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François Fénelon

François Fénelon

François Fénelon

Articles & Essays by François Fénelon

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Letter

To a Friend Wondering How to Pray

Published November, 2007 • Featured January 13, 2023

Winn Col­lier shares an acces­si­ble para­phrase of François Fénelon’s 17th cen­tu­ry let­ter to some­one who — like many of us — craves prac­ti­cal guid­ance for mov­ing deep­er into con­ver­sa­tion with God.
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Article

Surrender to His Plans

Published June, 1992 • Featured December 2, 2022

A spir­i­tu­al direc­tion let­ter from 17th cen­tu­ry pas­tor François Fénelon helps us trust our­selves to God’s expert surgery on our souls — cut­ting away the things that bind and blind us so that we are free to live under his reign.
Calligraphy paints
Letter from Let Go

The Gift of Weakness and The Need for Practice

Published January, 1973 • Featured August 21, 2020

With inim­itable wis­dom and grace, Fenélon helps a friend wel­come weak­ness as a gift, and reminds him that spir­i­tu­al knowl­edge is only help­ful to the extent that it is put into practice.
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Article

Accept Your Weakness

Featured August 22, 2019

There is noth­ing quite like a let­ter from an old friend. This let­ter is from a friend and broth­er whom we have not yet met. But, across the years, his love is pal­pa­ble and his wis­dom sound. Come and savor the words of François Fénelon.
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Book Excerpt from The Seeking Heart

Practice Staying in God's Presence

Featured August 18, 2019

François Fénelon reminds us here that most of the strug­gles we face in the with-God life are not giant sins, but rather the seem­ing­ly incon­se­quen­tial pec­ca­dil­los that grad­u­al­ly dri­ve a wedge between the life we want and the life we lead.
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Book Excerpt

Sinking into the Will of God

Featured February 6, 2018

François Fénelon offers insight into what it means to tru­ly sur­ren­der to God. He advis­es cau­tion, lest we make sub­mis­sion an achieve­ment, rather than a jour­ney toward the peace of sink­ing into God’s will.
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Book Excerpt from The Seeking Heart

Lean Toward Love

Featured October 24, 2017

Much like a vin­tage pho­to­graph we come across in a thrift store, this let­ter from Fénelon pos­sess­es a mys­te­ri­ous back­sto­ry. We may not know the intend­ed recip­i­ent or what exact­ly was trou­bling his or her mind, but Fénelon’s encour­ag­ing words stretch across the ages to meet us with full relevance.
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Book Excerpt from The Seeking Heart

Live Day by Day

Featured March 7, 2017

God will give us every­thing we need. A truth so easy to state and some­times so hard to live. Bri­an Morykon shares some advice and insight from François Fénelon on ​“com­plete­ly sur­ren­der­ing to God.”