Francis de Sales

Francis de Sales

Saint Francis de Sales (French: Saint François de Sales) (21 August 1567 – 28 December 1622) was bishop of Geneva and a Roman Catholic saint. He worked to convert Protestants back to Catholicism, was an accomplished preacher, and wrote books on religious topics.

Quotes

• Ceux-là qui aiment à se faire craindre, craignent de se faire aimer, et eux-mêmes craignent plus que tous les autres; car les autres ne craignent qu'eux, mais eux craignent tous les autres.
  • Quoted by Bishop Jean-Pierre Camus in L'esprit de Saint François de Sales, Part 3, ch. 5 (1650)
  • Translation: Those who love to be feared fear to be loved, and they themselves are more afraid than anyone, for whereas other men fear only them, they fear everyone.
    • The Spirit of Saint Francis de Sales, ch. 7, sct. 3 (1952)

• When your heart roams or gets distracted lead it back very gently, softly putting it close to its Master; and even if you spend your whole hour doing nothing except gathering up your heart quite calmly and putting it close to Our Lord, and even if your heart does nothing except turn away as soon as you have led it back, your hour will have been very well spent
  • In Letter to Madame Louise de Ballon, Sister at the Abbaye Sainte Catherine, June 1617 (St. Francis De Sales: Selected Letters. Letter 101, pp. 254-255)

• There are no galley-slaves in the royal vessel of divine love—every man works his oar voluntarily!
  • Quoted by Bishop Jean-Pierre Camus in The Spirit of Saint Francis de Sales, ch. 7, sct. 3 (1952)

• 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 God and man by loving. All those who think to learn in any other way deceive themselves.
  • Quoted by Bishop Jean-Pierre Camus in The Spirit of Saint Francis de Sales, ch. 1, Pg. 3 (1880)

• Have patience with every one, but especially with yourself.
  • Quoted by Bishop Jean-Pierre Camus in The Spirit of Saint Francis de Sales, section "Upon Discouragement"

• A heart-memory is better than a mere head-memory. Better to carry away a little of the love of Christ in our souls, than if we were able to repeat every word of every sermon we ever heard.
  • Reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 373.

• De quoi sert-il de bastir des chasteaux en Espagne puisqu’il faut habiter en France?
  • What is the use of building castles in Spain, since one has to live in France?
  • Lettre 856. Reported in De V. Payen-Payne (ed.) French Idioms and Proverbs, 4th ed. (London: David Nutt, 1905) p. 64

• È innanzitutto certo che in tutta la Sacra Scrittura non si troverà mai traccia della Chiesa attuale intesa come una società invisibile; ne esporrò qui, con la massima fedeltà, le ragioni. Gesù Cristo, nostro Redentore e Maestro, per ogni difficoltà o dissenso – sia di dottrina che di morale – ci rimanda sempre alla santa Chiesa per ottenerne l’infallibile soluzione. San Paolo insegna a Timoteo come i cristiani debbano vivere concretamente nella Chiesa. Egli stesso fece convocare gli anziani della chiesa asiatica, mostrando loro come fossero stati costituiti dallo Spirito Santo per reggere la Chiesa. Egli stesso, infine, fu inviato dalla Chiesa insieme a San Barnaba Egli stesso fu inviato dalla Chiesa insieme a San Barnaba e da quelle stesse chiese fu ricevuto per confermarle e per ordinarvi i sacri pastori, i vescovi e i sacerdoti. Ora, come si potrebbe riferire tutto questo a una Chiesa invisibile e immaginaria? E dove mai avrebbe potuto trovare una simile chiesa per presentarvi ricorsi giudiziari, per viverci e per governarla?

• First of all, it is certain that throughout Sacred Scripture there is no trace of the present Church understood as an invisible society; I will explain the reasons for this here, with the utmost fidelity. Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Master, always refers us to the Holy Church for the infallible solution to every difficulty or disagreement, whether doctrinal or moral. St Paul teaches Timothy how Christians should live concretely in the Church. He himself summoned the elders of the Asian Church, showing them how they had been constituted by the Holy Spirit to govern the Church. Finally, he himself was sent by the Church together with Saint Barnabas. He himself was sent by the Church together with Saint Barnabas, and he was received by those same churches to confirm them and to ordain sacred pastors, bishops and priests. Now, how could all this refer to an invisible and imaginary Church? And where could he ever have found such a church to bring legal appeals before, to live in and to govern?
  • La chimera della “chiesa invisibile”. Un discorso di san Francesco di Sales, 29 January 2026 (in Italian).

• We accuse our neighbours for minor things, and excuse ourselves for major ones.

• Quoted in Albino Luciani, Illustrissimi, Edizioni APE Mursia, 1979, p. 15.

• Since we live in the world, we must follow the laws of the world in everything that is not sinful

• From the letter to Madame de Charmoisy, “'Introduction to the Devout Life”'; quoted in Albino Luciani, “'Illustrissimi”', Edizioni APE Mursia, 1979, p. 27.

• Cor ad cor loquitur.

• The heart speaks to the heart.
  • Quoted in “'The beatification of Newman to revive Christian Europe”' by Paolo Gulisano, Zenit, 22 July 2009.

• What we do for others always seems like a lot, what others do for us seems like nothing.

• Quoted in Albino Luciani, “'Illustrissimi”', Edizioni APE Mursia, 1979, p. 16.

• Madam, this desire [for holiness] must be in you like the orange trees of the Genoese Riviera, which, for almost the entire year, are laden with fruit, flowers and leaves at the same time.

• From “'Il desiderio della santità”' (The Desire for Holiness), letter to the Baroness of Chantal dated 3 May 1604, in “'Rivestitevi di dolcezza”' (Clothe Yourself in Gentleness), translated into Italian by Luigi Rolfo, Edizioni Paoline, 1987, p. 9.

Introduction to the Devout Life (1609)

• The damned are in the abyss of Hell, as within a woeful city, where they suffer unspeakable torments, in all their senses and members, because as they have employed all their senses and their members in sinning, so shall they suffer in each of them the punishment due to sin.
  • Pt. 2, ch. 15

• 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.
  • Pt. 2, ch. 16

• Car l'amitié est un amour mutuel, & s'il n'est mutuel, ce n'est pas amitié.[1]
  • Translation: Because friendship is intercommunication of love, therefore where love is not mutual, there can be no friendship.[2]
  • Pt. 3, ch. 17

• It is the mark of a mean, vulgar and ignoble spirit to dwell on the thought of food before meal times or worse to dwell on it afterwards, to discuss it and wallow in the remembered pleasures of every mouthful. Those whose minds dwell before dinner on the spit, and after on the dishes, are fit only to be scullions.
  • Pt. 3, ch. 39

• The elephant, not only the largest but the most intelligent of animals, provides us with an excellent example. It is faithful and tenderly loving to the female of its choice, mating only every third year and then for no more than five days, and so secretly as never to be seen, until, on the sixth day, it appears and goes at once to wash its whole body in the river, unwilling to return to the herd until thus purified. Such good and modest habits are an example to husband and wife.