In the “Introduction to the Devout Life” St. Francis... sets himself expressly to prove that holiness is perfectly possible in every state and condition of secular life, and to show how each man can live in the world in such a manner as to save his own soul, provided only he keeps himself free from the spirit of the world. At the same time we learn from the Saint how not only to perform the customary acts of everyday life, (with the exception, of course, of sin) but also a fact which all do not know, how to do these things correctly with the sole intention of pleasing God... After having pointed out how we must flee sin, fight against our evil inclinations, and avoid all useless and harmful actions, he then goes on expounding the nature of those practices of piety which cause the soul to grow, as well as how it is possible for man to remain ever united to God. Following this, he shows how necessary it is to select out a special virtue for constant practice on our part until we can say that we have mastered it. He writes, too, on the individual virtues, on modesty, moral and immoral language, licit and dangerous amusements, fidelity to God, the duties of husband and wife, widows, and of young women. Finally, he teaches us... how every year it is necessary for each of us to renew and to rekindle his love of God by the making of holy resolutions. May it please God that this book, the most perfect of its kind in the opinion of contemporaries of the Saint, be read now as it formerly was by practically every one.
Pope Pius XI, Rerum Omnium Pertubationem (1923)
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