“Going Beyond God’s Commands”

Think you know about the spiritual life?

St. Francis de Sales spoke in plain language when he wrote Introduction to the Devout Life. Take this seven-question quiz and see how you rate on these fundamentals to holiness. Check all answers that apply.

1. St. Francis said that we often fool ourselves into thinking we are devout, when we are really not. True devotion attains its fullest perfection when:

It moves us to act carefully, diligently, and promptly, not merely in obeying God’s commandments, but in fulfilling his divine counsels and inspirations.
Devotion is a spiritual activity and liveliness by means of which divine Love works in us, and causes us to work briskly and lovingly.
It is like the eagle, dove, or swallow, which soar high, as opposed to an ostrich, which cannot fly, or hen, which flies only briefly.
It can only be attained in heaven; we might as well forget about this degree of love here on earth.

2. True devotion “consists in a high degree of real love,” says St. Francis. It not only makes us diligent in following all God’s commands, but it also:

Excites us to be ready and loving in performing as many good works as possible.
Inspires us to go beyond this, beyond what we are told to do.
Stops at what is minimally required to get to heaven.

3. According to St. Francis, Jesus Christ has told us that a devout life:

Makes one gloomy and unpleasant.
Is impossible to obtain.
Makes a person unpleasant.
Is very sweet, very happy and very loveable.

4. St. Francis talked about a bee hovering over the mountain thyme — the juices it gathers are bitter, but the bee turns them all to honey. He said this to illustrate:

When the devout soul finds bitter herbs, they are all turned to sweetness and pleasantness.
When the martyrs encountered fire, sword, and rack, they are seen as perfumed flowers.
It shows that devotion is the real spiritual sweetness which takes away all bitterness from mortifications.
Only bees, and not humans, can take bitter experiences and turn them to good.

5. St. Francis asks us to think about Jacob’s ladder, which in the Old Testament stretched between heaven and earth. The rungs of the ladder allow a person to ascend from virtue to virtue. The two poles upon which the rungs rest represent:

Heaven and hell
Good and evil
The first two days of creation
Prayer and the sacraments

6. St. Francis says that a different exercise of devotion is required of each person according to his walk of life: “the noble, the artisan, the servant, the prince, the maiden and the wife.” Mark the following, based on St. Francis’ words, TRUE or FALSE.

TrueFalse — The father of a family should be as regardless in making provision for the future as a Capuchin friar.
TrueFalse — The artisan should spend the day in church like a religious.
TrueFalse — A religious should involve himself in all manner of business on his neighbor’s behalf as a bishop is called upon to do.
TrueFalse — True devotion is specific to each person’s calling in life.

7. Each of the following groups of people practiced a devout life according to their type of life. Match each group of saintly people below to its corresponding type of life.

— Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, David, Job, Tobias, Sarah, Rebecca and Judith
HouseholdKings/rulersSoldiersIn the tradesOld Testament figures

— St. Joseph, Lydia and Crispus
HouseholdKings/rulersSoldiersIn the tradesOld Testament figures

— St. Anne, Martha, St. Monica, Aquila and Priscilla
HouseholdKings/rulersSoldiersIn the tradesOld Testament figures

— Cornelius, St. Sebastian, and St. Maurice
HouseholdKings/rulersSoldiersIn the tradesOld Testament figures

— Constantine, St. Helena, St. Louis, Bl. Amadaeus
HouseholdKings/rulersSoldiersIn the tradesOld Testament figures

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