An Introduction to the Devout Life

First published in 1609 “An Introduction to the Devout Life” is Saint Francis de Sales work which belongs to the Christian tradition of “Lectio Divina” or “Divine Reading”. Like Thomas à Kempis’ “The Imitation of Christ” it is a work intended to provide guidance to the individual desiring spiritual direction in order to lead a more devout life. Based on a series of letters between Francis and his cousin, Madame Marie de Charmoisy, who as the wife of an ambassador of the Duke of Savoy was struggling with the distractions to faith associated with court life, “An Introduction to the Devout Life” was crafted from those original letters into a guide for a more general audience. Through five parts Francis discusses the aspiration to a devout life, the use of prayer and sacraments, the personal characteristics of virtue necessary to the devout life, the challenge of temptation and how to overcome it, and the practices for renewing and confirming the soul in devotion. An immensely popular work of Christian spirituality “An Introduction to the Devout Life” remains as relevant today as when it was first published.