Do not anticipate what will happen tomorrow. The same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day…. Be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.
Saint Francis de Sales
Do Not Look with Fear
Topic: Life Beyond Death & the Spirit World
DO NOT LOOK WITH FEAR
Do not look with fear
on the changes and chances of this life;
rather look to them with full faith that as they arise,
God – whose you are – will deliver you out of them.
He has kept you hitherto.
Do not but hold fast to His dear hand,
and He will lead you safely through all things;
and when you cannot stand, He will bear you
in His arms.
Do not anticipate what will happen tomorrow.
The same everlasting Father who cares for you today
will take care of you tomorrow and every day.
Either He will shield you from suffering or
He will give you unfailing strength to bear it.
Be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts
and imaginations.
French Catholic saint (1567-1622)
Francis de Sales CO OM OFM Cap. (21 August 1567 – 28 December 1622) was a Bishop of Geneva and is honored as a saint in the Catholic Church. He became noted for his deep faith and his gentle approach to the religious divisions in his land resulting from the Protestant Reformation. He is known also for his writings on the topic of spiritual direction and spiritual formation, particularly the Introduction to the Devout Life and the Treatise on the Love of God.
Philothea
De Sales, St. Francis. Philothea: or an Introduction to the Devout Life: From the French of St. Francis of Sales. To Which Is Prefixed, An Abstract of His Life. Keating and Brown, 1820. ["Do Not Look with Fear"].
Saint Francis de Sales
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St. Francis de Sales
St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622) is a French Catholic saint, revered for his practical teaching on the sanctification of daily life.
This French Catholic saint (1567-1622), a Bishop of Geneva, was noted for his sermons to ordinary people urging the pursuit of sanctity amid worldly responsibilities. “Wherever we are,” he said, “we may and ought to aspire to the perfect life.” His two two major works, Introduction to the Devout Life and Treatise on the Love of God, are compilations of his advice to parishioners and remain treasured guidebooks. A period of profound despair in his early years – which he overcame through prayer – deepened an already compassionate outlook. “Francis’s great work was to show how ordinary life can be sanctified,” notes one modern commentator. “Sweetness and graciousness are his key words … they represent a reconciliation of the outward beauty and the tough inner core of the Christian life.” “Do Not Look with Fear” is a widely popular distillation of a chapter in the Introduction. “I Am Thine, Lord,” equally well known, comes from the Treatise on the Love of God; this version follows the translation of Miles Car, 1630.
–Eknath Easwaran [“Do Not Look with Fear” in his spiritual anthology, “God Makes the Rivers to Flow.”] p. 296.
Additional St. Francis de Sales Quotes
I AM THINE, LORD
I am thine, Lord, and am to belong to none but to thee.
My soul is thine, and ought not to live but by thee;
my will is thine, and ought not to love but for thee;
my love is thine, and is only to tend to thee.
I am to love thee as my First Cause,
since I have my being from thee.
I am to love thee as my end and center,
since I am for thee.
I am to love thee more than my own being,
since even my being does subsist by thee.
I am to love thee more than myself,
since I am wholly thine and in thee.
–St. Francis de Sales [“I Am Thine, Lord” from his book “Treatise on the Love of God”].