Devotion is really about Love

Introduction to the Devout Life
Part I, Chapters 1-9
Group 3
(Anne, Tien-An, Javier, Marcel)
22 September 2006

There are a few things that we learned from reading the first 8 chapters of the Introduction to the Devout Life:

1. We were surprised to find out that Devotion was a virtue. We were wondering whether it would still be a virtue if someone had a bad devotion. Fortunately, with Fr. Joe Boenzi’s help, we eventually understood that the term Devotion according to St. Francis de Sales meant something different from the devotions that we understand today. This true devotion is the true love of God, that is, charity. This can only be seen in human action.

2. We agree with St. Francis that we should begin our devout life by finding a good spiritual director. This person should be strong and gentle, entirely holy and reverent, entirely spiritual. Once we find one, we should put absolute trust in and be obedient to our spiritual director like Tobias trusting and following the angel’s direction.

3. We also like the image of Jacob’s ladder. This image helps us to see the importance of keeping a balance between praying and doing charity. St. Francis describes that the ladder has two directions. When we climb up, we pray to God; and after we have prayed to God, we come down to act with charity toward our neighbors.

4. When we discussed chapters 6, 7, and 8, which were all about purification, we had a difficult time talking about it. We thought we were not holy enough nor even ready to talk about it. We are still very human, and we do not want to detach from earthly things yet. However, we believe that God’s grace will be poured down on us through the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Sacrament of the Eucharist.