Salesian Spirituality for Lent: Perseverance
St. Francis de Sales, a Doctor of the Church, lived and ministered as a priest and bishop in a region of France very close to Geneva, Switzerland. During his life, in the last half of the sixteenth century, the region had been overrun by Calvinism, and his monumental task was building trust and providing good catechesis to the local Catholic population. This he did often through clandestine written correspondence, eventually repositioning the region as a Catholic stronghold.
How the Introduction Came to Be
Introduction to the Devout Life developed out of that correspondence. He wrote letters of encouragement to a particular lay woman, which he called “merely a collection of bits of good advice stated in plain, intelligible words.” After some encouragement from the woman, and from a local Jesuit, the first edition was published in 1609. For the sake of the text being more broadly applicable, De Sales addressed it to Philothea, a fictional personality who “signifies a soul loving, or in love with, God” (Preface).
De Sales used his Introduction to declare a universal call to holiness, centuries before that term was coined by the Second Vatican Council. In the text’s Preface, the bishop encouraged lay persons to pursue a robust and fruitful spiritual life while living “an ordinary life as to outward appearances.” He expressed a desire to “paint on men’s hearts not only the ordinary virtues but also God’s dearest and most beloved devotion,” so souls would be strengthened for living in the world “without being infected by any of its moods.”
Ultimately, he wanted the laity to be able to “find sweet springs of piety amid its salty waves, and fly through the flames of earthly lusts without burning the wings of its holy desires for a devout life.” With this objective, the pastor produced an enduring spiritual masterpiece that can help anyone throughout the pilgrimage on this mortal coil. It is an invaluable text for any lay person who seeks to live fruitfully as a disciple of Jesus Christ.
The Devout Life During Lent
The value of De Sales’ Introduction is particularly noticeable during Lent. The whole text is ordered toward helping a disciple cultivate “a constant, resolute, prompt, and active will to do whatever we know is pleasing to God” (IV.13), which is really the aim of Lent. The text does this by offering digestible sections of reading and meditation, along with practical examples that apply directly to the lives of lay persons living in any social setting. Thus, this series of five columns will attempt to unpack De Sales’s rich spiritual wisdom, applying it to the upcoming penitential season, and to our lives as disciples generally.
It makes some sense to begin our consideration of the Introduction with Part IV of the text. Lent has potential for intense, positive spiritual growth, which means Satan and his minions will, without a doubt, assault us with temptations to derail our progress. For the sake of Lenten perseverance, it seems good to deal right away with obstacles and their solutions. Eyes wide open, and all.
Within this section, De Sales addressed topics that were—and still are—invaluable to spiritual growth and stamina. Specifically, he clarified the nature of temptation; identified large and small temptations; and offered some effective methods of strength and resistance, which include: (1) being crucified to the world, (2) perseverance, and (3) humility and detachment.
Crucified to the World
The idea of being crucified to the world has been ingredient in Christianity since its very inception. Yet, the enemy, Satan, throws “flaming darts” at our souls and offers the ways of the world to take us away from our heavenly end (Eph. 6:16). These darts, these worldly ways, consist of the disordered desires of our flesh, our desires to be noticed by others, and our prideful egos. These are exactly what Jesus meant when He asked the poignant question, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mk. 8:36).
De Sales begins this section of the Introduction by encouraging his flock against the ways of the world. He wants them to know that complacency and capitulating to the world in the moral and spiritual life might be easy, but it would derail them from their intended end. He wrote:
We can never please the world unless we lose ourselves together with it. It is so demanding that it can’t be satisfied. …Thus the world looks at us with an evil eye and we can never please it.
In his conclusion to that section, he offers a bold exhortation: “We are crucified to the world and the world must be crucified to us. The world holds us to be fools; let us hold it to be mad” (IV.1).
This must be every disciple’s stance throughout Lent, and in every season beyond. All of us will be tempted to refuse or quit Lenten penances: “I could never give up…” or “People at work will think I’m weird,” or “I just don’t feel like continuing.” These are the ways of the world, and each of us must be ready to eschew these attitudes and choices. Instead, De Sales offers, we should reach for a higher good, while developing a shield against those flaming darts.
The Shield of Perseverance
The saint’s primary direction to craft that shield was to cultivate perseverance. Essentially, he points out that perseverance is precisely the way a disciple proves his or her sincerity, dedication, and devotion to the Lord (IV.1). The great benefit of perseverance, he added, would be “consolations so delicious and pleasing that you will acknowledge that the world is mere gall.” Finally, he encourages readers that the life of devotion kept diligently and courageously would allow a person’s life to be transformed from the bitterness of the world to the sweetness of divine grace. Perseverance, then, is essential for our Lenten pilgrimage as we will certainly face bitter frustrations and sufferings, usually sooner rather than later.
Humility and Detachment
To grow in perseverance, De Sales proposes three foundational habits in this section of the Introduction, listing the virtues of humility and detachment first. To cultivate the former, he notes that a disciple must be distrustful of self over God; to cultivate the latter, a disciple must be able to enjoy “delights, tender feelings, and consolations” only for the sake of God, the highest good (IV.5, 13).
After humility and detachment, he encourages laity to find and focus on sweet consolations. Like little children who are enticed to obedience and good deeds with “bits of sugar,” God uses “bait and allurement to entice us” to love Him (IV.13).
His last direction for periods of dryness—the absence of consolation—is to “multiply our good works” (IV.14). A soul that engages in charitable works while lacking consolation, the saint reminds readers, “abounds in the interior generation of true virtues.” So, we ought to find ways to strive toward these pillars of perseverance to grow in perseverance—for six weeks in Lent and, hopefully, for every day beyond.
These are the contours of perseverance, along with some practical steps offered by St. Francis de Sales. As we strive to implement these habits and dispositions in our lives today, it will be helpful to apply the great spiritual director’s examination to our own journey through the upcoming Lent:
…let us lay our hand on our heart. Let us see whether heart and will still retain their spiritual movement, that is, let us see whether they have done their duty by refusing to consent and to yield to temptation and pleasure. As long as this act of refusal remains within our heart we may rest assured that charity, the life of the soul, remains within us, and that Jesus Christ our Savior, although hidden and covered over, is present in our soul. (IV.5)
Hopefully that is all the consolation and sweetness we need to grow in perseverance and continue onward.
Editor’s Note: This Lenten series aims to unpack De Sales’ rich spiritual wisdom, applying it to the penitential season and to our lives as disciples generally.
Author’s Note: All quotes from Introduction to the Devout Life, by St. Francis de Sales, are taken from John K. Ryan’s translation, published in 1966 by Image/Doubleday (ISBN: 0-385-03009-6). References include the part and the section. For example, Part IV, Section 3 is cited as (IV.3).
Image from Wikimedia Commons
