St Francis de Sales. Complete works and concordances

St Francis de Sales was considered a founder of a new school of spirituality, named after him: Salesian spirituality. By following this spirituality, many men and women have arrived at holiness. Getting to know it is a duty for those connected to this school of spirituality, especially for those religious groups of men and women who are in some way part of the great Salesian family.

The word spirituality means a doctrine of spiritual life, that is, one that deals with the principles of Christian perfection and the means to achieve it.
Speaking of Salesian spirituality Fr Eugenio Ceria wrote:
“Fundamentally, there is but one doctrine of spiritual life, the one contained in the pages of the gospel; however, developments and implementations can and do vary. The three evangelical counsels, for example, which are at the basis of religious life, although they always remain the same in substance, nevertheless take on different forms in practice, according to the diversity of the particular goals desired by the founders, in accordance with the needs and tendencies of the times. All the Saints and all the schools of holiness that have flourished and do flourish in the Church are substantially inspired by the gospel; but how many accidental differences between them! Thus we have the spirituality of St Benedict, of St Francis of Assisi, of St Dominic, of St Ignatius, and the consequent Benedictine, Franciscan, Dominican, Ignatian spirituality, each with its own unmistakable character, and yet all equally suited to lead souls to perfection.
Some Saints, such as St John Bosco, did not systematically set out their own doctrine of spiritual life in writing, but created institutions in which they embodied it and from the study of which it can be brought to light; other Saints, on the contrary, not only gave rise to institutions professing a form of spiritual life that corresponded to their views, directing souls on the path to perfection according to the norms and methods they preferred, but also deliberately formulated the theories that formed the basis of their spiritual activity. One of the latter is St Francis de Sales, master of the asceticism that is known as Salesian.”

Salesian spirituality has produced its fruits in many people who have attained holiness, and was confirmed by the canonisation of St Francis de Sales in 1665 (less than 50 years after his death) and his proclamation as a Doctor of the Church in 1877.

Thanks to God and to his life experience, St Francis de Sales also leaves a written legacy in which the informative principles of Salesian spirituality are identified, mainly in the Introduction to the Devout Life, the Treatise on the Love of God, the Spiritual Confrerences and the collection of his Correspondence. In the Introduction, he writes for people who tread the ordinary paths of holiness, in the Treatise and Conferences he writes for those who wish to progress in the ways of contemplation, and in the Correspondence he writes for both cases.

There have been various efforts to present his entire French work in a complete edition. Mention may be made of Béthune Editeur’s 4-volume version from 1836, Migne’s 9-volume version from 1861 to 1864, Berche et Tralin’s 10-volume version from 1898, Luis Vives’’12-volume version from 1899, and lastly the Monastère d’Annecy’s 27-volume version from 1892 to 1964, which is the most complete and reliable.

Fortunately, this latest version by the Monastère d’Annecy is in digital format, and we want to present it to all those who can read it in French.

The detailed index of all Complete Works can be found HERE.

The version of the volumes in PDF format can be found HERE.

A concordance of the Complete Works in French can also be found HERE.

We wish you a fruitful reading.