Salesian
The devout life in the world.
St. Francis de Sales wrote his Introduction to the Devout Life for courtiers, mothers, soldiers, and merchants — the first plan of life made for the laity. Its conviction is that devotion should make you more joyful, more loving, more attractive to those around you, not less.
The day is framed by morning meditation and the preparation of the day; a single phrase is carried like a nosegay through the hours; the heart returns often to God's presence. Gentle perseverance over heroic feats; the little virtues — gentleness, humility, patience — over grand austerities.
For beginners, for families, for anyone burned by rigorism, or for the rare soul who wants their rule to make them kinder.
St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life
What it proposes
- Mental Prayer 06:30 · Daily · Essential
The half-hour of morning meditation from which one phrase is gathered like a nosegay to be carried, breathed in, through the whole day.
- Morning Offering 07:00 · Daily · Essential
The preparation of the day — foreseeing its occasions of virtue and of sin, and giving the hours to God before they begin.
- Holy Mass 07:30 · Daily · Ideal
The Eucharist when one's state in life allows — for St. Francis pressed frequent Communion on the laity against the rigorists of his age.
- Spiritual Reading 21:00 · Daily · Ideal
A daily page from a devout book, the gentle nourishment that keeps the heart tender and the little virtues growing.
- Examination of Conscience 21:30 · Daily · Essential
A brief, kindly review at evening — never harsh, for the devout life should leave one more joyful and loving, not anxious.
- Confession 10:00 · Ideal
Frequent confession, weekly or fortnightly, sought as a sweetness and a renewal rather than endured as a reckoning.
In the Ember app, adopt this tradition as your own plan of life, practice by practice, with times and reminders.