Roses Among Thorns / St. Francis de Sales

From the thousands of personal letters by St. Francis de Sales comes this short, practical guide that will develop in you the soul-nourishing habits that lead to sanctity.

St. Francis de Sales is widely regarded as one of the greatest spiritual advisors in the history of the Church, and we have drawn from his letters the wisest advice for those prepared to take the next step on their spiritual journey.

As he did for saints and sinners in his own time, St. Francis de Sales will stiffen your resolve, help you gain small victories over unprincipled passions, and restore in you a trusting confidence in Jesus Christ. Soon you’ll find yourself delivered from the chains of self-love as your soul opens to divine goodness and your heart shaped into a fitting place for Christ to dwell and reign eternally.

If you find it difficult to live amid the clamor of the world with your eyes fixed on Christ alone, let St. Francis de Sales teach you how to live as a true rose among thorns as you learn . . .

• What to do when you stop finding consolation during prayer

• How to place yourself in the presence of God

• How busy people should pray

• Do you fear vice more than you love virtue? A guide to discernment

• How to be patient with your family

• The dangers of too many devotions

• What to do about repeated spiritual dryness

• The three things you must do to be at peace

• How to avoid thoughts that give us anxious and restless minds

Absorb the wisdom in these pages, and you’ll soon make true progress on your spiritual journey and navigate with confidence the treacherous waters of our secular world.

“Saint Francis de Sales’ work is a guidebook for anyone who seeks a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.” - Bishop James D. Conley, S.T.L., Diocese of Lincoln

St. Francis de Sales (1567 1622), bishop, Doctor of the Church, and patron of writers, was ordained a priest in 1593. He reconverted the inhabitants of Chablais from Calvinism. He was elected bishop of Geneva in 1602. With Jane Frances Frémyot, Baroness de Chantal, St. Francis founded the Visitation of Holy Mary in Annecy in Savoy. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Lyons, France, on December 28, 1622. St. Francis de Sales was canonized in 1665.