But the perfect love of God, which is only to be found in Charity, is a disinterested love, which loves the sovereign goodness of God in Himself and for His sake only, without any aim except that He may be that which He is, eternally loved, glorified, and adored, because He deserves to be so, as St. Thomas says. And it is in the fact that it attains more perfectly its final end that its pre-eminence consists. This is very clearly shown by Blessed Francis in the same Treatise where he tells us that Eternal life or Salvation is shown to Faith, and is prepared for Hope, but is given only to Charity. Faith points out the way to the land of promise as a pillar of cloud and of fire, that is, light and dark; Hope feeds us with its manna of sweetness, but Charity actually introduces us into it, like the Ark of the Covenant, which leads us dry-shod through the Jordan, that is, through the judgment, and which shall remain amidst the people in the heavenly land promised to the true Israelites, where neither the pillar of Faith serves as a guide, nor the manna of Hope is needed as food. –‘St Francis de Sales ‘The Spirit of St Francis’

Let us walk along through the deep valleys of the humble virtues and we will find ourselves on both roses and thorns; these include the charity that stands out amid both internal and external afflictions, the lilies of purity, the violets of mortification. Particularly appealing to me are the three small virtues of gentleness of heart, poverty of spirit and simplicity of life.  –St Francis de Sales 

The soul, advancing from step to step in holy prayer, becomes so resplendent that it is impossible she should not be admired, and that even the world, seeing her in the midst of the desert, solicited by so many sins, walking faithfully, and resembling a column of odoriferous perfume rising toward the sky, should not exclaim:

Who is she that goeth up by the desert, as a pillar of smoke, of aromatical spices, of myrrh and frankincense, and all the powders of the perfumer?

But this applause is a hidden and sweetened poison, which very often causes the saintliest and devout to lose their justice and their devotion.

Let him whosoever hears his own praises turn towards those of God: let him persuade the praiser not to praise a thing of so little worth; but to draw up the praises of God out of our lowness and littleness. And if he cannot so soon fix his gaze on the Divinity, let him at least praise Jesus Christ, man, our true Solomon, and that principally in three things, His flesh, His cross, His Glory, saying: Behold worthy is His flesh, the bed of his Divinity and of His soul, surrounded by more than sixty valiant soldiers, who defend against every one who could cause it fear: that flesh which is not inclined to sin like ours, but by the hypostatic union, and by the empire it holds over the angels, it is altogether perfect and impeccable:

Behold threescore valiant ones of the most valiant of Israel, surrounded the bed of Solomon, and all holding sword’s and most expert in war: every man’s sword upon his thigh, because of fears in the night.

As for the Cross, how holy is it!  

St Francis de Sales ‘The Mystical Explanation of the Canticle of Canticles’

Peter Paul Ruebens ‘The Triumph of the Eucharist Over Idolatry’

…since God has designed matrimony as a Sacrament, those who are joined together possess unique, personal qualities that each should share and help transform to supernatural levels in each other. That invisible Presence that binds them together must become visible by their love for each other, their family life, their growth in holiness, their concern for the needs of others, their faithfulness and their perseverance in daily good. –Mother Angelica ‘The Living Sacrament—Matrimony’

The soul which arrives at the degrees described very often finds itself with a body tired and worn, whence it happens that if God invites her to new considerations and higher degrees she is in perplexity: she would greatly like to go further, but the labor terrifies her; and if the Beloved calls her again, she rises to go to prayer, but still with a resistance of the sensible part which deprives her of pleasure, and causes that she can scarcely think that God is with her; and as happens to those are extremely tired, she falls asleep while watching:

I sleep, and my heart watcheth:

Then turning herself towards her Beloved Who is knocking at her heart:

The voice of my beloved knocking.

And excites her to open to Him, and to recommence her prayer:

Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled:

And with the fourth degree of prayer meditate a little on My passion. Thou will find that I have my head full of that heavenly dew of my blood, and my hair steeped in blood from the nocturnal pricking of the thorns:

For my head is full of dew, and my locks of the drops of the night.

The soul would willingly obeyed, but her lassitude makes are desire repose; which makes her say:

I have put off by garment, how shall I put in on? I have washed my feet, how shall I defiled them?

–St Francis de Sales ‘The Mystical Explanation of the Canticle of Canticles’

Artist Marc Chagall–Musee Marc Chagall

Delving, rediscovering, I experienced a quiet moment at work, focusing on a Kindle edition of St Francis de Sales sermons. The Saint is dear to me, an intellectual inspiration, a marvelous writer and unique challenging thinker, a penetrating spiritual director. Digest these words on male/female interactions, the freeing of energy, responsibility and accountability forced forefront. A spiritual teacher I am familiar with stresses the importance of advancing beyond the pursuit of entertainment. The religious life is more than seeking the pleasure of entertaining moments, the pursuit of passing time through distraction, avoiding the banality and boredom of stillness, the humiity of detaching from cleverness, the seriousness of loving and interacting with others through vulnerability, imperfection, tenderness, gentleness, and admiration. The ability to truly love on the natural and intimate level.

Our Dear Lord, Who demands nought save our love in return for our creation, preservation and redemption, will require a strict account of the senseless way in which we have frittered and wasted it. If He will call us to account for idle words, how will it be with respect to idle, foolish, pernicious friendships? Husbandmen know that the walnut tree is very harmful in a vineyard or field, because it absorbs the fatness of the land and draws it away from the other crops; its thick foliage overshadows and deprives them of sunshine; and, moreover, it attracts passers-by, who tread down and spoil all that is around while striving to gather its fruit. So with these foolish love affairs and the soul; they engross it, so that it is unable to bring forth good works; their superfluous foliage—flirtations, dallyings and idle talk—consume profitable time; and, moreover, they lead to so many temptations, distractions, suspicions, and the like, that the heart becomes altogether crushed and spoiled. Such follies not only banish Heavenly Love, they likewise drive out the fear of God, enervate the mind, and damage reputation. They may be the plaything of courts, but assuredly they are as a plague spot of the heart. –Sermons of St Francis de Sales