K. V. Turley on (Re-)Reading Introduction to the Devout Life

"Recently I came across an article on the joys of re-reading. All the contributors waxed lyrical on its pleasures. It appeared to be of little relevance, feeling I had neither the inclination nor indeed the luxury of time to re-read. Once read, it was on to the next volume sat waiting for me, or, so I imagined.

"Later that same day, however, whilst visiting friends just outside London, and during a convenient break in the afternoon, I was left in the drawing room facing a cabinet of antiquarian books. Unable to resist, I cast my eye over the treasures contained therein. On spying one of the titles, the aforementioned article returned to my mind, and it was at this point the realization dawned that for years I had in fact been re-reading. And, with that, I opened the glass-fronted door and reached for Introduction to the Devout Life.

"Pause here, just for a moment, and consider the publication year: 1609. This was the date when that classic text by the then 41-year-old Francis de Sales was published. Across the Channel, King James I continued to rule having recently foiled the Gunpowder Plot, while Shakespeare was still busy at the Globe Theatre having just staged A Winter's Tale. In Rome, Galileo had demonstrated the first telescope. Elsewhere, this time across the Atlantic, it was the year that Henry Hudson set eyes on a piece of land that would one day become New York. Introduction comes from another world, one long since gone. But it also comes from a world all too familiar to us, that being the struggle in each soul of concupiscence and grace.

"It is a short book. But like all really great ones, it is not a sentence too long, its short themed chapters never outstaying their welcome. I have only ever read it in English, but am reliably informed that the French of de Sales is as graceful as the sentiments expressed therein. Even in translation, and if the book was devoid of any other qualities, it has one quality that is enough to endear it to any reader, namely, charm. It is not the affected charm of certain writers whose mannered attempts at this trait merely mask other aspects of their character. No, this is the real thing, and more besides, for sanctity has its own charm. Of course some saints had character faults, just like the rest of us, but a characteristic common to all of them was something as compellingly attractive as it was indefinable - a certain 'something.' Now, we know that the source of that is not of this world - if still recognized by it - nevertheless, the Introduction is essentially this 'something' in written form."

In a recent commentary, writer K. V. Turley reflected on this special work of Saint Francis de Sales (whose feast day is Saturday) and on what Introduction to the Devout Life offers it readers.

To access Mr. Turley’s complete essay, please visit:

Crisis Magazine: On Re-reading St. Francis de Sales (22 JAN 15)