Humanism of SFS

PhD Thesis by Mother Maria Teresa Gruevaraj HSCJ

1941

Saint Francis de sales as the perfect type of a Christian humanist in himself and in his works, is the theme of the present thesis. We shall try to show first his indebtedness to antiquity and how he made use of classical culture; secondly, his indebtedness to contemporary humanists and how he Christianised the principal tendencies of his day either by opposing or containing them in his writings, or by raising them to a higher plane and giving them a supernatural character. Thus, Saint Francis is the forerunner of the Catholic trend in the classical age of France

Table of Contents

PREFACE

Introduction: The Times of Saint Francis de Sales

Part the First: CLASSICAL HUMANISM AND ST. FRANCIS DE SALES

1. HUMANISTIC PREPARATION OF ST. FRANCIS IN PARIS

2. LEGAL AND THEOLOGICAL. STUDIES OF ST. FRANCIS AT PADUA 67

3. FAVORITE AUTHORS AND THEIR AUTHORITY

4. CLASSICAL INFLUENCE OH HIS MATTER AND THOUGHT

5. CLASSICAL INFLUENCE IN RELATION TO FORM

6. THE STYLE OF ST. FRANCIS

Part the Second: THE HUMANISM OF THE RENAISSANCE AND ST. -FRANCIS BE SALES

7. PRINCIPAL PHILOSOPHICAL CURRENTS OF THE TIMS

8. STOICISM AND ST. FRANCIS DE SALES

9. ST. FRANCIS DE SALES AND MONTAIGNE’S NATURALISM

10. THE PLATONISM OF ST. FRANCIS DE SALES

11. SYNTHESIS OF ST. FRANCIS’ PERFECT HUMANISM: HIS INFLUENCE AND POWER OF ATTRACTION

APPENDIX I: St. Francis de Sales’ Explanation of the Apostles’ Creed

APPENDIX II: Comparative Study of Periodical Sentences in the Astree

D’ H. D’Urfe and in the Traitte de l’Amour de Dieu

BIBLIOGRAPHY