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The Reformation · 1609
Introduction to the Devout Life
Francis de Sales · 1567–1622
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What it is
Written for a married noblewoman: devotion suited to the soldier, the tradesman, the married woman, and the widow, since a life of prayer belongs in the world.
Why it lasted
The book that made serious spirituality a lay possibility in Catholic Europe, and one of the most reprinted devotional works ever written.
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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