by Sister Susan Marie | Mar 16, 2012 | LENT, Salesian Spirituality, St. Francis de Sales
St. Francis de Sales educates us about another key facet of our Lenten experience, that of prayer. He meets us where we are, even though he lived 400 years ago! This is how he begins to instruct us: “But what is prayer and meditation? It seems that these words have...
by Sister Susan Marie | Mar 15, 2012 | LENT, Salesian Spirituality, St. Francis de Sales
St. Francis de Sales, with a sense of humor, tries to temper the inordinate eagerness of those who have engaged in spiritual practices with unrealistic expectations. He preaches: “We find those who hope for nothing so much as to be Mother Theresa of Avila very...
by Sister Susan Marie | Mar 15, 2012 | Salesian Spirituality, St. Francis de Sales
A most enlightening dissertation by Dr. Thomas A. Donlan on the response of St. Francis de Sales to the religious conflicts of his day from which the saint developed his spirituality of gentleness can be found here:...
by Sister Susan Marie | Mar 14, 2012 | LENT, Salesian Spirituality, St. Francis de Sales
Yesterday in our post on temptations we quoted St Francis de Sales as saying “And let us not entertain the hope of being or wishing to be saints in three months! Shun both spiritual avarice and the ambition which causes so much disorder in our hearts.” What is...
by Sister Susan Marie | Mar 13, 2012 | LENT, Salesian Spirituality, St. Francis de Sales
As we know from the Gospel proclaimed every Lent, Jesus was driven into the desert by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by the devil. (Matt. 4:1; Mk 1:12; Lk 4:1) St Francis de Sales gave a lengthy homily on this Gospel to encourage the faithful to battle their own...
by Sister Susan Marie | Mar 13, 2012 | Guard of Honor, Salesian Spirituality
Today, March 13, 2012 marks the 149th anniversary of the birth of the Guard of Honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It was in Bourg-en-Bresse, France , March 13, 1863 that it was begun under the inspiration of Visitation Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart Bernaud. We...