Francois Fenelon

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1.) Abandonment not a heroic sacrifice, but a simple sinking into the will of God.
      LETTER XXXIV. Abandonment not a heroic sacrifice, but a simple sinking into the will of God. Your sole task, my dear daughter, is, to bear your infirmities both of body and mind. When I am weak, says the Apostle, then am I strong; strength is made perfect in weakness. We are only strong in God in proportion as we are weak in ourselves; you ...read more

2.) Absolute trust the shortest road to God.
      LETTER XXVI. Absolute trust the shortest road to God. I have no doubt but that God constantly treats you as one of his friends, that is, with crosses, sufferings, and humiliations. The ways and means of God to draw souls to Himself, accomplish his design much more rapidly and effectually than all the efforts of the creature; for they destr ...read more

3.) Beware of the pride of reasoning; the true guide to knowledge is love.
      LETTER XXX. Beware of the pride of reasoning; the true guide to knowledge is love. Your mind is too much occupied with exterior things, and still worse, with argumentation, to be able to act with a frequent thought of God. I am always afraid of your excessive inclination to reason; it is a hinderance to that recollection and silence in whi ...read more

4.) Daily dying takes the place of final death.
      LETTER XXXV. Daily dying takes the place of final death. We must bear our crosses; self is the greatest of them; we are not entirely rid of it until we can tolerate ourselves as simply and patiently as we do our neighbor. If we die in part every day of our lives, we shall have but little to do on the last. What we so much dread in the futu ...read more

5.) Despair at our imperfection is a greater obstacle than the imperfection itself.
      LETTER XIII. Despair at our imperfection is a greater obstacle than the imperfection itself. Be not concerned about your defects. Love without ceasing, and you shall be much forgiven, because you have loved much. (Luke vii. 47.) We are apt to seek the delights and selfish supports of love, rather than love itself. We deceive ourselves, eve ...read more

6.) Fenelon's Maxims of the Saints
      ARTICLE FIRST. Of the love of God, there are various kinds. At least, there are various feelings which go under that name. First, There is what may be called mercenary or selfish love; that is, that love of God which originates in a sole regard to our own happiness. Those who love God with no other love than this, love Him jus ...read more

7.) Freedom from Self
      Francois de Salignac de la Mothe-Fenelon (1651-1715) - Known simply as Fenelon, he was archbishop of Cambrai, France in the late 1600's and early 1700's. Most of what we have of his writings are actually letters written to persons in varied states of soul trouble. So long as we are centered in self, we shall be prey to the contradiction, the wic ...read more

8.) God speaks more effectually in the soul, than to it.
      LETTER XXXIX. God speaks more effectually in the soul, than to it. Nothing gives me more satisfaction than to see you simple and peaceful. Simplicity brings back the state of Paradise. We have no great pleasures, and suffer some pain; but we have no desire for the former, and we receive the latter with thanksgiving. This interior harmony, ...read more

9.) How to bear suffering so as to preserve our peace.
      LETTER II. How to bear suffering so as to preserve our peace. As to our friend, I pray God to bestow upon him a simplicity that shall give him peace. When we are faithful in instantly dropping all superfluous and restless reflections, which arise from a self-love as different as possible from charity, we shall be set in a large place even ...read more

10.) Imperfection only is intolerant of imperfection.
      LETTER XXIV. Imperfection only is intolerant of imperfection. It has seemed to me that you have need of more enlargedness of heart in relation to the defects of others. I know that you cannot help seeing them when they come before you, nor prevent the opinions you involuntarily form concerning the motives of some of those about you. You ca ...read more

11.) Knowledge puffeth up; charity edifieth.
      LETTER VIII. Knowledge puffeth up; charity edifieth. I am happy to hear of your frame of mind, and to find you communicating in simplicity everything that takes place within you. Never hesitate to write me whatever you think God requires. It is not at all surprising that you have a sort of jealous ambition to advance in the spiritual ...read more

12.) Living by the cross and by faith.
      LETTER XII. Living by the cross and by faith. Everything is a cross; I have no joy but bitterness; but the heaviest cross must be borne in peace. At times it can neither be borne nor dragged; we can only fall down beneath it, overwhelmed and exhausted. I pray that God may spare you as much as possible in apportioning your suffering; it is ...read more

13.) Our knowledge stands in the way of our becoming wise
      LETTER XV. Our knowledge stands in the way of our becoming wise. Live in peace, my dear young lady, without any thought for the future; perhaps there will be none for you. You have no present, even, of your own, for you must only use it in accordance with the designs of God, to whom it truly belongs. Continue the good works that occupy you ...read more

14.) Peace lies in simplicity and obedience.
      LETTER V. Peace lies in simplicity and obedience. Cultivate peace; be deaf to your too prolific imagination; its great activity not only injures the health of your body, but introduces aridity into your soul. You consume yourself to no purpose; peace and interior sweetness are destroyed by your restlessness. Think you God can speak in thos ...read more

15.) Poverty and spoliation the way of Christ.
      LETTER XXXII. Poverty and spoliation the way of Christ. Everything contributes to prove you; but God who loves you, will not suffer your temptations to exceed your strength. He will make use of the trial for your advancement. But we must not look inwards with curiosity to behold our progress, our strength, or the hand of God, which is not ...read more

16.) Pure faith sees God alone.
      LETTER XIV. Pure faith sees God alone. Be not anxious about the future; it is opposed to grace. When God sends you consolation, regard Him only in it, enjoy it day by day as the Israelites received their manna, and do not endeavor to lay it up in store. There are two peculiarities of pure faith; it sees God alone under all the imperfect en ...read more

17.) Quietness in God our true resource.
      LETTER XVII. Quietness in God our true resource. Warmth of imagination, ardor of feeling, acuteness of reasoning, and fluency of expression, can do but little. The true agent is a perfect abandonment before God, in which we do everything by the light which He gives, and are content with the success which He bestows. This continual death is ...read more

18.) Quietness in God our true resource.
      LETTER XVII. Quietness in God our true resource. Warmth of imagination, ardor of feeling, acuteness of reasoning, and fluency of expression, can do but little. The true agent is a perfect abandonment before God, in which we do everything by the light which He gives, and are content with the success which He bestows. This continual death is ...read more

19.) Resisting God, an effectual bar to grace.
      LETTER XXXVIII. Resisting God, an effectual bar to grace. You perceive, by the light of God, in the depth of your conscience, what grace demands of you, but you resist Him. Hence your distress. You begin to say within, it is impossible for me to undertake to do what is required of me; this is a temptation to despair. Despair as much as you ...read more