Author:

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2018-01-14

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 9780483122000

Excerpt from The True Spiritual Conferences of St. Francis of Sales: Bishop and Prince of Geneva, Institutor and Founder of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary The usual object of a preface is to claim the reader's interest for a work, or his indulgence for its defects, or his better understanding of it, through explanations of its plan and objects. But a preface to a book by St. Francis de Sales must appear superfluous to every catholic reader, on any of these grounds. The author's name, a name so revered, so beloved by every devout soul, at once excites interest, excludes all apolo gies, and dispenses with explanations. Having been requested, by the pious community of his daughters in England, to prefix to the new trans lation of his Conferences, a few preliminary pages, we find it no easy task to comply with their flattering request. Only the hope of bring ing these excellent discourses to the knowledge of more lovers of true devotion, than their modest title would guide to their perusal, can form an excuse to ourselves, or to our readers. At first sight it may appear unreasonable to say that conferences, or spiritual lectures, dcliv ered within the walls of a single convent, having its own special character, not written by their author, but from memory, by his devout hearers, can promise much usefulness beyond the order to which that house belonged, or at most, be yond the sphere of religious life. Now so far from this being, in our judgment, the case, we consider them practically calculated to do much good beyond the cloister and the chapter-hon so of monastery or convent. They will be read, we trust with pleasure, and we are sure with profit, by devout persons living in the world, by clergy and laity; the former of whom will find in them invaluable principles and advice for the guidance of consciences, while the latter cannot fail to derive from their study, consolation, encouragement, and direction. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.