The Year of Mercy begins this week on December 8th.
Drawing on St. Francis de Sales’ writings on the attributes of mercy may help you live a merciful advent before God, within yourself and before others.
December 6
Nothing can so effectually humble us before the mercy of God as the multitude of His benefits. Nor can anything so much humble us before His justice as the enormity of our innumerable offenses. Let us consider what He has done for us and what we have done against Him; and as we reflect on our sins, one by one, so let us consider His graces in the same order. What good have we which we have not received? And if we have received it, why do we glory in it? On the contrary, the lively consideration of graces received makes us humble, because a knowledge of them excites gratitude.
December 7
Have in you the spirit of sweetness, joy and humility, which most befit devotion; as tranquility, not disturbing yourself with an entire confidence in the mercy of God, who will lead you by the hand into the country, and by this means keep yourself from contentions.
LPR 35-36
December 8
It is true that our faults which are thorns as long as they remain hidden in our hearts are turned into roses and sweetness when they come out by voluntary accusation; for as our malice draws them into our hearts so the Holy Spirit’s mercy casts them out.
LST 101
December 9
Whatever time we decide to give God in prayer, let us give it to him with our thoughts free and disentangled from everything else, resolving never to take this time away from him again, whatever toil comes our way. Let us treat this time as something which no longer belongs to us; and even if you just spend the time acutely aware of your insufficiency, do not let it upset you, even rejoice in it, thinking that you are a very good object for God’s mercy.
LST 157-58
December 10
You are always inclined to be a little hard on yourself and this made you feel that what you had done was very little, and at the same time you were most anxious to satisfy your obligation; not being able to make absolutely sure of this you gave way to sadness and discouragement, or weariness. You must forget all that and be quite happy again, humbling yourself deeply before our Lord and remembering that your sex and your state of life do not allow you to prevent the evil that is going on outside your own home, except by making people want to do what is right by your good example; also by simple, humble and charitable admonishment of the offenders, and by informing superiors when this is feasible; which is what I told you once before. And I will add to this as a general reflection that when we cannot properly distinguish whether we have really done our duty as we should in some instance, and are wondering whether we have offended God, we must humble ourselves, beg God to forgive us and ask for more light on another occasion, completely forget what has happened and go on our way as usual. For curious and eager research into whether we have done right or not springs from self-love which makes us want to know for sure whether we are worth anything, whereas a pure love of God prompts us to say to ourselves: “Beggar and coward that you are, humble yourself and put your trust in God’s mercy, ask forgiveness in any case, and promising God yet again that you will be faithful, just carry straight on.
LST 167
December 11
But as for us, we only desire to abandon ourselves in order that we may leave ourselves at the mercy of the will of God. There are many people who say to our Lord: “I give myself wholly to Thee without reserve;” but there are very few who actually practice this self-abandonment, which is nothing else but the acceptance with perfect indifference of all the events which may befall us, just as they arrive in the order of God’s providence: affliction equally with consolation, sickness as health, poverty as riches, contempt as honor, shame as glory.
Spiritual Conferences 20
December 12
The chief (preparation for Holy Communion) is a total abandonment of ourselves to the mercy of God, the submission of our will and all our affections, without reserve, to His dominion. I say without reserve, because such miserable creatures are we, that we are always reserving something for ourselves. The most spiritual persons reserve to themselves the will of possessing certain virtues. When they go to Communion they say: “O Lord, I abandon myself entirely into Thy hands, but I entreat Thee to give me prudence so that I may live honorably. They never think of asking for simplicity…As for gentleness and what they need to enable them to live at peace with their neighbor, no mention is made of that…Our Lord, desiring to give Himself wholly to us, wishes that we, on our part, should give ourselves entirely to Him; in order that the union of our soul with His divine Majesty may be more perfect, and that we may be able to say truly with the great Apostle of the Gentiles: I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me SPC 150-51
Spiritual Conferences 150-51