The reformation of the soul starts in
self-knowledge and confidence in God.
Our self-knowledge will let us know
we have many things to correct and reform
and that it cannot be done by our own efforts.
Confidence in God will let us hope in Him, know that we can do all in Him,
and that with His grace all things are possible and easy.
St. Jane Frances de Chantal
self-knowledge and confidence in God.
Our self-knowledge will let us know
we have many things to correct and reform
and that it cannot be done by our own efforts.
Confidence in God will let us hope in Him, know that we can do all in Him,
and that with His grace all things are possible and easy.
St. Jane Frances de Chantal
If one reads the Letters of St. Francis de Sales, and The Spiritual Combat by Fr. Lorenzo Scupoli, the ideas above expressed by St. Jane de Chantal will be reinforced. The Letters are available in pdf on the internet. There is also a collection of the Letters of St. Jane de Chantal.
ReplyDeleteIn the letters between the saints, one can see the guidance St. Francis de Sales provides, which he repeats, because St. Jane de Chantal did suffer mentally and wrote to him for guidance.
St. Francis de Sales carried The Spiritual Combat for the 30 years before his death. Fr. Scupoli was a man who was calumniated for something unclear for which he was exonerated, eventually, before death, but the ostracism lasted decades. He lived an entirely secluded life broken only for acts of charity, a life unusual for the times in which he lived in fact the opposite of them, from what one can read in the brief introduction to The Spiritual Combat. He is uncompromising; his ideas nourished St. Francis de Sales, and through him, St. Jane de Chantal.