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The Spirit of St. Francis de Sales

by Jean-Pierre Camus

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  1. 1Preface
  2. 2Sketch of the Life of Jean Pierre Camus
  3. 3The French Publisher to the Reader, 1639
  4. 4The Spirit of St. Francis de Sales Upon Perfect Virtue
  5. 5Blessed Francis’ Estimate of Various Virtues
  6. 6Upon the Lesser Virtues
  7. 7Upon Increase of Faith
  8. 8Upon the Same Subject
  9. 9Upon Confidence in God
  10. 10Our Misery Appeals to God’s Mercy
  11. 11Upon Self-Distrust
  12. 12Upon the Justice and Mercy of God
  13. 13Waiting Upon God
  14. 14Upon the Difference Between a Holy Desire of Reward and a Mercenary…
  15. 15Continuation of the Same Subject
  16. 16God Should Suffice for Us All
  17. 17Charity the Short Road to Perfection
  18. 18Upon What It Is to Love God Truly
  19. 19Upon the Love of God in General
  20. 20All for Love of God
  21. 21The Same Subject Continued
  22. 22Upon the Love of God, Called Love of Benevolence
  23. 23Disinterested Love of God
  24. 24Upon the Character of a True Christian
  25. 25Upon Not Putting Limits to Our Love of God
  26. 26Upon the Law and the Just Man
  27. 27Upon Desires
  28. 28How Charity Excels Both Faith and Hope
  29. 29Some Thoughts of Blessed Francis on the Passion
  30. 30Upon the Vanity of Heathen Philosophy
  31. 31Upon the Pure Love of Our Neighbour
  32. 32Upon Bearing With One Another
  33. 33Upon Fraternal Correction
  34. 34Upon Finding Excuses for the Faults of Our Fellow-Men
  35. 35Upon Not Judging Others
  36. 36Upon Judging Ourselves
  37. 37Upon Slander and Detraction
  38. 38Upon Hasty Judgments
  39. 39Upon Ridiculing One’s Neighbour
  40. 40Upon Contradicting Others
  41. 41Upon Loving Our Enemies
  42. 42Upon Forgiving Our Enemies
  43. 43Upon the Virtue of Condescension
  44. 44How Blessed Francis Adapted Himself to Times, Places, and Circumsta…
  45. 45Upon the Deference Due to Our Inferiors and Dependents
  46. 46Upon the Way to Treat Servants
  47. 47Another Instance of Blessed Francis’ Gentleness With His Own Servants
  48. 48The Holy Bishop Never Refused What Was Asked of Him
  49. 49Upon Almsgiving
  50. 50Our Saint’s Hopefulness in Regard to the Conversion of Sinners
  51. 51Blessed Francis’ Solicitude for Malefactors Condemned to Death
  52. 52Upon the Small Number of the Elect
  53. 53To Love to Be Hated, and to Hate to Be Loved
  54. 54Upon Obedience
  55. 55Upon the Obedience That May Be Practised by Superiors
  56. 56An Instance of Our Saint’s Obedience
  57. 57Upon the Love of Holy Poverty
  58. 58Upon the Same Subject
  59. 59Upon Poverty of Spirit
  60. 60Francis’ Love of the Poor
  61. 61Upon the Christian View of Poverty
  62. 62Upon Prosperity
  63. 63Upon Charity and Chastity
  64. 64Upon Purity of Heart
  65. 65Upon Chastity and Humility
  66. 66Upon Modesty
  67. 67The Contempt He Felt for His Body
  68. 68Upon Our Saint’s Humility
  69. 69Upon Mere Humbleness of Speech
  70. 70Upon Various Degrees of Humility
  71. 71Upon Humiliation
  72. 72Humility With Regard to Perfection
  73. 73Upon Excuses
  74. 74Upon Our Good Name
  75. 75Upon Despising the Esteem of Men
  76. 76Upon the Virtues We Should Practise When Calumniated
  77. 77Upon Some Spiritual Maxims
  78. 78Upon Patience
  79. 79How to Profit by Bearing With Insults
  80. 80Upon Bearing With Importunities
  81. 81That He Who Complains Sins
  82. 82Blessed Francis’ Calmness in Tribulation
  83. 83Blessed Francis’ Test of Patience in Suffering
  84. 84Blessed Francis’ Holy Indifference in Illness
  85. 85Upon the Shape of the Cross
  86. 86A Diamond Cross
  87. 87Holy Magdalen at the Foot of the Cross
  88. 88Upon the Power of Gentleness and Patience
  89. 89A Rejoinder Both Striking and Instructive
  90. 90Blessed Francis’ Favourite Beatitude
  91. 91His Gravity and Affability
  92. 92How Blessed Francis Dealt With a Criminal Who Despaired of Salvation
  93. 93Upon Mortification
  94. 94Upon the Same Subject
  95. 95Upon Fasting
  96. 96Doubts Solved as to Soldiers Fasting
  97. 97The Golden Mean in Dispensations
  98. 98Upon the Words, “Eat of Anything That Is Set Before You”
  99. 99Upon the State of Perfection
  100. 100Marks of Progress in Perfection
  101. 101Upon the Perfection Aimed at in Religious Houses
  102. 102Upon Frugality
  103. 103Blessed Francis’ Esteem of the Virtue of Simplicity
  104. 104Blessed Francis’ Love of Exactitude
  105. 105A Test of Religious Vocation
  106. 106Upon Following the Common Life
  107. 107Upon the Judging of Vocations
  108. 108Upon Prudence and Simplicity
  109. 109The Same Subject Continued
  110. 110Upon Mental Prayer
  111. 111Upon Aspirations
  112. 112Upon Interior Recollection and Ejaculatory Prayers
  113. 113Upon Doing and Enduring
  114. 114Upon Mortification and Prayer
  115. 115Upon the Presence of God
  116. 116His Unity of Spirit With God
  117. 117His Gratitude to God for Spiritual Consolations
  118. 118Upon the Shedding of Tears
  119. 119Upon Joy and Sadness
  120. 120Upon the Degrees of True Devotion
  121. 121The Test of True Devotion
  122. 122What It Means to Be a Servant of God
  123. 123That Devotion Does Not Always Spring From Charity
  124. 124Upon Perfect Contentment in the Privation of All Content
  125. 125Upon the Will of God
  126. 126His Resignation to the Will of God
  127. 127That We Must Always Submit Ourselves to God’s Holy Will
  128. 128His Sublime Thoughts on Holy Indifference
  129. 129Nothing, Save Sin, Happens to Us but by the Will of God
  130. 130Upon the Same Subject
  131. 131Upon Abandoning Ourselves to God
  132. 132Upon Interior Desolation
  133. 133Upon the Presence in Our Souls of the Grace of God
  134. 134Upon Our Desire to Save Our Soul
  135. 135Upon Good Natural Inclinations
  136. 136How to Speak of God
  137. 137Upon Eccentricities in Devotion
  138. 138Upon Confraternities
  139. 139Upon Intercourse With the World
  140. 140Against Over-Eagerness
  141. 141Upon the Same Subject
  142. 142Upon Liberty of Spirit
  143. 143Upon Nature and Grace
  144. 144Upon Exaggerated Introspection
  145. 145Upon Interior Reformation
  146. 146His Vision of the Most Holy Trinity
  147. 147His Devotion to Our Blessed Lady
  148. 148His Devotion to the Holy Winding Sheet of Turin
  149. 149Upon Merit
  150. 150Upon Good Will and Good Desires
  151. 151Against the Making of Rash Vows
  152. 152Upon the Pro-Passions of Our Lord
  153. 153His Victory Over the Passions of Love and Anger
  154. 154Upon Our Passions and Emotions
  155. 155How He Came to Write His Philothea
  156. 156Upon the Example of the Saints
  157. 157Upon the Love of God’s Word
  158. 158His Love of Retirement
  159. 159How He Sanctified His Recreations
  160. 160What He Drew From Some Lines of Poetry
  161. 161Upon Being Content With Our Position in Life
  162. 162Upon Self-Sufficiency and Contentedness
  163. 163The Reverence of Blessed Francis for the Sick
  164. 164Upon the Care of the Sick
  165. 165Upon Speaking Well of the Dead
  166. 166Upon Death
  167. 167Upon Wishing to Die
  168. 168Upon the Same Subject
  169. 169Upon the Desire of Heaven
  170. 170What It Is to die in God
  171. 171Upon Length of Life
  172. 172Upon Purgatory
  173. 173Upon Penance
  174. 174Upon Penitent Confusion
  175. 175Upon Interior Peace Amidst Anxieties
  176. 176Upon Discouragement
  177. 177Upon Rising After a Fall
  178. 178Upon Kindliness Towards Ourselves
  179. 179Upon Imperfections
  180. 180The Just Man Falls Seven Times in the Day
  181. 181Upon the Purgative Way
  182. 182Upon Venial Sin
  183. 183Upon Complicity in the Sins of Another
  184. 184Upon Equivocating
  185. 185Upon Solitude
  186. 186Upon Vanity
  187. 187Upon the Knowledge Which Puffs Up
  188. 188Upon Scruples
  189. 189Upon Temptations
  190. 190Upon the Same Subject
  191. 191Thoughts on the Incarnation
  192. 192Upon Confession and Communion
  193. 193Upon Confession
  194. 194Upon a Change of Confessor
  195. 195Upon Different Methods of Direction
  196. 196Advice Upon Having a Director
  197. 197Upon True and Mistaken Zeal
  198. 198Upon the Institution of the Visitation Order
  199. 199His Defence of His New Congregation of the Visitation
  200. 200Upon the Odour of Sanctity
  201. 201He Rebukes Pharisaism
  202. 202Upon Religious Superiors
  203. 203Upon Unlearned Superiors
  204. 204Upon the Founding of Convents
  205. 205Upon Receiving the Infirm Into Communities
  206. 206Upon Self-Pity
  207. 207Upon the Government of Nuns by Religious Men
  208. 208That We Must Not Be Wedded to Our Own Plans
  209. 209His Views Regarding Ecclesiastical Dignities
  210. 210His Promotion to the Bishopric of Geneva and His Refusal of the Arc…
  211. 211A Bishop’s Care for His Flock
  212. 212On the First Duty of Bishops
  213. 213Upon the Pastoral Charge
  214. 214Upon the Care of Souls
  215. 215Upon Learning and Piety
  216. 216Advice to Bishop Camus as to Resigning His See
  217. 217The Joyous Spirit of Blessed Francis
  218. 218Upon Daily Mass. His Advice to a Young Priest
  219. 219A Priest Saying Mass Should Be Considerate of Others
  220. 220Blessed Francis Encourages the Bishop of Belley
  221. 221Upon a Compassionate Mind
  222. 222Upon Doing One’s Duty, Without Respect of Persons
  223. 223The Honour Due to Virtue
  224. 224Upon Memory and Judgment
  225. 225A Priest Should Not Aim at Imitating in His Sermons Any Particular…
  226. 226Upon Short Sermons
  227. 227Upon Preaching and Preachers
  228. 228Blessed Francis and the Bishop of Belley’s Sermon
  229. 229Upon Controversy
  230. 230Upon Reason and Reasoning
  231. 231Upon Quoting Holy Scripture
  232. 232Upon Political Diplomacy
  233. 233Upon Ambition
  234. 234Upon Courts and Courtiers
  235. 235Upon the Carnival
  236. 236An Instance of His Compassion for Animals
  237. 237Upon Hunting
  238. 238Upon the Fear of Ghosts
  239. 239His Portrait
  240. 240Upon Blessed Francis’ True Charity

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