Quotes & Themes – Religious Life
Religious Life
There is nothing so blessed as a devout religious, nothing so miserable as a religious without devotion. (Letters to Persons in Religion, I, 4)
Since you cannot be in real solitude, be in mental solitude. (Letters to Persons in Religion, VI, 28)
Religious Orders are not formed for the purpose of gathering together perfect people, but those who have the courage to aim at perfection. (Spiritual Conferences, 16)
When God calls anyone to be a religious, He binds Himself to bestow on that person all that is needed for perfection in his vocation. (Spiritual Conferences, 17)
We must not think that in entering Religion one becomes perfect all of a sudden, but that one enters there to tend to perfection. (Letters to Persons in Religion, V, 8)
The religious life is not a natural life; it is above nature, and its soul is given and formed by grace. (Letters to Persons in Religion, IV, 30)
It is God, and not the cell, that we must choose for our dwelling place. (The Spirit of St. François de Sales, XXII, 5)
As religious who have left the world ought to wish never to see it again, so the world which has left them never wants to see them again. (Letters to Persons in Religion, I, 11)
We must bear with this inconvenience of the love of our relations and friends who think there is no comparison between the satisfaction of being with them and that which is found in the course of God’s service. (Letters to Persons in Religion, VI, 38)
Those who desire to live according to nature should stay in the world, and only those should enter Religion who are determined to live according to grace. (Spiritual Conferences, 20)
Do not attach yourself to anything so much as to the religious rules, so that you go where the rules draw you. (Letters to Persons in Religion, V, 3)
One can be a good religious without reciting in choir, without wearing this or that particular habit, without abstinence from such or such things; but without poverty and community of goods, no one can be so. (Letters to Persons in Religion, I, 1)
It is no use to say our veil, our dress, our tunic, or our linen, if in fact the use of them is not indifferent and common to all. (Letters to Persons in Religion, IV, 6)
There are evil spirits who go to and fro in desert places quite as much as in cities. (The Spirit of St. François de Sales, XXII, 6)
Let not yourself be misled by past errors, or of future hardships in this crucified life of religion. (Letters to Persons in the World, I, 19)
Bees from time to time quit their hive, but only from necessity or for purpose of utility, returning to it as quickly as possible. (Spiritual Conferences, 16)
The religious who has begun well has not done all, unless he perseveres even to the end. (Spiritual Conferences, 11)
North American Salesian Network
The North American Salesian Network (NASN) is an organization of both lay and religious groups that live the Salesian teachings of St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal. NASN facilitates the sharing of Salesian resources, educational services, vocational efforts, and a variety of resources, bringing this optimistic, joy-filled spirituality to people throughout the world.