Saint Francis Quotes

The spirit cannot endure the body when overfed, but, if underfed, the body cannot endure the spirit. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

When you encounter difficulties and contradictions, do not try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Reputation is rarely proportioned to virtue. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

He who can preserve gentleness amid pains, and peace amid worry multitude of affairs, is almost perfect. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Let us think only of spending the present day well. Then when tomorrow shall have come, it will be called today, and then we will think about it. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

The vocation of being a 'protector' [ ... ] means protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world, as the Book of Genesis tells us and as Saint Francis of Assisi showed us [ ... ] In the end, everything has been entrusted to our protection, and all of us are responsible for it. Be protectors of God's gifts! ~ Pope Francis

Take care of your health, that it may serve you to serve God. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Friendships begun in this world will be taken up again, never to be broken off. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

One of the most evil dispositions possible is that which satirizes and turns everything to ridicule. God abhors this vice, and has sometimes punished it in a marked manner ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Others too would occasionally entertain and privately express such doubts; though we all had been most solemnly warned by the cruel murder of Saint Francis. ~ Maria Monk

Strive to see God in all things without exception. Do not smother yourself ... If you start smothering yourself with a host of cares and longings and wishes ... you will be disabling yourself from serving God with all your heart. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Cook the truth in charity until it tastes sweet. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

The merit of the cross does not consist in its heaviness, but in the manner in which we carry it. I would even say that it is sometimes more virtuous to carry a cross of straw than a heavy cross because we have to be more attentive for fear of losing it. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

There's love and there's romantic love. The Greeks had different words for different kinds of love. And we just got "love." I don't know what you would call the other kinds - maybe brotherly love, Christian love, the love of Saint Francis, love of everyone and everything. Then there's romantic love, which, by and large, is a pain in the ass, a kind of trauma. ~ John Maus

We have freedom to do good or evil; yet to make choice of evil, is not to use, but to abuse our freedom. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

The highest point of humility consists in not merely acknowledging one's abjection, but in taking pleasure therein, not from any want of breadth or courage, but to give the more glory to God's Divine Majesty, and to esteem one's neighbour more highly than one's self. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

When charity requires it we must freely and mildly communicate to our neighbor not only what is his instruction, but also what is profitable for his consolation. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

The greatest method of praying is to pray the Rosary. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

I see crosses at every turn. My flesh shudders over it, but my heart adores them. Yes, I hail you, crosses little and great, I hail you, and kiss your feet, unworthy of the honor of your shadow. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

It is a great imperfection to complain unceasingly of little things. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

The Prayer of the sick person is his patience and his acceptance of his sickness for the love of Jesus Christ. Make sickness itself a prayer, for there is none more powerful, save martyrdom! ~ Saint Francis De Sales

I want to make a film, to see everything through the eyes of an animal. "What are you shooting?" people say to me. "Look around you. There's a war on in Chechnya." But Saint Francis preached to the birds. He spoke to them as equals. What if these birds spoke to him in their bird language, and it wasn't he who condescended to them? ~ Svetlana Alexievich

I have the same opinion of dances that physicians have of mushrooms: the best of them are good for nothing. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

God will either shield you from suffering or give you unfailing strength to bear it. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

It is right that you should begin again every day. There is no better way to complete the spiritual life than to be ever beginning it over again. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

We need to think long and hard about sanity, a word most of us cling to with a steel grip. Does fear of being regarded by others as insane confine me in a cage of "responsible" behavior that limits my freedom and cripples my ability to love? And is it in fact such a wonderful thing to be regarded as sane? After all, the chief administrator of the Holocaust, Adolph Eichmann, was declared "quite sane" by the psychiatrists who examined him before his trial in Jerusalem. Surely the same psychiatrists would have found Saint Basil, Saint Theodore and Saint Xenia all insane - and Saint Francis, and that most revered of all mad men, the Son of Man, the Savior, Jesus of Nazareth. ~ Jim Forest

True humility scarcely ever utters words of humility. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Marital intercourse is certainly holy, lawful and praiseworthy in itself and profitable to society, yet in certain circumstances it can prove dangerous, as when through excess the soul is made sick with venial sin, or through the violation and perversion of its primary end, killed by mortal sin; such perversion, detestable in proportion to its departure from the true order, being always mortal sin, for it is never lawful to exclude the primary end of marriage which is the procreation of children. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Chastity is the lily of virtues, and makes men almost equal to Angels. Everything is beautiful in accordance with its purity. Now the purity of man is chastity, which is called honesty, and the observance of it, honor and also integrity; and its contrary is called corruption; in short, it has this peculiar excellence above the other virtues, that it preserves both soul and body fair and unspotted. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

The Lord delights in every little step you take. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

The Devil doesn't fear austerity but holy obedience. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Mount Calvary is the academy of love. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

For every great temptation there will be many small ones. Wolves and bears are more dangerous than flies, but we are bothered most by flies. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Is it not a great temptation to be so valiant in imagination and so cowardly in execution? ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Whatever happens, abide steadfast in a determination to cling simply to God. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

The declared enemies of God and His Church, heretics and schismatics, must be criticized as much as possible, as long as truth is not denied. It is a work of charity to shout: 'Here is the wolf!' when it enters the flock or anywhere else. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Anderson has spent enough time poring over ancient pictures that they seldom affect him. He can usually ignore the foolish confidence of the past - the waste, the arrogance, the absurd wealth - but this one irritates him: the fat flesh hanging off the farang, the astonishing abundance of calories that are so obviously secondary to the color and attractiveness of a market that has thirty varieties of fruit: mangosteens, pineapples, coconuts, certainly. . . but there are no oranges, now. None of these. . . these. . . dragon fruits, none of these pomelos, none of these yellow things. . . lemons. None of them. So many of these things are simply gone.

But the people in the photo don't know it. These dead men and women have no idea that they stand in front of the treasure of the ages, that they inhabit the Eden of the Grahamite Bible where pure souls go to live at the right hand of God. Where all the flavors of the world reside under the careful attentions of Noah and Saint Francis, and where no one starves.

Anderson scans the caption. The fat, self-contented fools have no idea of the genetic gold mine they stand beside. The book doesn't even bother to identify the ngaw. It's just another example of nature's fecundity, taken entirely for granted because they enjoyed so damn much of it. ~ Paolo Bacigalupi

He came to find me," I offered, a small indication, maybe,that this was a Phillite boy who'd grown into doing the right thing.
"I'll give him that. He could have just sucked down his spaghetti and gone." Frankie stuck the cap back on the lipstick. "You look very pretty in..." He flipped the tube over and read. "You've gotta be kidding. Poysonberry? Who comes up with this stuff? Anyway.I'm sure Alex Bainbridge will agree."
"Thank you."
"Anytime.Just keep this in mind, if you would, please. I know that you look very pretty every day, with or without the ridiculously named wax products."
"Saint Francis," I teased, feeling just delightfully poysonous enough in the glow of his approval. "Too good for this world."
"That's just what Connor said." Frankie's most recent boy. They met in a bookstore.
"Bookstore Connor of the fantasy realm?"
Behind us,the gong went. Frankie started to scoop his stuff together. "Careful.His fantasies do not involve one-dimensional Phillites or dead men."
I tapped him on the tip of his perfect nose. He hates that. "How do you know? He might have a thing for dead, one-dimensional Phillites. ~ Melissa Jensen

Let the enemy rage at the gate; let him knock, pound, scream, howl; let him do his worst. We know for certain that he cannot enter our soul except by the door of our consent. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Without a doubt, one of the things which keeps us from attaining perfection is our tongue. When one has reached the point of no longer committing faults in speech, he has surely reached perfection, as was said by the Holy Spirit. The worst defect in talking is talking too much. Hence, in speech be brief and virtuous, brief and gentle, brief and simple, brief and charitable, brief and amiable. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

The enemy often tries to make us attempt and start many projects so that we will be overwhelmed with too many tasks, and therefore achieve nothing and leave everything unfinished. Sometimes he even suggests the wish to undertake some excellent work that he foresees we will never accomplish. This is to distract us from the prosecution of some less excellent work that we would have easily completed. He does not care how many plans and beginnings we make, provided nothing is finished. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

We must visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament a hundred thousand times a day. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

If I want only pure water, what does it matter to me whether it be brought in a vase of gold or of glass? What is it to me whether the will of God be presented to me in tribulation or consolation, since I desire and seek only the Divine will? ... ~ Saint Francis De Sales

To live according to the spirit is to love according to the spirit. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Go to your confessor; open your heart to him; display to him all the recesses of your soul; take the advice that he will give you with the utmost humility and simplicity. For God, Who has an infinite love for obedience, frequently renders profitable the counsels we take from others, but especially from those who are the guides of our souls. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

You can attract more bees with a spoonful of sugar than a cupful of vinegar. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

The power of the Bible is most evident in its ability to change lives. It can transform a wealthy Italian playboy into a saint (Saint Francis of Assisi). By its amazing grace, it can transform a debauching, murderous slave trader into a humble abolitionist (John Newton). It can transfigure prostitutes into women of virtue, cowards into rocks of the church, and the proud into the meek. ~ Anonymous

The test of a preacher is that his congregation goes away saying, not "What a lovely sermon!" but "I will do something." ~ Saint Francis De Sales

We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God. If at times we are somewhat stunned by the tempest, never fear. Let us take breath, and go on afresh. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

In everything, love simplicity. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

What son would not bring his mother back to life and would not bring her into paradise after her death if he could? ~ Saint Francis De Sales

well-meaning Christians almost killed the faith eight hundred years ago ~ Jon M. Sweeney

The state of marriage is one that requires more virtue and constancy than any other; it is a perpetual exercise in mortification. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Great occasions for serving God come seldom, but little ones surround us daily. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

While I am busy with little things, I am not required to do greater things. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Consider the pains which martyrs have endured, and think how even now many people are bearing afflictions beyond all measure greater than yours, and say, "Of a truth my trouble is comfort, my torments are but roses as compared to those whose life is a continual death, without solace, or aid or consolation, borne down with a weight of grief tenfold greater than mine." ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Small yet strong in the love of God, like Saint Francis of Assisi, all of us, as Christians, are called to watch over
and protect the fragile world in which we live, and all its peoples. ~ Pope Francis

The bee collects honey from flowers in such a way as to do the least damage or destruction to them, and he leaves them whole, undamaged and fresh, just as he found them. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Consider all the past as nothing, and say, like David: Now I begin to love my God. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

The highest degree of meekness consists in seeing, serving, honoring, and treating amiably, on occasion, those who are not to our taste, and who show themselves unfriendly, ungrateful, and troublesome to us. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Saint Francis of Assisi understood the power of faith put into action to change the human heart, for it was he who said, "Preach the gospel always; when necessary use words." We had not yet spoken a word in their language, but the village elders had already "heard" the gospel. ~ Richard Stearns

We may be excused for not always being bright, but we are not excused for not being gracious, yielding and considerate. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

A judicious silence is always better than truth spoken without charity. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

You learn to love by loving. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Obedience is a consecration of the heart, chastity of the body, and poverty of all worldly goods to the Love and Service of God. Blessed indeed are the obedient, for God will never permit them to go astray. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

If you would fall into any extreme, let it be on the side of gentleness. The human mind is so constructed that it resists rigor, and yields to softness. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

When the bee has gathered the dew of heaven and the earth's sweetest nectar from the flowers, it turns it into honey, then hastens to its hive. In the same way, the priest, having taken from the altar the Son of God (who is as the dew from heaven, and true son of Mary, flower of our humanity), gives him to you as delicious food. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Humility makes our lives acceptable to God, meekness makes us acceptable to men. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Charity and devotion differ no more, the one from the other, than the flame from the fire. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Doing little things with a strong desire to please God makes them really great. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

And when children begin to use their reason, fathers and mothers should take great pains to fill their hearts with the fear of God. This the good Queen Blanche did most earnestly by St. Louis, her son: witness her oft-repeated words, "My son, I would sooner see you die than guilty of a mortal sin;" words which sank so deeply into the saintly monarch's heart, that he himself said there was no day on which they did not recur to his mind, and strengthen him in treading God's ways. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Be not miserable about what may happen tomorrow. The same everlasting Father, who cares for you today, will care for you tomorrow. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Souls do not wish to be bullied, but gently brought back; such is the nature of man. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

While extremely sensitive as to the slightest approach to slander, you must also guard against an extreme into which some people fall, who, in their desire to speak evil of no one, actually uphold and speak well of vice. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Are you kidding I was raised Catholic, my mom just came back from a Saint Francis Pilgrimage in Italy and bought a huge statue to prove it, big as you. Big as you. Catholics aren't like that, they can be a little slutty at times, sure and there's the pedophilia, but they aren't allowed to be strippers! It's not allowed! ~ Laurie Notaro

How are you to meet the swarm of foolish attachments, triflings, and undesirable inclinations which beset you? By turning sharply away, and thoroughly renouncing such vanities, flying to the Saviour's Cross, and clasping His Crown of thorns to your heart, so that these little foxes may not spoil your vines. Beware of entering into any manner of treaty with the Enemy; do not delude yourself by listening to him while intending to reject him. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

A dance is the devil's procession, and he that entereth into a dance, entereth into his possession. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

We lessen the sin of the world by joining the Lamb of God in bearing sin and pardoning sinners. But as the church as become a powerful institution, a consort with kings and queens, a confidante of presidents and prime ministers, our dispensing of grace has become distorted. We show grace to the institutions of systematic sin while condemning the individual sinner. It should be the other way around. It was never the "rank and file" sinners who gnashed their teeth at Jesus, but those for whom the present arrangement of systematic sin was advantageous. Jesus condemned the systematic sin that preserved the status quo for the Herodians and the Sadducees, but showed compassion to publicans and prostitutes. This is grace. But the church, courting the favor of the powerful, has forgotten this kind of grace. We coddle the mighty whose ire we fear and condemn the sin of the weak who pose no threat. We enthusiastically endorse the systems of greed that run Wall Street while condemning personal greed in the life of the individual working for the minimum wage. We will gladly preach a sermon against the sin of personal greed, but we dare not offer a prophetic critique of the golden calf of unfettered capitalism. Jesus and Saint Francis and Dorothy Day did the opposite. They shamed the principalities and powers, but offered pardon to the people. This is the grace of God the church is to embody. ~ Brian Zahnd

Hell is full of good intentions and wills. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

In no other action can our Savior be considered more tender or more loving than in this, in which He, as it were, annihilates Himself and reduces Himself to food, that He may penetrate our souls and unite Himself to the hearts of His faithful. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

But in disclaiming the dead, you are yourself disclaimed by the dead. If you are not prepared to blush for Alexander the Sixth, it is childishly inconsistent to take pride in the memory of Saint Francis. ~ Ronald Knox

A quarrel between friends, when made up, adds a new tie to friendship. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

[Francis of Assisi was one of the] signal figures who are catalysts for rapid change ~ Jon M. Sweeney

What chance has a Saint Francis, if his Assisi is a multicultured, financial, unyieldingly secular northern city, whose lepers and other detrimentals are charges on the public purse? ~ Robertson Davies

Do not look forward to the changes and chances of this life in fear; rather look to them with full hope that, as they arise, God, whose you are, will deliver you out of them. He is your keeper. He has kept you hitherto. Do you but hold fast to his dear hand, and he will lead you safely through all things; and, when you cannot stand, he will bear you in his arms. Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow. Our Father will either shield you from suffering, or he will give you strength to bear it. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

By turning your eyes on God in meditation, your whole soul will be filled with God. Begin all your prayers in the presence of God. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Since God often sends us inspirations by means of His angels, we should frequently return our aspirations to him by means of the same messengers. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Let us be what God likes, so long as we are His, and let us not be what we want to be, if it is against his intention. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Many who confess their venial sins out of custom and concern for order but without thought of amendment remain burdened with them for their whole life and thus lose many spiritual benefits and advantages. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Have patience to walk with short steps until you have wings to fly. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

When you have received Him, stir up your heart to do Him homage; speak to Him about your spiritual life, gazing upon Him in your soul where He is present for your happiness; welcome Him as warmly as possible, and behave outwardly in such a way that your actions may give proof to all of His Presence. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

To love our neighbor in charity is to love God in man. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Every morning prepare your soul for a tranquil day. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

There was never an angry man that thought his anger unjust. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

It matters little how one begins, provided that he be resolved to go on well, and to end well. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Those who pray from the heart do not think about the prayer they are saying, but about the God to whom they pray. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

Saint Francis. "When we pray to God," he said, "we must be seeking nothing - nothing. ~ Wayne W. Dyer

If you have to do with one who is unquestionably a slanderer, do not excuse him by calling him frank and free-spoken; do not call one who is notoriously vain, liberal and elegant; do not call dangerous levities mere simplicity; do not screen disobedience under the name of zeal; or arrogance, of frankness; or evil intimacy, of friendship. No, my friends, we must never, in our wish to shun slander, foster or flatter vice in others: but we must call evil evil, and sin sin, and so doing we shall serve God's glory. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

There are many who say to the Lord, "I give myself wholly to Thee, without any reserve," but there are few who embrace the practice of this abandonment, which consists in receiving with a certain indifference every sort of event, as it happens in conformity with Divine Providence, as well afflictions as consolations, contempt and reproaches as honor and glory. ~ Saint Francis De Sales

All the science of the Saints is included in these two things: To do, and to suffer. And whoever had done these two things best, has made himself most saintly. ~ Saint Francis De Sales