Catholic Culture Trusted Commentary
Catholic Culture Trusted Commentary

St. Francis de Sales—Introduction to the Devout Life | Pt. 1 (Ch.1-8, w/ Preface)

By James T. Majewski ( bio - articles - email ) | Jun 11, 2022 | In Catholic Culture Audiobooks (Podcast)

Listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | RSS Feed | YouTube Channel

This is a listener-supported podcast! Thanks for your help!

“Be sure that wherever our lot is cast we may and must aim at the perfect life.”

Written over 400 years ago, Introduction to the Devout Life is still one of the most popular books for those pursuing holiness. St. Francis de Sales explains how to turn that desire for sanctity into resolutions that yield grace-filled results.

Themes include:

  • Pursuing a devout life whole-heartedly
  • Incorporating prayer and sacraments into a busy
    schedule
  • Growing in virtue
  • Battling wisely against temptation
  • Making spiritual progress through daily, monthly, and yearly exercises

Whether you are just beginning your spiritual journey or are more advanced in the spiritual life, you’ll be able to apply this timeless wisdom immediately. Let St. Francis de Sales illumine the path to holiness and strengthen your desire to walk that road with the Lord.

St. Francis de Sales (1567–1622) was the Bishop of Geneva and a renowned spiritual director. Preaching during the Counter-Reformation, he is estimated to have converted 70,000 Calvinists in his lifetime. He was a fervent proponent of the universal call to holiness and spent much of his time guiding lay people on the road to sanctity. Declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1877, St. Francis is still helping to form saints through his many writings, of which Introduction to the Devout Life is the most famous.

—description from the publisher

This work will be released in its entirety in episodic format over the course of the next several months. Be sure to subscribe so as not to miss an installment!

Links

Introduction to the Devout Life full text: https://watch.formed.org/introduction-to-the-devout-life-by-st-francis-de-sales

Donate at: http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

James T. Majewski is Director of Customer Relations for CatholicCulture.org, the “voice” of Catholic Culture Audiobooks, and co-host of Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast. Based in New York City, he holds both a BA in Philosophy and an MFA in Acting. See full bio.

Sound Off! CatholicCulture.org supporters weigh in.

All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!

There are no comments yet for this item.