Among the passions, love holds first place: It is the king of the heart‟s movements and it con verts everything to it, rendering the one who loves similar to the one loved. [Osee 9:10]. Be very careful, therefore, Dear reader, not to have any evil love, because you will in turn quickly become evil yourself. Friendship is the most dangerous of all love. Why? Because other loves can exist without communication, exchange, closeness. But friendship is completely founded upon communication and exchange and cannot exist in practice without sharing in the qualities and defects of the friend loved.
Francis de Sales was Bishop of Geneva, and was an accomplished preacher. He is known also for his writings on the topic of spiritual direction and spiritual formation, particularly Introduction to the Devout Life.
Francis came to the conclusion that whatever God had in store for him was good, because God is Love, as Scripture attests. This faithful devotion to the God of love not only expelled his doubts, but also influenced the rest of his life and his teachings.
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