"Sermons on the Eucharist" by St. Francis de Sales

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"Sermons on the Eucharist"

Fr. John Cryan O.S.F.S. comments about these sermons of St. Francis':

“While Francis de Sales has a real concern for what we believe (fides quae), he was as much concerned about how we are enabled to believe (fides qua). Like Justin Martyr, the apologist he much admired, the faith of the past could only be preserved in its purity by someone who accepts responsibility for the future, not by creating new doctrines, but by delving more deeply into the articulation in light of current situations. Like Augustine who wrote The City of God while Rome and western civilization tumbled down about his ears, Francis de Sales witnessed the collapse of feudal loyalties and the birth of nationhood, the demise of seigneuries and the rise of democracies, the end of Christendom and the emergence of pluralism. It must have been confusing and painful. Francis de Sales kept his feet planted in this world, but like Augustine his vision was always on another kingdom. That vision must be kept in mind when we read his sermons.”