SALESIAN LITERATURE

THE SWEET AND GENTLE STRUGGLE:

Francis de Sales on the Necessity of Spiritual Friendship

Terence A. McGoldrick

(ISBN: 978-0761804161)

PREFACE by the Author: This eBook was first published as my dissertation for the Theology Faculty at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. The dissertation was defended in 1994 under the direction of Guy Bedouelle O.P. and Servais Pinckaers, O.P. in partial fulfillment of the Doctorate in Sacred Theology. The book was substantially revised from the original dissertation thesis and published in 1996. I have since published two articles on Marriage in Salesianum, which include new research that I have not added to this new version of The Sweet and Gentle Struggle. I have however, taken this opportunity to rewrite the conclusion of my monograph, to allude to some of what I consider the more significant factors of recent Salesian scholarship that bear upon the book’s major claims. This is not to be considered a updating with the many of years of Salesian scholarship that have been produced since 1996, yet I have been abreast to those developments and felt it important to make a few points, particularly regarding the historical context of the Early Modern Church and its influence on Francis de Sales. A more developed treatment of that research can be found in my later writings, as well as those yet to come.

Table of Contents

PREFACE TO THE 2014 EBOOK VERSION

PART ONE: THE SOURCES OF THE SALESIAN CONCEPT OF FRIENDSHIP

I. A WORD ABOUT THE DOCTOR OF LOVE’S SOURCES

II. THE SALESIAN TREATMENT OF SCRIPTURE

  • A WEAVER OF IMAGES

  • THE LIVING WORD AND NOT SCRIPTURA SOLA

  • CONCLUSION

III. THE BASIS OF THE SALESIAN IDEAL OF FRIENDSHIP IN ARISTOTLE

  • NECESSARY

  • COMMUNICATION

  • COMMON INTEREST FOUNDS FRIENDSHIP’S COMMUNION

  • THE MOST DANGEROUS OF LOVES

  • “TRUE” VS. “FALSE” FRIENDSHIPS

  • False friendships are selfish and passing

  • True Friendship for Aristotle is among the good and perse

  • True Friendship is Spiritual for St. Francis de Sales

  • INTIMACY

  • UNION

  • CONFIDENCE

  • FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD?

  • CONTEMPLATION

  • CONCLUSION

  • Similarities

  • Differences

IV. CICERO’S LAELIUS DE AMICITIA

  • TRUE FRIENDSHIP AMONG THE GOOD

  • THE BEGINNING

  • DEFINITION

  • LIMITS

  • DEGREES AND PROGRESS

  • ETERNAL

V. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO

  • THE MOST INFLUENTIAL

  • THE CHRISTIAN BRIDGE

  • NECESSARY

  • THE CAUSE OF FRIENDSHIP IS GOD

  • TESTING, CHOOSING & THE BEGINNING OF FRIENDSHIP

  • IN THE LIKENESS OF DIVINE LOVE

  • RIGHT LOVE VS. BAD LOVE

  • FRIENDSHIP OR CHARITY?

  • UNION

  • PERMANENCE

  • FRIENDSHIP EXTENDS TO THE FAMILY OF THE FRIEND

  • WITH HERETICS A DISTANT FRIENDLINESS

  • DIE TO SELF AND POSSESSIONS

  • FREE, JOYFUL AND SERIOUS

  • PRESENCE

  • LIMITS OF FRIENDSHIP

  • THE DUTIES OF FRIENDSHIP

  • Reciprocal love

  • Frank and confident

  • SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

VI. AELRED OF RIEVAULX

  • PSEUDO-AUGUSTINE’S DE AMICITIA LIBER UNUS

  • AELRED’S SOURCES

  • BOOK ONE: THE NATURE AND CAUSE OF TRUE FRIENDSHIP

  • BOOK TWO: THE FRUITION AND EXCELLENCE OF TRUE FRIENDSHIP

  • BOOK THREE: THE CONDITIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS REQUISITE

  • Tolerance and the vices that ruin friendship

  • The virtues sustaining true friendship

  • The cultivation of friendship by degrees

  • CONCLUSION

VII. THOMAS AQUINAS

  • GRACE AND CHARITY

  • THE SOUL

  • FRIENDSHIP AND SALVATION

  • TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS, TWO DIFFERENT APPROACHES

PART TWO: FRIENDSHIP THROUGH THE PRISM OF HIS LIFE

 

VIII. UNITY IN DIVERSITY:

  • THE PARADIGM OF SPIRITUAL FRIENDSHIP

  • BETWEEN FRANCIS DE SALES AND JANE DE CHANTAL

  • THE BEGINNING: FROM THEIR FIRST ENCOUNTER

  • THE HIDDEN GROWTH

  • BENEVOLENCE, THE BASIS AND FIRST ELEMENT

  • A Servant, Nay , a Slave for Your Good !

  • A Melding of Two Worlds

  • The Declaration of Their Mutual Intentions

  • A Constant Steady Love

  • Prayer

  • A GIFT OF GRACE

  • COMMUNICATION INCREASES WITH CONFIDENCE

  • THE BOND OF PERFECTION: FRIENDSHIP’S OBLIGATIONS AND LIMITS

  • CAUSES ADVANCEMENT IN THE LOVE OF GOD

  • THE VISITATION: A NEW STAGE OF FRUITION AND INTIMACY

  • THEIR FRIENDSHIP IN THE STORMS OF LIFE

  • UNION

  • Two Imperfect Aspects to this Union

  • The Cross and Purification

  • After the Retreat

  • CONCLUSION

IX. “AN EXCEPTIONAL FRIEND,” ANTOINE FAVRE, PRESIDENT OF THE SAVOY SENATE

  • THE BEGINNING

  • “ADMIRATION EXCITES THE DESIRE TO KNOW”

  • FAVRE PRESSES FOR A LEGAL CAREER

  • “MORE THAN EVER I NEED YOUR BENEVOLENCE”

  • FORGING BONDS

  • FAMILY AND WORLD

  • WINNING OTHERS TO BEFRIEND HIM

  • THE SIEGE UPON CALVINISM

  • THE MISSION TO THE CHABLAIS

  • The Harvest

  • ROME AND THE EXAMINATION FOR THE EPISCOPACY

  • A FRIEND IN PRACTICAL NEEDS

  • Francis defends Favre in problems

  • THEODORE DE BEZA AND THE PROTESTANTS

  • THE SHARED INTELLECTUAL LIFE

  • The Florimontane Academy

  • Redente Baranzano

  • THE DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS TO PARIS

  • “I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT I MIGHT LIVE AFTER HIM”

  • CONCLUSION

X. FRIENDSHIP’S MANY FACES IN ALL DIMENSIONS OF LIFE

  • Humanism and the Context of His Life

  • “I AM A MAN, NO MORE NO LESS”

  • THE EXAMPLE OF FRIENDSHIP FOR CALVIN

  • The Width and Breadth of Salesian Friendship

  • THE DE SALES FAMILY

  • His mother, Madame de Boisy

  • His father, Monsieur Francis de Boisy

  • Gallois

  • Louis

  • Jean-François

  • Bernard

  • Janus

  • Gasparde

  • Jeanne

  • Problems and strife

  • Anger and douceur, or gentleness

  • A FRIEND TO PRINCES AND PAUPERS

  • Antoine des Hayes, “mon parfait ami”

  • Duke de Bellegarde

  • Anne-Jacqueline Coste

  • “The heart of my people is almost entirely mine now”

  • SPIRITUAL DIRECTORS AND LIGHTS OF THE RENAISSANCE

  • Jean Déage

  • Anthony Possevino

  • Vincent de Paul

  • AN UNCOMMON WAY WITH WOMEN

  • Women, Christianity and the Renaissance

  • Women and Salesian spirituality

  • Madame de Charmoisy

  • IN THE CONTEXT OF HIS CHARGE AS BISHOP

  • The priests and religious of his diocese

  • Protestants

  • A party to forced conversions?

  • Conclusions about Friendship from His Life

PART THREE: THE SALESIAN THEORY OF FRIENDSHIP

XI. SPIRITUAL FRIENDSHIP: “ONE BY THE OTHER, ONE IN THE OTHER”

  • THE IMPORTANCE OF FRIENDSHIP, THE MOST DANGEROUS OF LOVES

  • ALL LOVE IS NOT FRIENDSHIP

  • The Causes of Perfect Friendship

  • Perfect Friendship

  • FALSE FRIENDSHIPS

  • UNION BY LOVE

      • Another self and the profit of speaking

  • The Effects of True Friendship

  • A GIFT OF GRACE

  • COMMUNICATION: THE INTIMACY OF FRIENDSHIP

  • Four kinds of communication

  • THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FRIENDSHIP AND REDEMPTION

  • FREEDOM OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD AND FRIENDSHIP

  • Two Forms of Spiritual Friendship

  • PARTICIPATING IN THE INTIMACY OF THE TRINITY

  • CHARITY VS. SPIRITUAL FRIENDSHIP

  • CORRECTION

  • PRESENCE

  • SPIRITUAL DIRECTION

  • MARRIAGE: EACH OTHER’S “DEAR HALF”

  • The Necessity of Friendship for Salvation

  • PARTICULAR FRIENDSHIPS

  • FRIENDSHIP AS A MEANS TO SALVATION

XII. CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  • PRIMARY SOURCES

  • TRANSLATIONS

  • SECONDARY SOURCES

    • ARISTOTLE

    • AUGUSTINE

    • AELRED OF RIEVAULX

    • THOMAS AQUINAS


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