. Teaching of St. Francis de Sales

St. Francis de Sales gives us a whole conference on Simplicity. (See, "Spiritual Conferences," Vol.1, pp. 96-112).

"Simplicity is nothing else but a pure and simple act of charity which has only one end in view, that is to obtain the love of God. Our heart is simple when we have no other aim in all that we do or desire. It looks straight at God without ever tolerating any mixture of self - interest." ("Spiritual Conferences," Vol.1, pp. 96- 97). Read Constitutions 7.

Simplicity removes from our hearts all the worry and anxiety which many have uselessly as they look for a variety of exercises and means to be able to love God. . Simplicity truly includes all the means prescribed to each person, according to one's particular vocation, to acquire God's love. And all this is achieved without losing sight of the primary end, which is always the love of God ("Spiritual Conferences," Vol.1, p. 98).

1.3. Biographical Notes: St. Francis' Practice of Simplicity

He once wrote to me "If there were a single fibre of my heart, not His or not cleaving to Him I would tear it out at once; or some corner of my heart not marked with crucifix, I would have none of it, no, not even for a moment. Let my heart be filled with His love or else torn from me."

His usual confessor told me, and I can confirm this that our Blessed Father never acted from the motive of escaping hell or meriting heaven; he acted purely and simply for the love of God whom he feared because he loved him, and loved for His own sake and because He deserves our love. The greater glory of divine love, he said was the supreme law of his heart. Shortly before his death he wrote to me: 'All I can tell you about myself now is this I long more and more ardently to disregard everything except the love of our crucified Lord.' (Elisabeth Stopp, "St. Francis de Sales: A Testimony by St. Chantal", p. 65.)

2. Apostolic Community Meeting

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Shared Prayer before the Blessed Sacrament (One Hour)

Points for Reflection and Sharing:

Share with the group your understanding of the virtue of simplicity and its importance in our life.

How do you react when faced with worries and anxieties in your day-to-day life?

Do you appreciate the practice of this virtue and do you encourage those in your charge to practise it? How do you encourage, explain this to your group?

Recall an incident in your life to illustrate your practice of this virtue.

3. Evaluation and Decisions

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Share the concrete follow up of the decisions taken.

What practical steps do we need to take to assimilate at the individual and community level the insights we have gained from this Recollection?