Translated into English by the Rev. Henry Benedict Mackey, OSB 

under the direction and patronage of his Lordship the Right Rev. John Cuthbert Medley OSB

Seventh Edition, London: Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd.

St. Francis de Sales is not merely a Doctor of the Church, but also a director of souls.  He teaches and he inspires.  He aims at making even the most abstract ideas clear and attractive; he is out to capture the hearts of his readers, not simply their minds.  To this end he introduces examples drawn from every possible source:  the Scriptures, the Fathers of the Church, the Theologians, the Councils, the Liturgy, the Mystics, the lives of Saints, the pagan classical authors, the world of nature.

Emphasis is laid upon keeping God continually before our eyes.  In this way everything we do is done for God, because we love him – charity in practice; everything we do gains in simplicity and order, and we find the freedom of spirit which preserves us from formality, from failing to see the wood for the trees.

Chapter after chapter all through the Love of God can be effectively used for meditation, providing pregnant thoughts, short prayers, acts of the will, practical resolutions.  No wonder St. Vincent de Paul said of this book that “were everyone to give it the study it deserves, none should escape its fire.”

The Treatise on the Love of God is a timeless spiritual classic, yet perhaps it needs to be introduced anew to modern readers.  Although published eight years after his Introduction to the Devout Life, it was the Love of God to which St. Francis de Sales first set his hand.  He probably started to write at Christmas 1606.  the first mention of it in his correspondence appears in a letter to Baroness de Chantal dated 11 February 1607.  he tells here that he is just beginning a biography (i.e., of charity) which will be at least twice as long as St. Teresa of Avila’s Life.