St. Francis de Sales loved poverty. In the house where he lived, the apartments assigned to him as bishop were very elegantly furnished. However, he chose to take up his abode in an uncomfortable little room.
One time, the saint showed Bishop Jean Pierre Camus a coat which had been patched up and said, “My people really work little miracles; for out of an old garment, they have made me this perfectly new coat. Am I not well-dressed?”
The saint said, “Riches are truly thorns, as the Gospel teaches us. They prick us with a thousand troubles in acquiring them, with more cares in preserving them, and with yet more anxieties in spending them; and, most of all, with vexations in losing them. After all, we are only managers and stewards, especially if it is a question of the riches of the Church, which are the true patrimony of the poor. The important matter is to find faithful dispensers. Having sufficient to feed and clothe ourselves suitably, what more do we want? Assuredly, that which is over and above these is of evil.”
The spirit of poverty is crucial for the building up of the Church. St. Francis de Sales said, “The Church which is the kingdom of Jesus Christ is established on foundations directly opposed to those of the world, of which our Saviour said His kingdom was not. Now, on what is the kingdom of this world founded? Listen to St. John: All that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh, or of the eyes, and the pride of life; that is to say, the pleasures of the senses, avarice, and vanity. The Church then will be founded on mortification of the flesh, poverty, and humility. Pleasures and honours follow in the train of wealth; but poverty puts an axe to the roots of pride and sensual enjoyments.”
The saint wished for nothing but bare necessaries, fearing that superfluity might lead him into some excess.
St. Francis de Sales’ one hunger and thirst was for the conversion of souls, and he sometimes exclaimed to God: “Give me souls, and the rest take to Yourself.” At least as early as 1854, St. John Bosco took from St. Francis the motto “Give me souls, take the rest” which was printed on a poster hung in his room.
According to St. Francis de Sales, it is much easier to suffer hunger with patience than to preserve virtue in the midst of plenty. He said, “A thousand fall on the left hand of adversity, but ten thousand on the right hand of prosperity; for iniquity is the outcome of luxury, and the sin of the cities of the plain had its origin in a superabundance of bread; that is to say, in their wealth.”
The saint pointed out: “Christian poverty is of three kinds. First, that which is affective, but not effective. This can be practised in the midst of wealth, as in the case of Abraham, David, St. Louis, and many other holy persons, who, though rich in this world’s goods, were ready in a moment to accept poverty with cheerfulness and thankfulness if it should please God to send it to them. Second, effective but not affective poverty, which is a very unhappy condition. Those who are weighed down by it feel all its distressing consequences and are miserable because they cannot possess the many things which they ardently desire. Third, affective, united with effective poverty, which is recommended in the Gospels, and which may happen to be our lot, either from birth or from some reverse of fortune. If we are reconciled to our condition in life, however humble, and bless God Who has placed us in it, then we tread in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, of His holy Mother, and of the Apostles, who all lived a life of poverty.”
『神貧的人是有福的』
聖方濟、沙雷氏喜愛貧窮。他住的房子給主教的寓所是很雅緻的，可是他卻取了一個不舒服的小房作他的住所。一次，這聖人给加繆主教一看他那縫補過的外衣並説：『我人真的能行奇跡，我這舊的外衣，他們可以把它變作完整的新衣。我不是穿得合宜嗎？』
這聖人説：『富貴是真的荊棘，一如聖經教導我們，追尋它們的時候煩惱刺傷我們千多遍，要更多的關懷去保存它們，但也用很多的焦慮去花費它們，而最甚的是為失去它們而心煩意亂。畢竟，我們只是管理員和管家，尤其是當它是教會的財富，它實在是教會窮人的財富。重要事項卻是要找些忠信的分配人。能夠足夠地提供我們衣食，我們尚要什麼？肯定的說，任何過多和過高的都是邪惡』
貧窮的精神對教會的建立是决定性的重要，聖方濟、沙雷氏説：『教會，耶穌基督的王國，建立的基礎直接相反於這世界所建立的基礎，我們的救主說祂的王國並非屬於這世界。這樣，這世界的王國是建基於什麼呢？請一聽聖若望所言：原來這世界上的一切是肉身的貪慾，眼目的貪慾，以及人生的驕奢；就是說感官上的喜樂，貪婪和虛榮。教會是建基於克制肉身，貧窮和謙遜。快感和榮譽隨富貴而來；但貧窮砍斷驕傲和色慾享樂的根。』這位聖人不期望什麽，但僅有的必需，惟恐奢侈會領他到一些些的過量。
聖方濟、沙雷氏饑渴於需靈魂們的皈依，有時他向天主呼求『給我靈魂，其他的祢盡取去。』在早似1854年，聖若望，鮑思高在聖方濟、沙雷氏的座祐銘中取出『與我靈，取其餘』印在海報，掛在他房内。
聖方濟、沙雷氏指出: 以忍耐去承受饑餓之苦，遠較在充裕中保持德行來得容易。他說：『一千人在逆境左手中失落，但一萬人在策繁榮的右手中失落；因為不公在奢華中滋生，平原的城市的罪惡卻來自食物的超級充裕；就是說，在他們的富裕中。』
這聖人指出：『甚督徒的貧窮有三類。首先，是有神貧的而沒有實貧的。這可在富裕中實行的，情況一如亞巴郎，達味，聖路易，和很多的其他聖人們，他們雖然在世上富裕，卻準備好以喜樂和感恩去接納貧窮，如果這能悅樂於賜予貧窮的天主。其次，有實貧但沒有神貧，這是個十分不愉快的情況。那些被它牽制的，會感受到它惱人的後果而且是可憐的，因為他們不能擁有很多他們熱烈渴望的事物。其三，有神貧的並連結於實貧，這是聖經建議的，這是我們命運中可發生的，會是自出生或倒運而來。如果我們協調於我們生命的環境中，不管怎樣卑下，也讃美把我們放進其內的天主，我們便會緊隨耶穌基督、祂的母親、和祂宗徒們的步伐，他們都活於貧窮中。』
