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"We now have a good English version of another saint's - Francis de Sales' - chats about God and divine things, 'The Spirit of St. Francis de Sales', by his friend, Jean Pierre Camus, Bishop of Belley. (Translated by J. S. With a Preface by his Grace the Archbishop of Westminster. These are the spontaneous utterances of a saint remarkable for ready and perfect expression of thought. He was a born persuader of men, and his sanctification by the Holy Ghost elevated this native gift into a regenerative force seldom equaled. No one could be long in his company without being sanctified. It is fortunate for the generations which have followed him that Jean Pierre Camus, an intimate friend as well as a devoted disciple, happened also to be a facile and graphic writer. He constantly sought opportunities to put on paper the conversational wisdom of the saint. These precious sweepings of the goldsmith's shop he called 'The Spirit of St. Francis de Sales,' and he has given us a peculiarly charming and wonderfully edifying volume of colloquial spirituality." -Catholic World "Surely this is a book to be grateful for. It is a blessed thing to become intimately acquainted with any saint, and to be able to imbibe his spirit, even in small degree, but he is thrice blest who gets close to St. Francis de Sales. This is made possible now because of the appearance of this fuller work, which takes the place of a brief abridgement, which was all that we had heretofore." -The American Catholic Quarterly "We are indebted for a most interesting work, 'The Spirit of St. Francis de Sales,' which, more than any other, develops the private excellences of the saint....Humility and zeal were the two prominent virtues by which he was distinguished; the former taught him to forget himself, the latter to be ever mindful of the wants of others." -The Supplement to the Penny Cyclopædia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge "We owe to a keen and close observer a knowledge of the spirit of St. Francis de Sales for which we cannot be too grateful. Let it be granted that Mgr. Camus had a very prolific imagination; that he had an unconscious tendency to embroider facts; that he read a meaning into words which their speaker had no thought of imparting to them. When all such allowances have been made, we must still admit that he has given to us a picture of the Saint which we should be loath to lose; and that his description of what the Saint habitually thought and felt has made Saint Francis de Sales a close personal friend to many to whom otherwise he would have remained a mere chance acquaintance." -Francis, Archbishop of Westminster

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Book Excerpt : ...ly director. The latter had, however, reminded him of the many reasons there were to justify his submission, viz., the needs of the diocese, the testimony to his fitness given by so many persons of distinction and piety, the judgment of Henry the Great, in fine the command of His Holiness. In consecrating Mgr. Camus, St. Francis de Sales seems to have transmitted to the new Prelate some of the treasures of his own holy soul. Camus was the only Bishop whom he ever consecrated, and doubtless this fact increased the tender affection which Francis bore him. John Peter was, what he loved to call himself, and what St. Francis loved to call him, the latter's only son. There was between the two holy Prelates a community of intelligence and of life. "Camus," says Godeau, the preacher of his funeral discourse, "ever sat at the feet of St. Francis de Sales, whom he called his Gamaliel, there to learn from him the law of God: full as he himself was of the knowledge of Divine things."We must bear this in mind if we wi...

Selection of 125 letters from the origianl 2,000 letters by St. Francis de Sales, translated with an introduction, biographical notes and bibliography.