INSTRUCTIONS FOR DEVOUT SOULS
TO DISPEL THEIR DOUBTS AND
ALLAY THEIR FEARS.
BY
R. P. QUADRUPANI, Barnabite.
Translated from the French.
With an Introduction by
THE MOST REV. P. J. RYAN, D.D.,
Archbishop of Philadelphia, Pa.
ST. LOUIS, MO. 1898.
Published by B. HERDER,
17 South Broadway.
NIHIL OBSTAT.
F. G. Holweck,Censor Librorum.
IMPRIMATUR.
St. Louis, Mo., 1. Oct. 1897.H. Muehlsiepen, V. G.,Adm.
The French translation, from which the presentEnglish version has been made, is approved by theArchbishop of Paris, the Bishop of Versailles and theBishop of Meaux.
Copyright, 1898, by Jos. Gummersbach.
—BECKTOLD—
PRINTING AND BOOK MFG. CO.
ST. LOUIS, MO.
These Instructions for Pious Souls, nowpublished in English under the title Lightand Peace, were written in 1795 by the illustriousand saintly Barnabite, Padre Quadrupani.They contain a summary of spiritualguidance for earnest Christians in the ordinaryduties of life in the world. The author hadformed his own spirituality on the model presentedby the life and teaching of St. Francisde Sales, and in this little book he reflects thewisdom, prudence and sweetness of that“gentleman Saint.”
The work has passed through uncountededitions in its original Italian, and through alarge number of editions in both the Frenchand the German translations. An Englishtranslation was published many years ago, butbesides its present rarity, its many imperfectionswarrant the belief that a new renditionwill not be unwelcome. The translator has,moreover, been encouraged by the persuasionthat the maxims of Father Quadrupani are[iv]specially adapted to the American character.Unlike many foreign religious works, whosespirituality often fails to touch the Anglo-Saxontemperament, this author’s teachingis decidedly practical and practicable, andappeals in every way to the common senseand fits in with the busy, matter-of-fact lifeof the average American Catholic.
The present translation has been made fromthe twentieth French edition and has beencollated with the thirty-second edition of theoriginal Italian published at Naples in 1818.The many recommendations from the Episcopacyof France prefixed to the French translationare here omitted, as the Introduction bythe Most Reverend Archbishop of Philadelphiais abundant testimony to the doctrinal solidityof the work.
I. M. O’R.Overbrook, PA.
God’s attributes being infinite and our intellectslimited and also darkened by thefall, we see these attributes only in part and“as afar off and through a glass.” In contemplatingHis awful sanctity, we are overwhelmedwith fear and forget His ineffablemercy. Our views are also greatly influencedby our natural temperaments, whether joyousor sad, and change with our environmentsand moods.
As the blue firmament is ever the same, sois the great God Himself—“the King of Agesimmortal and invisibl