“True and living friendship cannot subsist in the midst of sins. As the salamander extinguishes the fire in which he lies, so sin destroys the friendship in which it lodges. If it be but a transient sin, friendship will presently put it to flight by correction; but if it be habitual, and take up its lodging, friendship immediately perishes, for it cannot subsist but on the solid foundation of virtue. We must never, then, commit sin for friendship’s sake. A friend becomes an enemy when he would lead us to sin, and he deserves to lose his friend, when he would destroy his soul. It is an infallible mark of false friendship, to see it exercised towards a vicious person, be his sins of whatsoever kind; for if he whom we love be vicious, without doubt our friendship is also vicious, since, seeing it cannot regard true virtue, it must needs be grounded on some frivolous virtue or sensual quality.” —St. Francis de Sales
Posted on: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 05:23:49 +0000
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