Tidbits from St. Francis de Sales ~ Roses Among Thorns

Seasons of Life

All of the seasons of life come together in the soul. Sometimes we feel winter’s sterility, distraction, distaste, and boredom, sometimes spring’s dew, with the fragrance of holy blossoms, and sometimes a burning desire to please our good God.

What remains is autumn, and even then we may see no great harvest.  Yet it often happens that in threshing the wheat and pressing the grape we find a greater yield than we had expected.

We want it always to be spring and summer, but there must be vicissitudes of the interior life as well as the exterior.

Only in heaven will everything be springtime in its beauty, autumn in its fruitfulness, and summer in its ardor. There will be no winter there; but here winter is necessary for the work of abnegation and for the thousand minor but beautiful virtues that we exercise in a fallow time. 

Let us, then, continue to put one foot in front of the other. Provided our hearts be true, we will walk aright.

Jesus the Gardener

Do not be anxious. Rouse yourself to serve the Lord with steadfastness, attentiveness, and meekness. That is the true way to serve him. If you can refrain from trying to do all things, but instead attempt to do only some one thing, then you will do much.

 Practice the mortifications that most often present themselves to you, for that is the first duty to be done. After that you can take up the others.

Lovingly kiss the crosses that our Lord himself lays upon your arms, without looking to see whether they are of precious or aromatic wood. They are more truly crosses when they are made of a wood that smells dirty and is considered useless.

Mary Magdalene tried to hold on to our Lord; she wanted Him for herself. His appearance was not as she had wished it to be, which is why she looked at Him without recognizing Him. She wanted to see him arrayed in glory, not in the common clothes of a gardener. Yet in the end she knew that it was He when He said to her, “Mary” (John 20:14-16).

You see, it is our Lord garbed as a gardener whom we meet day by day, here and there, in the ordinary mortifications that present themselves to us. We want more noble-seeming ones. But the ones that seem the most noble are not the best. Before we see him in his glory, He wants to plant many humble flowers in our garden, according to His plan. This is why He is dressed the way He is. Our task is to let our hearts be ever united to His, and our wills to His pleasure.

Roses Among Thorns

Let us make our way through the low valleys of the humble little virtues. There we will see roses among thorns: charity shining forth amid interior and exterior affliction, lilies of purity, and violets of mortification.

We ought to love above all others these three small virtues: meekness of heart, poverty of spirit, and simplicity of life, together with those common labors of visiting the sick, serving the poor, and consoling the afflicted.

Yet let it all be done freely and without anxiety. No, our arms are not strong enough for us to climb the cedars of Lebanon; let us be content with the hyssop that grows in the valleys.

Choosing Virtue

Be very meek. You should live not according to your passions and your inclinations, but according to reason and devotion. Love tenderly those who have been given to you by the Hand of our Lord.

Be very humble toward all. Direct your mind toward peace and tranquility, and suffocate your bad inclinations by attending diligently to the practice of the contrary virtues.

Mark well these words: you are suffering because you fear vice more than you love virtue. If you were able to stir your heart a little more deeply to the practice of meekness and true humility, you would be courageous. But you must frequently think of it.

Prepare yourself to do so first thing each morning, and God will send you a thousand consolations. And do not forget to lift your heart to God and your thoughts to eternity.

A Pattern of Devotion

Here in short compass are the exercises that I recommend.

First, when you arise, briefly prepare yourself for the whole day. Then your mental prayer should be before the noon meal, when you are otherwise unoccupied.

 Retreat briefly in the evening before supper, and, by way of repetition, make a dozen lively aspirations to God, in accord with your morning’s meditation or on some other subject. 

During the day and between its tasks, as often as you can, you should examine yourself to see whether your affections have been distracted by some object, and whether you are still holding our Lord by the hand.

Should you find yourself at a loss, gather your soul together and set it at rest. Imagine yourself like our Lady, calmly working with one hand while holding on to our Lord with the other, or holding Him with her other arm during His Infancy. 

In times of peace and tranquility, multiply your acts of humility, for by this means you will accustom your heart to meekness.

 Do not attempt to combat by argument the little temptations that arise; instead, simply bring your heart back to Jesus Christ crucified.  Do not trouble yourself to make many vocal prayers, and always, when you pray and you sense your heart carried to mental prayer, let it go there straightaway, and should your mental prayer be accompanied by only the Lord’s Prayer, the Angelic Salutation, and the Creed, you may be content.

Suffering which comes to us from God is best; and that comes to us through our circumstances, our surroundings, ourselves, and those we live with: these come from God, being permitted by Him. They are the warp and woof of our spiritual life.

People forget to sanctify the daily little crosses of life; they must be big and marked with a red cross, that we may recognize they come from God. But we can’t get away from these little crosses and mortifications, they are woven into our life – a clear sign they come from God. -Fr. Daniel Considine, 1950’s

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