Mother Mary de Sales Chappuis, Superior of the Visitation Monastery in both Paris and Troyes, France in the mid-1800’s, was also the inspiration for the foundation of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales through Blessed Louis Brisson.
Sunday :From a conference Mother Chappuis gave:
“At the coming of the Savior, let us just see with what virtues we shall go forth to meet Him, what virtues we shall present to Him,when we kneel to adore Him. Meekness and humility are His chosen virtues, He tells us to learn them of Him, we shall be pleasing to Him, not by austerity of life, not by great actions, not by an extraordinary manner of acting, but by meekness and humility, by meekness of heart towards our neighbor, by humility towards God, our neighbor and ourselves.”
Monday “Why did Our Lord become incarnate? First, for the glory of His Father, then for the sake of that human nature He took upon Himself. He had received from mankind, offenses, and it was now only by an excess of goodness, an immensity of mercy, that He wished to redeem us by His Blood. If then, through pure kindness, He wished to do us so much good, it was to give us the example of what we should do for our neighbor. He wished to become like to us, to teach us kindness toward each other.”
Tuesday
” The Son of God became man for us and we may indeed subject ourselves to the faithful practice of the Rule, to testify to Him our happiness at His coming, our gratitude for His benefits and our correspondence to His designs.
Our Lord came to save the world, to save all, but we have been especially privileged, for He not only wished us to be saved, but also to give us a more copious Redemption, calling us, for this purpose, to so beautiful a vocation. He even chose it for us, so that by our vocation we follow the choice of God, the choice of His love for us.
We will take for a Challenge, from now until Christmas, to say nine times a day, “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” and to make nine practices of the Rule, for instance, to be careful to ask for what we need at the Obedience and to keep silence well.”
Wednesday:
Christmas is almost here; for this feast we must have quite new dispositions and a will altogether renewed. Our Lord comes to earth for our sakes, in order to redeem us and unite us to Hiss father. By His coming He has effected this union, but for us, He has purchased a more superabundant Redemption. A greater good has been done for us than we were capable of performing, something has been brought to us , that it was not in our power to go and seek. We must desire the good that God wills for us.