Francois Fenelon

Showing 21 to 40 of 42 articles.

Search Articles:

21.) The absence of feeling and the revelation of self no sufficient causes of distress.
      LETTER XX. The absence of feeling and the revelation of self no sufficient causes of distress. I pray God that this new year may be full of grace and blessing to you. I am not surprised that you do not enjoy recollection as you did on being delivered from a long and painful agitation. Everything is liable to be exhausted. A lively disposit ...read more

22.) The advantage of humiliation
      LETTER I. The advantage of humiliation. I pray often to God that He would keep you in the hollow of his hand. The most essential point is lowliness. It is profitable for all things, for it produces a teachable spirit which makes everything easy. You would be more guilty than many others if you made any resistance to God on this point. On t ...read more

23.) The beauty of the cross.
      LETTER III. The beauty of the cross. I cannot but wonder at the virtue that lies in suffering; we are worth nothing without the cross. I tremble and am in an agony while it lasts, and all my conviction of its salutary effects vanish under the torture, but when it is over, I look back at it with admiration, and am ashamed that I bore it so ...read more

24.) The circumcision of the heart.
      LETTER XL. The circumcision of the heart. Our eagerness to serve others, frequently arises from mere natural generosity and a refined self-love; it may soon turn into dislike and despair. But true charity is simple, and ever the same towards the neighbor, because it is humble, and never thinks of self. Whatever is not included in this pure ...read more

25.) The cross a source of our pleasure.
      LETTER XIX. The cross a source of our pleasure. I sympathize with all your distresses; but we must carry the cross with Christ in this transitory life. We shall soon have no time to suffer; we shall reign with God our consolation, who will have wiped away our tears with his own hand, and from before whose presence pain and sighing shall fo ...read more

26.) The death of self.
      LETTER IV. The death of self. I cannot express to you, my dear sister, how deeply I sympathize with your afflictions; but my grief is not unmixed with consolation. God loves you, since He does not spare you, but lays upon you the cross of Jesus Christ. Whatever light, whatever feeling we may possess, is all a delusion, if it lead us not to ...read more

27.) The discovery and death of self.
      LETTER X. The discovery and death of self. Yes, I joyfully consent that you call me your father! I am so and will be always; there needs only on your part a full and confident persuasion of it, which will come when your heart is enlarged. Self-love now shuts it up. We are in a strait place, indeed, when we are enclosed in self, but when we ...read more

28.) The gifts of God not to be rejected on account of the channel that brings them.
      LETTER XXXI. The gifts of God not to be rejected on account of the channel that brings them. I am glad you find in the person of whom you speak, the qualities you were in search of. God puts what He pleases where He pleases. Naaman could not be healed by all the waters of Syria, but must apply to those of Palestine. What does it matter fro ...read more

29.) The imperfection of others to be borne in love.
      LETTER XXI. The imperfection of others to be borne in love. It is a long while since I renewed the assurance of my attachment to you in our Lord. It is, nevertheless, greater than ever. I desire with all my heart that you may always find in your household the peace and consolation which you enjoyed in the beginning. To be content with even ...read more

30.) The Inner Life
      I. OF THE LITTLE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD THERE IS IN THE WORLD. WHAT men stand most in need of, is the knowledge of God. They know, to be sure, by dint of reading, that history gives an account of a certain series of miracles and marked providences; they have reflected seriously on the corruption and instability of worldly things; they are eve ...read more

31.) The limits of our grace are those of our temptation.
      LETTER XXXVII. The limits of our grace are those of our temptation. I sympathize sincerely with the sufferings of your dear sick one, and with the pain of those whom God has placed about her to help her bear the cross. Let her not distrust God, and He will proportion her suffering to the patience which He will bestow. No one can do this bu ...read more

32.) The sight of our imperfections should not take away our peace.
      LETTER XI. The sight of our imperfections should not take away our peace. There is something very hidden and very deceptive in your suffering; for while you seem to yourself to be wholly occupied with the glory of God, in your inmost soul it is self alone that occasions all your trouble. You are, indeed, desirous that God should be glorifi ...read more

33.) The time of temptation and distress is no time to form resolves.
      LETTER XXVII. The time of temptation and distress is no time to form resolves. Your excessive distress is like a summer torrent, which must be suffered to run away. Nothing makes any impression upon you, and you think you have the most substantial evidence for the most imaginary states; it is the ordinary result of great suffering. God per ...read more

34.) The true source of peace is in the surrender of the will.
      LETTER VI. The true source of peace is in the surrender of the will. Remain in peace; the fervor of devotion does not depend upon yourself; all that lies in your power is the direction of your will. Give that up to God without reservation. The important question is not how much you enjoy religion, but whether you will whatever God wills. H ...read more

35.) The will of God our only treasure.
      LETTER XXXIII. The will of God our only treasure. I desire that you may have that absolute simplicity of abandonment that never measures its own extent, nor excepts anything in the present life, no matter how dear to our self-love. All illusions come, not from such an abandonment as this, but from one attended by secret reservations. ...read more

36.) Those who endeavor to injure us are to be loved and welcomed as the hand of God.
      LETTER XVI. Those who endeavor to injure us are to be loved and welcomed as the hand of God. I sympathize, as I ought, in all your troubles, but I can do nothing else except pray God that He would console you. You have great need of the gift of his Spirit to sustain you in your difficulties, and to restrain your natural vivacity under the ...read more

37.) True friendships are founded only in God
      LETTER XVIII. True friendships are founded only in God. We must be content with what God gives, without having any choice of our own. It is right that his will should be done, not ours; and that his should become ours without the least reservation, in order that it may be done on earth as it is done in heaven. This is a hundred times more ...read more

38.) True good is only reached by abandonment.
      LETTER VII. True good is only reached by abandonment. Evil is changed into good when it is received in patience through the love of God; while good is changed into evil when we become attached to it through the love of self. True good lies only in detachment, and abandonment to God. You are now in the trial; put yourself confidently and wi ...read more

39.) We are not to choose the manner in which our blessings shall be bestowed
      LETTER IX. We are not to choose the manner in which our blessings shall be bestowed. You know what God requires of you; will you refuse? You perceive that your resistance to the drawings of his grace, arises solely from self-love: will you suffer the refinements of pride, and the most ingenious inventions of self, to reject the mercies of ...read more