with Saint-Sulpice on the Web, you will find here views on love and the passions, both eclectic and instructive; letters; a unique environment for refinement of the sentiments;

contemplation of the intimate relationship of the aesthetic, the sensual and the spiritual; discussions of Marivaux (the playwright, not the two-star hotel at 10, Rue d'Amboise, Paris) and of marivaudage,

including a periodically renewed

featured entry from the Dictionary of Marivaudage;

also insights on persons such as the writer and amant extraordinaire Nicolas-Edme Rétif de la Bretonne and other experts on (and thus victims of!) of the passions.

And look for our "Mirror-Mirror" (coming) feature, an exchange of ideas for Lovers and Students of sophisticated amourous pursuits. In the 16th C. Diane de Poitiers (pictured, left) and Catherine de Medici vied for the attentions of a king, and showed the link between love and politics. For the truly recondite, we may look at the nuanced correspondence of Mme de Graffigny (in French, this one dating from 1743).

*As M. Parangon, father of de la Bretonne's idol Colette, said of him, "neither his traits nor his responses nor his amusements are those of ordinary children"! We too, at Saint-Sulpice, strive to nourish the extraordinary.

Do you have extraordinary experiences of love, relationships, passion? Tell Saint-Sulpice!

From Act 1, Scene VII, The Game of Love and Chance (Le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hazard), c. 1730

Silvia. – Tu peux te passer de me parler d’amour, je pense. ("You can spare talking about love when you're with me, I think.")

Dorante. – Tu pourrais bien te passer de m’en faire sentir, toi. ("Then I should ask you to stop making me feel it. . .")

Silvia. – Ah! Je me fâcherai; tu m’impatientes. Encore une fois, laisse là ton amour. ("Oh! Now I'm getting angry; you drain my patience. One more time: leave your love aside.")

Dorante. – Quitte donc ta figure. ("Leave aside, then, your beauty!")

This exchange shows typical characteristics of marivaudage. Each response "turns" the meaning of a single word in the original statement,MirroringSilvia.

She is each time returned to awareness of the dazzling image that Dorante has of her.

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The first two statements turn on the word "passer" but the second pairing is more witty: it is not the word that is played on, but the idea behind it.

Silvia uses the word Laisse, or leave aside, let go;

and Dorante turns it into Quitte, which means "leave" in a more complete way -- an impossibility in this context -- for Silvia can leave neither her body nor her elegant language.

In so doing Dorante is able not only to display his quick intellect, but also to trace his enchantment back to the source: "ta figure"refers simultaneously to Silvia's physical beauty and to her way of expressing herself -- her "figure" in multiple dimensions. Two lovers, one pursuing, the other pursued -- both working on the same sacred phenomenon of the Heart.

"Mirroring", says the Abbé, is part of the most basic process of spiritual contemplation and thereforeof conversational seduction.

Letters to the Abbé

This area is still under construction but

Should you have a personal question in matters spiritual or amorous, or just a comment, you are likely to receive an insightful response if you e-mail to the Abbé care of us. The Abbé is a Gateway between the amorous and the sacred! We think you will be delighted . . . .

Of course good taste and sincerity should prevail in such affairs -- as the I Ching says, when the inferior approaches, the superior departs -- (hexagram 33, Retreat -- a symbol of our little society)!

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We do hope forpersonal visits from the Good Abbé -- that is to say, occasional personal messages. But, as they used to say, diantre! the place is not ready -- let's remove the empty wine bottles, scattered corks, the lovely items of clothing tossed about, the antique candelabrum (with wax curling in the shape of angels' wings) which inspired our amorous pursuits. Let's not tempt the fate of Sardanapalus (click to see Delacroix's vision of excess)! The Abbé notices much and he is no fool. École de l'Amour!

So whether ventures of pleasure, exertions of spirit, or Biblical readings occupy us here at Saint-Sulpice, all these must be balanced by exercise, fresh air, travel and sensuous contemplation.

Along with many, we remain in meditation on the connection between the sensual and the mystical; in that regard we might recommend a visit to A Black Virgin. We like the Madonna of Montserrat, La Moreneta -- a profound symbol of spiritual fertility, something to aid our contemplation of the higher octave of the Feminine. The Moreneta page relates this figure to the Egyptian legend of Isis suckling Horus in the reed swamps, representing the moist regions of the creative unconscious, hidden away from all evil. Other, more sensual relatives of these figures -- the vibration is "stepped down" somewhat -- but worthy of our contemplation, are Ingres' Odalisque and Slave, and the incomparable masterpiece, Femmes d'Alger by Delacroix.

In preparation for the Abbé's parables . . .

When Love Steals Away

"Faithful hearts, sensitive hearts,
Who accuse lightfooted Love,
Cease your cruel complaining!
Is it a crime to change?
If love has wings,
Is it not to fly?
Is it not to fly?
Is it not to fly?"

-- Beaumarchais,
The Marriage of Figaro, Act IV, Scene 10