SERMON OF ST. FRANCIS DE SALES FOR THE FEAST OF THE ARCHANGEL ST. MICHAEL
September 29 , 1617
Volume IX, page 100
Our Lord wants and desires that we honor the Angels, especially the glorious Saint Michael, whose feast; for he gave this Prince of the celestial militia for special protector to his Church. We all have the big one duty to cherish, serve and to honor these angelic Spirits, since they are so eager for our good and do not disdain to assist us, since there is no a creature, for small, vile and abject, faithful or unfaithful, let her be who has not her Angel for keep it and continually solicit it for good. They present our prayers to the divine Kindness to have them heard (Tob., XII, 12; Rev., VIII, 3, 4.) ; if we are cowards they excite Our heart to the love of the Virtue to make us embrace it, they strengthen us and make us get strength and neckrage that we may practice it; If we are sad and in adversity they are with We to rejoice and urge patience. Finally, they never cease to give us inspirations for salvation and perfection of our soul in the dilection of divine love, until we reach the heavenly homeland to dwell eternally in their company. That’s what they want, knowing that we were created for it. They are so jealous of our happiness, let them rejoice when they see that we are faithful to God and that we correspond to His love; and when we don’t, if they could have displeasure they would have.
Our good Angels give us all inspirations in accordance with our vocation and condition. Now, since we have so many obligations to all these heavenly Spirits for the great benefits we receive from them and the good offices they render us by obtaining so much for us. graces of divine goodness; Let us now see what we could do to please them, to console them and rejoice in gratitude for so many favors.
Abraham feasted on three angels under a tree. He first gave them bread baked under ashes, then butter, honey, and roasted veal, and made them this banquet at noon (Gen., XVIII, 1-8). If we want to feast on Angels and Our Lord the King of Angels, we must give them, in imitation of Abraham, bread baked under the ashes of humility. Everyone knows that bread is a thing universal that we eat with all kinds of meat. The bread we must give to eating at Les Anges is a strong, generous, and invincible resolve to serve, honor, and love God, no. only all our lives, but until eternity. This resolution must be baked under the ashes of humility, because without this virtue we cannot can be pleasing to God or to the angelic Spirits, otherwise our edifice will fall to the ground and our resolutions will not be effective points; for we can do nothing without Our Lord (Joan. XV, 4, 5). But He will not give us His grace unless we do not give it ask him not by means prayer; but this one is not agreeableto God without humility, for without it prayer is not prayer (Cf. supra, pp. 53, 54). His Goodness desires that we make ourselves perfect and signaled in this virtue. in imitation, having singularly recommended it to us, saying that we were learning from him “not to form the machine of the world to raise the dead and work miracles” (We could do it without him be agreeable, as we can be pleasing to him without doing these wonders and great things); “but he said that we learn from him to be meek and humble of heart (Matt., XI, 29. Aug. S., Sermo LXIX, c. 1)tag. So this strong resolve must be the universal bread we must eat with all kinds of meat, that we must have in all our actions; and by the We must remain firm and stable in our exercises and in all that we undertake for the glory of his divine Majesty.
We are all Fish regenerated by baptismal water, for we all sail in the sea of this world; but, my God, there are some who are Blessed! They are those whom Divine Goodness removes from the world, making them become fish, fish. birds, and putting them in the Religion as in a cage. Although birds often come to the land and dwell there, we never tire not to call them birds of the air; Thus, these religious persons, though they are on earth have not their heart, for they so often throw it on the side of Heaven and have their desires, affections and thoughts so turned towards God, aiming only at himself complain, that they are no longer fish, but birds of the sky. What they are Blessed are these souls! Because that one can save oneself and achieve perfection among the world in all kinds of permissible conditions, nevertheless those that sail in this sea are in greater danger of sinking and getting lost; while in Religion one can with greater ease to do his salvation and achieve perfection.
The people of the world are not in a stable state, for for great whatever the dignity in which they are found to be high, they may forfeit it; but ecclesiastics and religious are in a stable condition, because, by means of the vows they make, they bind themselves closely to God, so that they can no longer disarm themselves from their resolution. When we have chosen by divine inspiration a state or a condition, even if we had been carried by some bad end, intention and impure affection, God will undoubtedly know how to convert evil into good, if We are faithful to Him. We must therefore remain stable, without allowing our minds to vary. or think that we would serve Our Lord better and do better our salvation in another Religion[1]. When we are in another Religion we would still want be in another, and so We would only change. We must not think that we are more pleasant to God by an exercise other than this one, for his will is that we do this one; therefore we must do it well heart, and not desire another, where we may not find Not his will but ours, and this, to our confusion.
There are such weird people! Many talk about weirdness, but few know what it’s like to be weird : I want to explain it and give it to hear. The Weird These are people who have no stability and firmness in their resolutions, which do nothing but vary and have various designs, without performing them with the appropriate maturity and consideration; That’s why they change in every way without stopping at anything. When We see a dress composed of red, white, green, we say whereas she is bigarrée; Similarly, when we see people who have various purposes and resolutions, not stopping at Nothing, we say they are weird, because they are dressed in various colors: sometimes yellow, wanting a thing, sometimes red, in wanting another. Asof today they want to be of one Religion, and tomorrow of another; they like themselves Today in the company of a person, tomorrow they will dislike it and will not want it. no longer seeing or hearing about it; they love at this time one thing, later they will hate[2]. We all have great reason to humble ourselves, for this are effects of the weakness and stupidity of the human mind. Ha, I Don’t say we can prevent this and let us have no temptations, but I say that it is necessary, with the upper part of our soul, to hold ourselves to God and Stand firm in our resolutions. We should think and look a hundred times per day how we practice and preserve holy humility; because if we keep it well we will also preserve our vocation and our vouchers intention.
You know that everyone lives and eats better by eating flesh Because it has more to do with the substance of our bodies. However, the food that has the most relevance to nature of the Angels is the will of God (Ps. CII, 21). They are therefore nourished by their resolve to serve God, and his will is their meat (cf. Joan, IV, 34); for the Lord having created them, he showed them in an instant the good and evil, so that they would have to choose one or the other. Lucifer and those of his sequels were not intended to submit to the divine will or resolve to serve God eternally; but Desiring, out of pride and presumption, to be like him, they wondered why the eternal Word did not take their nature, that they might become equal to him. Then St. Michael, taking Lucifer from his temerity, said to him: “Who is like God (Hugo, Comm.in Rev., XII, 7. cf. S Greg, Mag., hom. XXXIV in Evang., §9) ? and by this word he tripped him with his wretched troop into the depths of hell (Is., XIV, II, 14-15; Rev., XII, 7-9). The glorious Archangel on the contrary, and all those of his company, grateful that they were nothing at the price of God, did in a moment, and with so much perfection and stability, The resolution baked under the ashes of Holy Humility, let them submitted to the divine Majesty to be eternally dedicated to him and to fulfill his holy wills not only to excellent things , but to the most vile and abject.[3] They then made vows, bonding closely with he to serve him forever; and the resolution of the Angelic Spirits, baked under the ashes of humility, made them this that they are and made eternally happy.
Our Lord Himself has shown us by His example how we must stand firm in our resolutions; Because from the moment of his conception (Heb., X, 5-7; Ps. XXXIX, 9) he made that of redeeming ourselves and humble ourselves until the death of the cross (Philip, II, 8). Being on it, many said to him: If you are the Son of God, save yourselves and come down from the cross (Matt., XXVII, 40); but he did not want to come down because he was a child of God, but remained firm in the determination he had taken to redeem us by his death and to persevere to the end (Ibid., X, 22). In imitation of our Saviour and of his heavenly angels, if we are true children of God, we will never let go of our resolutions, but we will persist in humiliating ourselves and serving him until the end of our lives, if not until all eternity, for he did not promise the crown to those who begin, but to those who will persevere (Rev. II, 10). If we have designed to to serve Our Lord and to be All to him, we will be upset, the world will be beautiful to us. to say that we come down from the cross and that we will also be children of God dwelling in the world than by putting us in Religion; If we are his Real children, we Let us stand firm in our resolutions and continue to the end in humility and in the service of this divine Majesty.
I notice that Abraham made this feast at noon. This shows us that we must make our resolutions in the fervor of the heart, while the Sun of righteousness (Malach., ult., 2) enlightens us and incites us with its inspiration. No, I’m not saying not that one should have great feelings and consolations; nevertheless when God we give them we are obliged to make our profit and match his love. But when he does not give them, we must not lack fidelity to his sweet goodness, for we must live according to the reason and divine will, and make our resolutions with the tip of our mind and the upper part of our soul, leaving them to be carried out and put into practice for some drought and repugnance that We have them, nor for any contradiction that arises.
This roast calf that we must give to the Angels in imitation of Abraham, it is our heart that we must roast and skin by means of mortification, to offer it to God, pure, clean and empty of our own will and love. clean. And although we don’t come to At the end of our lives, we will come to the end of it at our death, and will win the victory if we persist in mortifying Him, for we cannot make Him die completely. If we do so, we will give a Delicious food to Our Lord and to the Angels, who are so pure and filled with divine love that they have no self-love, since they were delivered from it in a moment. But we cannot imitate them in this; What they did in a moment, he We must try to do this throughout our lives.
A person who goes by A path, when she is at the foot From a mountain she stops, strips herself and puts on her clothes. If asked why She does this, she will answer that it is in order to climb more lightly and at ease this mountain. Similarly, those girls who come to Religion to mount the Mountain of Perfection, strip and lay down their clothes mydains, i.e. their bad habits, their own will and the affections that can take them away from God. If you ask them why, they will say it is for the purpose of unite more promptly to the divine Goodness and ascend more lightly to the perfection of his love, for it is a difficult mountain that This one, because it is the mountain of Calvary, the cross and the Afflictions; Nevertheless she is sweet, gentle and pleasant for generous and strong souls. We do not This point of pleasure and delight to those girls who come to these religious houses ; o no, for they are told to carry the cross (Matt.? XVI, 24) and to be crucified with Jesus Christ (Galat., II, 19), settingfire to all kinds of mortifications for his love. They are not honoured and greatness, but they are told that one must humble oneself, live in poverty and leave entirely. all own will to spend his life in obedience and perfect submission.
The butter and honey we must give to the Blessed Spirits it is a Great softness, support of the neighbor and affability, in which we must imitate them; for there is nothing so sweet, so gracious and affable as a Angel. With what benignity do they not support us in our defects and imperfections, without ever getting tired of our weaknesses and miseries! From the moment we were born they take care of us, the divine Goodness having loved us as much as from all eternity that she commanded that we should each have a good Angel to keep us in our peregrination (Ps., XC, II; Matt., XVIII, 10). With what love do they work in this office, what gentleness do they exercise around the little ones? children! If you ask them this that they do with these cradles, since these children have no use of reason and are not able to do good or match their inspirations, they will tell you that they give them milk, and that at Measure that they grow They give them greater inspiration. They are around them to guard them and preserve them from any danger, and enjoy serving them, looking at them as beings created for Heaven and for participate in their bliss.
We are not accustomed to feeding small children with anything other than milk, and when they grow large and start to have teeth one gives them bread and butter; because We don’t give them butter alone, we wait for them to can eat bread for their put on it. Superiors and those who are elevated to the conduct of souls must especially imitate the Angels in this softness and support of the next, leading them, raising them and treating them with great charity according to the capacity of their spirit, to win them to Our Lord (I Cor., IX, 19-23; Galat., ult., I) and make them grow into true and solid virtues. They must give them milk when they are still weak and tender in the devotion (I Cor., III, 2); and as they grow and are stronger, they must present bread to them, that is to Tell their agranSay the courage for the to grow and advance in the perfection of divine love and true and solid virtues, exciting them more by their examples than by their words.
There are simple, gentle and all columbine souls who are truly Kind; They are very happy these souls there. There are others who do not have the gentle and simple naturalness, who have the spirit strong; They are alsovery happy if they devote themselves wisely to the mortification of their passions. and bad inclinations, because they will become able to render great service to God and will acquire great and solid virtues[4]. Care must be taken to treat these souls gently, lest they bite, for they have teeth; They have such strong passions that when they are upset, they regimpart.
But, my God, who will not admire the humility of the angelic spirits when he sees them lowered to offices so vile as to serve men, not only those who have the use of reason and who are able to correspond to their inspirations, but also the grandchildren? O they have well understood the lesson of their Master: Learn from me that I am meek, debonair and humble of heart. They do not disdain humble himself, seeing him so much lowered and humiliated to the death or even death of the cross. And we wretched, who are nothing, and we Do not want to humiliate! If a gentleman is to be told that he is a man, he will be offended by this and answer: What, I, who am a gentleman, raised up in such dignity and greatness, I am a prince, I am a count, and one Call me man! That is how far our pride takes us. We want us to look at We all that is excellent, the qualities, offices and burdens to which we are high, let us be esteemed for this, although really we are not more to estimate or more great before God; On the contrary, we want us to ignores our villainy and that we Never look at our misery, our defects and imperfections. Several talk about humility and other virtues, but very few know what they consist of; Nevertheless, it is the main thing to know it by practice, rather than by speculative science. I would like those who talk about them and prèche them to study to practice them and not only to explain them.
Saint John in the Apocalypse (Cap.XIX, 10, XXII, 8, 9) seeing a Angel prostrated himself before him; but the latter, out of humility, would not allow it and made him rise, because he looked upon St. John as the Apostle of Our Lord and honored him in this quality. For this dignity is so excellent that it surpasses in certain way that of the Spirits angelic, though they may be happier, being in a secure place and seeing God face to face (I Cor., XIII, 12). Those who are raised in the state of priesthood have great grace and are very happy to handle and touch the precious body of Him whom the Angels see and that nevertheless They don’t touch like they do. They also have the power to forgiveness of sins; they are the treasurers of the Church and dispensers of the treasures that Divine Goodness has left there (Ibid., IV, I), namely the sacraments that confer grace on us.
The Angel also looked upon St. John as being created in the image and likeness of the Son of God (Rom., VIII, 29); for since this divine Saviour of our souls has been clothed with our humanity he so honored men! Before The IncarNation of the Word Abraham and other prophets worshipped the Angels (Gen., XVIII, 2; Dan., X, 9), and these allowed them to do so; But since then, they have worn so many respect for men that they do not do not want to see them suffer. The humility of this Angel made him consider himself as servant of God (Rev., ubi supra) and not as a Prince of Heaven, does not looking within itself only at what was vile and abject. The true humble does the same: he never looks within himself at what is excellent, nor at the dignities, the quantities and loads atwhich it is high; He does not want to be mentioned for all these things, nor does he want to be mentioned for all these things. the esteem in which he is more valuable; He ignores all this by holy humility, and consider nothing in him but that which is vile, abject, poor and miserable.
Blessed are humble souls of true humility; for, so many reverences as you please, so many words of humility as you will, all this is little if you have not at least heart true humility and sincere, who makes you know your villainy, your miseries, defects and imperfections, recognizing you as the most miserable of all creatures and subjugating youso much willingly to all for the sake of Our Lord. If you distribute all your good to the poor, if you tell me that you Work a lot for the glory of God and to convert souls to him, and that you give your life and your body to be burned, I will tell you that all this is nothing if you do not have charity (I Cor., XIII, 2,3). And if you have charity and have no humility, then you have no real charity; For these two virtues have such a Great sympathy and liaison between them that one does not go without the other. The more we have Charity, the more humility we have. It is like love of God and neighbor: they are two loves that are not going well. one without the other, and as that we love God more, so we love more the next one.
Honey has a greatly sweet sweetness; Thus must our charity be Not feigned and apparent, but true and sincere, it must start from a heart all benign, debonair, gentle and affable. It is a very pleasant and delicious dish that we will give to these heavenly Spirits who will be very happy to to see that we imitate them in this virtue of gentleness and affability.
Abraham also made his Feast to the three Angels under a tree. This shows us that we We must do all our actions of drinking, eating, working, walking and talking, sheltered from the tree of the Cross and in the presence of the Angels, always having before their eyes the divine Saviour crucified, for us Mirror in Him and conform to His life, molding us on this divine portrait, imitating him at most Except that it will be possible for us according to our little power. It’s the Bridegroom of our souls, let us follow in his footsteps and vestiges; when we remain with He we will be there as in an assured rampart, having our recourse and refuge in his sacred wounds, from which he will distill his precious blood to spread it upon us and apply the merit of it to make us pleasant to the Divine Majesty.
Let us be greatly devoted to our good Angels and to all the angelic Spirits, especially to the glorious Saint Mich a el. Let us serve and honour them; let us correspond faithfully to their inspirations, consoling and rejoicing by the amendment of our life and the advancement of our souls in the dilection and purity of divine love. Imitatethem as far as we can in their resolve baked under the ashes of humility and in their stability in the service of God, in the purity of divine love and the deprivation of all self-love, in them gentleness, affability, charity and support for the next one. What if we make ourselves like them in this life by means of imitation of their virtues, we will do something very pleasing to God and his Angels, and we will make worthy of achieving eternal glory and felicity, where the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit lead us, whom we will forever praise and bless with them. Amen.
[1] Cf. Treatise on the Love of God,1. VIII, c.XI; The Interviews, vol. VI huj. Edit., pp. 322, 323, var.
[2] Cf. Interviews III
[3] Cf. Deals with the Love of God, 1. X, c. VII
[4] Cf. Deals with the Love of God, 1. XII, c. I