Excellent book | Introduction to the Devout Life

Is your spiritual life unfulfilling? | Introduction to the Devout Life | St. Francis de Sales

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	• Introduction to the Devout Life St. Francis de Sales Dover Publications, 2009 - 272 pages average customer review:based on 40 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A roadmap to Heaven

Having read this book, I can now understand why St. Francis de Sales is a doctor of the Church. Simply put, Philothea, or An Introduction to the Devout Life is a roadmap to Heaven. But unlike many of the theological tracts or mystical tomes which one often finds professing to do the same thing, this book is, very simply, a practical manual for living a devout life in a world that is often antagonistic to Christianity. It is also the closest many will get to having a canonized saint as one's own spiritual director.

The advice offered is excellent, grounded in sacred Scripture and the teachings of the saints, and enlivened with colorful metaphors. (St. Francis obviously had an affinity for bees.) Though St. Francis lived 400 years ago, his guidance easily translates to life in the 21st century. He had a keen insight into the workings of the human mind, the devious yet innocent-seeming temptations presented by the devil, and the challenges faced by the soul seeking to live a pious life amid the petty cares of everyday life. And his insights transcend time and culture.

No one can read this book without finding a section that directly applies to them, whatever their state of life. St. Francis's spiritual exercises, admittedly, are difficult. But who can doubt that following them to the full would have wonderfully efficacious effects on the soul? I have begun instituting a subset of them in my own life and have already reaped benefits. I hope to include more of them as time goes on and my spiritual stamina improves.

St. Francis's advice on correct behavior, attitude, and personal morality is incredibly wise. Those who read and accept these teachings will assuredly live happier, more fulfilling lives, which are more pleasing to God. The several chapters on friendship--specifically true friendship versus worldly friendship--were of particular utility to me. I think many young Catholics would do well to read and ponder St. Francis's words on the subject so as to avoid temptation and the near occasion of sin in their relationships.

In short, this book is a masterpiece of spiritual advice and I can't recommend it highly enough. Best of all, one need not read it cover-to-cover. It may be dipped into for incidental advice based on the reader's own flaws, strengths, state of life, and spiritual needs. If you are looking for a straight-forward, uncomplicated path to Christian devotion, this book is it.

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Excellent book

The book was what I hoped for. Excellent shape. Timely delivery. A job well done.

Is your spiritual life unfulfilling?

Last spring I was suffering from a malaise in my faith, having become a Catholic in 2005. Nothing that I read seemed to satisfy the hunger that I felt. My spiritual guide recommended that I read this book. It was a revelation. St. Francis' writings are as topical today as they were exactly four hundred years ago (this book was origianlly published in 1609). A series of meditations and letters to the reader, St. Francis walks you through a journey of discovery of what devoutness is, and how it is manifested in our daily lives. Easy to read but deep in meaning, I recommend this to anyone who is looking to take the nest leg of their spiritual journey.

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Thank you St. Francis de Sales,

A wonderful book that truely helps those of us who are not clergy. St.Francis de Sales recognizes and validates the difficulies of being a lay person: and our desire to not be "of the world", however we are "in the world".

Beautiful treatise on true devotion

Introduction to the Devout Life is a classic guide for lay people seeking to live a devout Christian life. It often happens that the lives and suggestions of some of the great Saints are inspiring but leave those who are not living a vocation as a religious wondering how to best carry out their devotion. It is for this purpose St. Francis de Sales wrote this work, aimed at gathering the best of the devotional practices and knowledge from Christian history and presenting them in proper form for the common man or woman, whether they be the President, a soldier, a college student, or a housewife. As St. Francis so wisely points out, devotion must be exercised in different ways by all different groups of people. It is not fitting devotion for a bishop to live in solitude like a hermit, nor for a mother to spend the whole day in church like a religious.

"True devotion does us no harm whatsoever, but instead perfects all things. When it goes contrary to a man's lawful vocation, it is undoubtedly false." (p. 44)

If you are earnestly seeking to live out your love of God to the fullest, this is an indispensable tool for the journey. Every Christian, Catholic or Protestant, should read this book.

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How to live a holy life in the secular world is the focus of this masterpiece of Christian literature by a 16th-century priest. Drawn from the letters of St. Francis de Sales, this enduring spiritual guide offers clear and direct advice about praying, resisting temptation, and maintaining devotion to God.

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