A Word to Virgins.
September 5, 2021 • 1 min
From Introduction to the Devout Life, page 217
By St. Francis de Sales
O virgins, I have only three words to say to you, for the rest you will find elsewhere.
If you [procure] a temporal marriage, be careful to keep your first love for your first husband. In my opinion, it is a great deceit to present, instead of an entire and sincere heart, a heart quite worn away, spoiled, and tired out in love.
But if your happiness calls you to the pure and virginal espousals of Christ, and that you desire to preserve for ever your virginity, in the name of God keep your love with all possible diligence for your Divine Spouse, who, being purity itself, loves nothing so much as purity, and to whom are due the first-fruits of all things, but principally those of our love.
St. Jerome’s epistles will furnish you with all advice necessary for you; and as your condition obliges you to obedience, choose a guide, under whose direction you may, in a more holy manner, dedicate your heart and body to his Divine Majesty.
Latest book snippets
Search | Random | 1009 total | 54h 55m
May 28, 2023
The three later Fathers who speak more lowly of Mary are not speaking dogmatically
5 min — St. John Henry Newman’s Letter to Dr. Pusey in reply to his EireniconHow to determine whether a statement is an Apostolic Tradition
5 min — St. John Henry Newman’s Letter to Dr. Pusey in reply to his EireniconHow the three later Fathers can be shown to not be speaking dogmatically about Mary not being sinless
5 min — St. John Henry Newman’s Letter to Dr. Pusey in reply to his EireniconFurther proof that the Anglican understanding of the Fathers’ authority is less consistent than the Catholic
2 min — St. John Henry Newman’s Letter to Dr. Pusey in reply to his EireniconAnswers to objections about why some Fathers and Gospel passages spoke unsatisfactorily about Mary
8 min — St. John Henry Newman’s Letter to Dr. Pusey in reply to his Eirenicon
May 21, 2023
Two quotes of St. Chrysostom that enemies of Mary’s sinlessness incorrectly use against her
3 min — St. John Henry Newman’s Letter to Dr. Pusey in reply to his EireniconAn answer to the accusation that the Fathers claimed Mary was not sinless
7 min — St. John Henry Newman’s Letter to Dr. Pusey in reply to his EireniconA quote from St. Cyril which proponents of Mary’s sinfulness incorrectly use against her
3 min — St. John Henry Newman’s Letter to Dr. Pusey in reply to his EireniconA quote from St. Basil that advocates of the sinfulness of the Blessed Virgin Mary incorrectly use against her
2 min — St. John Henry Newman’s Letter to Dr. Pusey in reply to his Eirenicon