Malankara World

The Spirit of St. Francis de Sales

By Jean Pierre Camus
Bishop of Belley

Translated by J. S.

New and Enlarged Edition
With a Preface by His Grace The Archbishop of Westminster
1910


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface by the Archbishop of Westminster

Sketch of Jean Pierre Camus, Bishop of Belley

The French Publisher to the reader in 1639

Upon perfect virtue

Blessed Francis' estimate of various virtues

Upon the lesser virtues

Upon increase of Faith

Upon temptations against Faith

Upon the same subject

Upon confidence in God

Our misery appeals to God's mercy

Upon self distrust

Upon the justice and mercy of God

On waiting upon God

On the difference between a holy desire of reward and a mercenary spirit

Continuation of the same subject

God should suffice for us all

Charity the short road to perfection

Upon what it is to love God truly

Upon the Love of God in general

All for Love of God

The same subject continued

Upon the Love of God called love of benevolence

Disinterested Love of God

Upon the character of a true Christian

Upon not putting limits to our Love of God

Upon the law and the just man

Upon desires

How Charity excels both Faith and Hope

Some thoughts of Blessed Francis on the Passion

Upon the vanity of heathen philosophy

Upon the pure love of our neighbor

Upon bearing with one another

Upon fraternal correction

Upon finding excuses for the faults of our fellow-men

Upon not judging others

Upon judging ourselves

Upon slander and detraction

Upon hasty judgments

Upon ridiculing one's neighbor

Upon contradicting others

Upon loving our enemies

Upon forgiving our enemies

Upon the virtue of condescension

How he adapted himself to times, places and circumstances

Upon the deference due to inferiors and dependents

On the way to treat servants

Another instance of his gentleness with his servants

His never refusing what was asked of him

Upon almsgiving

His hopefulness in regard, to the conversion of sinners

His solicitude for malefactors condemned to death

Upon the small number of the elect

To love to be hated; and to hate to be loved

Upon obedience

Upon the obedience that may be practiced by Superiors

An instance of his obedience

Upon the Love of Holy Poverty

Upon the same subject

Upon poverty of spirit

His love of the poor

Upon the Christian view of Poverty

Upon Prosperity

Upon Chastity and Charity

Upon purity of heart

Upon Chastity and Humility

Upon Modesty

The contempt he felt for his body

Upon his Humility

Upon humbleness in speech only

Upon various degrees of Humility

Upon Humiliation

Humility with regard to perfection

Upon excuses

Upon our good name

Upon despising the esteem of men

Upon the virtues we should practice when calumniated

Upon some spiritual maxims

Upon Patience

How to profit by bearing with insults

Upon bearing with importunities

That he who complains sins

His calmness in tribulations

His test of patience in suffering

Upon long illnesses

His holy indifference in illness

Upon the shape of the Cross

A diamond Cross

Holy Magdalen at the foot of the Cross

Upon the power of gentleness and patience

A rejoinder both striking and instructive

His favorite beatitude

His gravity and affability

How he dealt with a criminal who despaired of salvation

Upon mortification

Upon the same subject

Upon fasting

Doubts solved as to soldiers fasting

The golden mean in dispensations

Upon the words "Eat of anything that is set before you"

Upon the state of perfection

Marks of progress in perfection

Upon the perfection aimed at in Religious Houses

Upon Frugality

His esteem of the virtue of simplicity

His love of exactitude

The test of Religious Vocation

Upon following the common life

Upon Vocations

Upon Prudence and Simplicity

The same subject continued

Upon mental prayer

Upon Aspirations

Upon interior recollection and ejaculatory prayers

Upon doing and enduring

Upon Mortification and Prayer

Upon the Presence of God

His unity of spirit with God

His gratitude to God for spiritual consolations

Upon the shedding of tears

Upon joy and sadness

On the degrees of true devotion

The test of true devotion

What it means to be a servant of God

That devotion does not always spring from Charity

Upon perfect contentment in the privation of all content

Upon the Will of God

His resignation to the Will of God

That we must always submit ourselves to God's holy Will

His sublime thoughts on holy indifference

Nothing save sin happens to us but by the Will of God

Upon the same subject

Upon abandoning ourselves to God

Upon interior desolation

Upon the presence in our souls of the Grace of God

Upon our wish to save our soul

Upon good natural inclinations

How to speak of God

Upon eccentricities in devotion

Upon Confraternities

Upon intercourse with the world

Against over-eagerness

Upon the same subject

Upon liberty of spirit

Upon nature and grace

Upon exaggerated introspection

Upon interior reformation

His vision of the Most Holy Trinity

His devotion to our Blessed Lady

His devotion to the Holy Winding Sheet of Turin

Upon merit

Upon good will and good desires

Against the making of rash vows

Upon the pro-passions of Our Lord

His victory over the passions of love and anger

Upon our passions and emotions

How he came to write his Philothea

Upon the example of the Saints

Upon the love of God's word

His love of retirement

How he sanctified his recreations

What he drew from lines of poetry

Upon being content with our condition in life

Upon self-sufficiency and contentedness

His reverence for the sick

Upon the care of the sick

Upon speaking well of the dead

Upon Death

Upon wishing to die

Upon the desire of Heaven

What it is to die in God

Upon length of life

Upon Purgatory

Upon Penance

Upon penitent confusion

Upon interior peace amidst anxieties

Upon discouragement

Upon rising after a fall

Upon kindliness towards ourselves

Upon imperfections

The just man falls seven times in the day

Upon the purgative way

Upon venial sin

Upon complicity in the sins of another

Upon equivocating

Upon solitude

Upon vanity

Upon the knowledge which puffs up

Upon scruples

Upon temptations

Upon the same subject

Thoughts on the Incarnation

Upon Confession and Communion

Upon Confession

Upon a change of confessor

Upon different methods of direction

Advice upon having a Director

Upon true and mistaken zeal

Upon the institution of the Visitation Order

His defense of his new Congregation of the Visitation

Upon the odor of sanctity

He rebukes Pharisaism

Upon religious Superiors

Upon unlearned Superiors

Upon the founding of Convents

Upon receiving the infirm into Communities

Upon self pity

Upon the government of Nuns by religious men

That we must not be wedded to our own plans

His views regarding Ecclesiastical dignities

His promotion to the Bishopric of Geneva and his refusal of the

Archbishopric of Paris

A Bishop's care for his flock

Upon the first duty of Bishops

Upon the pastoral charge

Upon the care of souls

Upon learning and piety

Advice to Bishop Camus as to resigning his See

The joyous spirit of Blessed Francis

Upon daily Mass. His advice to a young Priest

A Priest saying Mass should be considerate of others

Blessed Francis encourages the Bishop of Belley

Upon a compassionate mind

Upon doing one's duty without respect of persons

The honour due to virtue

Upon memory and judgment

A Priest should not aim at imitating in his sermons some particular

preacher

Upon short sermons

Upon preaching and preachers

Blessed Francis and the Bishop of Belley's sermon

Upon controversy

The same subject continued

Upon reason and reasoning

Upon quoting Holy Scripture

Upon political diplomacy

Upon ambition

Upon courts and courtiers

Upon the Carnival

An instance of his compassion for animals

Upon hunting

Upon the fear of ghosts

His portrait

Upon his true charity

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