** SALESIAN SPIRITUALITY** An Invitation to Holiness

Letters of Spiritual Direction

by St. Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal

Selected and Introduced by Wendy M. Wright and Joseph F. Power OSFS

Preface by Henry J.M. Nouwen, New York, Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1988

Letters to a Wife and Mother       Letters to Persons in Religion

Letters to Persons in the World Letters of Spiritual Direction

What is most obvious from this correspondence is that Jesus stands in the centre of the lives of both Francis and Jane. The love of God revealed in Jesus Christ pervades every line of the letters they both wrote. They are two people whose friendship is solidly anchored in their common love of God. It is a mediated friendship. There lies the secret of their freedom and their fruitfulness. Francis and Jane are not two lonely people who cling to each other in order to find a safe home in the midst of a fearful world. Both of them have found Jesus as the bridegroom of their souls. He is the fulfilment of all their desires. He himself makes their friendship possible. They have been given to each other as spiritual friends, to enjoy each other’s spiritual gifts, to support each other in their commitment to faithfulness, to be of mutual help in their search for perfection and to give shape to a new spiritual family in the Church.

In an era in which so much emphasis is put on the interpersonal and so much attention is given to emotions, passions and feelings as the “stuff” that makes or breaks relationships, the Jesus-centred friendship between Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal is a challenge to us. Without Jesus, friends tend to become possessive of each other and are easily tempted to violence when mutual expectations are not fulfilled. Without Jesus there remains ample freedom for the unique ways of the individual persons. Without Jesus, friends tend to close in on each other and ignore the larger world. With Jesus friendships can bear fruit which many can enjoy. Francis and Jane show us clearly that the deepest intimacy among people is an intimacy that finds its origin and goal not in human partners, but in God who gives people to each other in friendship to be incarnate manifestations of the divine love. Most noticeable in the friendship which Francis and Jane show for each other and the people entrusted to their care is the affectionate quality.

(Credit: Henri J.M. Nouwen, "Preface", Letters of Spiritual Direction)

In a time in which there is so much concern about the right professional distance within a helping relationship and in which there is so much preoccupation with transference and counter-transference, Jane de Chantal and Francis de Sales offer us a fresh perspective on a healing relationship. They dare to take risks with each other and those they care for. Mutuality is the word here. It is the mutuality of the ministry of Jesus the Good Shepherd who says: “I know my own and my own know me” (Jn. 10:14). A mutual openness, a mutual sharing, a mutual confession of needs, a mutual confession and forgiveness, a mutual knowing and being known – that is the source of a community where God’s strength is made manifest among weak people. The Jesus-centred affectionate friendship between Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal, generally shared with the many who came to them for spiritual comfort and consolation, is a great gift to our century.

Letters of Spiritual Direction

In reading these letters one gradually becomes aware that our contemporary predicament allows us to find in these letters what is crucial for our own spiritual survival: a Jesus-centred, affectionate friendship. This Jesus-centred, affectionate friendship pervades all the letters that Francis and Jane wrote to their correspondents, but the source is clearly the friendship between themselves … there is no doubt that all the letters published in this book … are undergirded by the “bond of perfection” that bound them together in a mutual Jesus-centred love.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

The Historical Context

Salesian Spirituality: Six Themes

Jane de Chantal and Salesian Spirituality

Texts

Scriptural Citations

LETTERS OF ST. FRANCIS DE SALES

Mademoiselle de Soulfour

We must have patience with ourselves

Prayer: The Two reasons

Madame BrÛlart

Principal means of uniting oneself to God and to others

Memo on Christian Perfection

Constancy in Devotion

We must bear ourselves

Do not expect an immediate reward in devotion

Be convinced that God wants you to serve Him just as you are

Do not yield to discouragement on account of frailties

Rose Bourgeois

Suffering is the school of humility

Madame de Chantal

Desire to attain fullness of Christian life

The bond of friendship

Do all through love, nothing through constraint

Let us always belong to God, unreservedly and without interruption

Humility and charity are the master ropes; all others are attached to them

Staying in God’s presence

Throw yourself into God’s arms

Madame de Limojon

A heart gentle toward one’s neighbour and humble toward God

Madame de la Flechere

Patiently accept being less than perfect

Do faithfully all the things you have to do

Indifference

We must hate our faults

Madame de Cornillon

Let us all belong to God

Peronne-Marie de Chatel

Arm yourself with the patience we should have toward ourselves

Madame de Granieu

The best prayer is that which keeps us so occupied with God

Angélique Arnauld

Spiritual Directors

Method of Prayer

Desire to belong to God alone

Getting rid of distractions

Madame de Villesavin

Living a life of prayer

A Gentleman

Facing Temptations while trusting in God