Say not, merciful Virgin, that you cannot help me; for your beloved Son has given you all power in heaven and on earth. Say not that you ought not assist me, for you are the mother of all the poor children of Adam, and mine in particular. Since then, merciful Virgin, you are my mother and you are all-powerful, what excuse can you offer if you do not lend your assistance? See. my mother, see, you are obliged to grant me what I ask, and to yield to my entreaties.
Prayer to St. Francis De Sales
"O Glorious St. Francis, model of the interior life, and full of zeal for the salvation of souls! Obtain for me the grace to employ all my faculties, not for my own sanctification alone, but for that of my neighbor also; that continually spreading abroad the sweet odor of Jesus Christ by my words and works, I may attain with thee the blessedness promised to the merciful: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy;" and that I may one day have a share in the glory which thou dost enjoy in paradise with the angels and saints, where those who edify and instruct to justice shall shine as stars for all eternity (Dan. xii. 3)
Prayer to Obtain the Protection of St. Francis De Sales
"O Great St. Francis, glorious apostle of Jesus Christ, seraph of the earth, who didst breathe but for the glory of God; perfect imitator of thy meek and humble Saviour, and devoted child of the holy Mother of God, deign to receive me among the number of thy special clients; be henceforth my advocate, my counselor, my friend, and my father. Thy prayers, even on earth, were the instruments of innumerable miracles of grace. Oh, vouchsafe to offer one for me, now that their efficacy is so greatly increased in heaven. May my entire conversion now add another to the already countless triumphs of thy charity. Teach me, like thee, to see God in my fellow-creatures; and for His sake to make myself all to all, weeping with them that weep, rejoicing with them that rejoice. May the example of thy wondrous meekness sink into my soul and excite my earnest, persevering efforts to imitate it. Strengthen me, by thy prayers, to pursue the difficult practice of interior mortification, without which I can not hope to possess my soul in peace and patience. Oh, enkindle in my heart one spark of the heavenly fire of charity which glowed in thine! Teach me, like thee, to seek and find my happiness in God, and to feel that it is good to live, to labor, and rejoice in Him alone. Shield me against the many perils which beset my path: watch over my immortal interests, and obtain that my soul may die the death of the just, and my last end be like unto thine. Amen.
The Virtue of Meekness from the Butler's Lives of Saints
Meekness was the favorite virtue of St. Francis de Sales. He once was heard to say that he had spent three years in studying it in the school of Jesus Christ, and that his heart was still far from being satisfied with the progress he had made. If he who was meekness itself, imagined, nevertheless, that he possessed so little of it, what shall we say of those who, upon every trifling occasion, betray the bitterness of their hearts in angry words and impatient gestures. Francis was often tried in this matter, especially when the press of business and the crowds who thronged to him for relief in their various necessities, scarcely allowed him a moment to breathe. He has left us his thought upon this situation, which his extreme affability rendered of very frequent occurrence.
"God," says he, "makes use of such occasions to try whether our souls are sufficiently strengthened to bear every attack. I have myself been sometimes in this difficulty: but I made a covenant with my heart and with my tongue, in order to confine them within the bounds of duty . . . . the man who possesses Christian meekness is affectionate and tender toward everyone; he is disposed to forgive and excuse the frailties of others; the goodness of his appears in a sweet affability that influences his words and actions, and presents every object to his view in the most charitable and pleasing light; he never allows himself to use a harsh phrase, much less any language that is haughty or rude, There is always a gentle serenity in his expression which distinguishes him from those violent characters who with looks full of furry, only know how to say no, or who, when they grant, do it with so bad a grace that they lose all the merit of the favor they confer."
"God," says he, "makes use of such occasions to try whether our souls are sufficiently strengthened to bear every attack. I have myself been sometimes in this difficulty: but I made a covenant with my heart and with my tongue, in order to confine them within the bounds of duty . . . . the man who possesses Christian meekness is affectionate and tender toward everyone; he is disposed to forgive and excuse the frailties of others; the goodness of his appears in a sweet affability that influences his words and actions, and presents every object to his view in the most charitable and pleasing light; he never allows himself to use a harsh phrase, much less any language that is haughty or rude, There is always a gentle serenity in his expression which distinguishes him from those violent characters who with looks full of furry, only know how to say no, or who, when they grant, do it with so bad a grace that they lose all the merit of the favor they confer."
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