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    3 - St. Francis de Sales

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    Raymond Roco
    St. Francis de Sales was a 16th century bishop and doctor of the Church born in France. [1] He had a calling to the priesthood from a young age but his father wanted him to pursue law and politics. [2] After receiving visions telling him to pursue religion, he became a priest and was later appointed Bishop of Geneva. [3] As Bishop he worked to convert Protestants back to Catholicism through pamphlets and kindness, bringing over 40,000 people back to the faith.

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    3 - St. Francis de Sales

    Uploaded by

    Raymond Roco
    48 views28 pages
    St. Francis de Sales was a 16th century bishop and doctor of the Church born in France. [1] He had a calling to the priesthood from a young age but his father wanted him to pursue law and politics. [2] After receiving visions telling him to pursue religion, he became a priest and was later appointed Bishop of Geneva. [3] As Bishop he worked to convert Protestants back to Catholicism through pamphlets and kindness, bringing over 40,000 people back to the faith.

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    3- St. Francis de Sales

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    St. Francis de Sales was a 16th century bishop and doctor of the Church born in France. [1] He had a calling to the priesthood from a young age but his father wanted him to pursue law and politics. [2] After receiving visions telling him to pursue religion, he became a priest and was later appointed Bishop of Geneva. [3] As Bishop he worked to convert Protestants back to Catholicism through pamphlets and kindness, bringing over 40,000 people back to the faith.

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    48 views28 pages

    3 - St. Francis de Sales

    Uploaded by

    Raymond Roco
    St. Francis de Sales was a 16th century bishop and doctor of the Church born in France. [1] He had a calling to the priesthood from a young age but his father wanted him to pursue law and politics. [2] After receiving visions telling him to pursue religion, he became a priest and was later appointed Bishop of Geneva. [3] As Bishop he worked to convert Protestants back to Catholicism through pamphlets and kindness, bringing over 40,000 people back to the faith.

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    I would like to introduce to you first

    to our Patron Saint - St. Francis de Sales so that you


    will know him more and be an inspiration in your journey
    towards your life of faith.
    Saint Francis de Sales
    Feast day:  January 24

    Patron:  of Catholic writers, the


    Catholic press, the deaf, journalists,
    adult education

    Birth: August 21, 1567

    Death: December 28, 1622

    Beatified: January 8, 1661 by Pope


    Alexander VII

    Canonized: April 19, 1665 by Pope


    Alexander VII
    St. Francis de Sales was born to
    a noble family at Chateau de Sales
    in the Kingdom of Savoy near
    Geneva, Switzerland on August
    21, 1567. He was a Bishop and
    Doctor of the Church.

    Francis was both intelligent


    and gentle. From a very early age,
    he desired to serve God. He knew
    for years he had a vocation to the
    priesthood, but kept it from his
    family.
    His father wanted him to enter a
    career in law and politics.
    In 1580, Francis attended the
    University of Paris, and at 24-years-
    old, he received his doctorate in
    law at the University of Padua.

    All the time, he never lost his


    passion for God. He studied
    theology and practiced mental
    prayers, but kept quiet about his
    devotion.
    To please his father, he also
    studied fencing and riding.

    God made his will clear to


    Francis- one day while he was
    riding. Francis fell from his horse
    three times that day. Every time he
    fell, the sword came out of the
    scabbard, and every time it came
    out, the sword and scabbard came
    to rest on the ground in the shape
    of the Christian cross.
    After much discussion and
    disagreement from his father, Francis
    was ordained to the priesthood and
    elected provost of the Diocese of
    Geneva, in 1593, by the Bishop of
    Geneva. During the time of the
    Protestant reformation, Francis lived
    close to Calvinist territory.

    He decided he should lead an


    expedition to bring the 60,000 Calvinists
    (reformed Protestantism) back to the
    Catholic Church.
    For three years, he trudged (walked
    with difficulty) through the countryside,
    had doors slammed in his face and
    rocks thrown at him. In the bitter
    winters, his feet froze so badly they bled
    as he tramped through the snow.

    Francis' unusual patience kept him


    working. No one would listen to him, no
    one would even open their door.
    So, Francis found a way to get under the
    door. He wrote out little pamphlets to
    explain true Catholic doctrine and slipped
    them under the doors. This is one of the
    first records we have of religious tracts
    being used to communicate the true
    Catholic faith to people who had fallen
    away from the Church.

    The parents wouldn't come to him, so


    Francis went to the children. When the
    parents saw how kind he was as he played
    with the children, they began to talk to
    him.
    By the time Francis returned
    home, it is believed he brought
    40,000 people to the Catholic
    Church.

    In 1602, Bishop Granier died


    and Francis was consecrated
    Bishop of Geneva, although he
    continued to reside in Annecy. He
    only set foot in the city of Geneva
    twice -- once when the Pope sent
    him to try to convert Calvin's
    successor, Beza, and another
    when he traveled through it.
    In 1604, Francis took one of the
    most important steps in his life --
    the step toward extraordinary
    holiness and mystical union with
    God.

    In Dijon, Francis saw a widow


    listening closely to his sermon -- a
    woman he had seen already in a
    dream. Jane de Chantal was a
    dedicated Catholic Christian on
    her own, as Francis was, but it was
    only when they became friends
    they began to become saints.
    Years after working with Jane,
    he made up his mind to form a
    new religious community.

    In 1610, he founded The


    Order of Visitation.

    Francis was overworked and


    often ill because of his constant
    load of preaching, visiting, and
    instruction -- even catechizing a
    deaf man so he could take first
    Communion.
    He believed the first duty of a
    bishop was spiritual direction and
    wrote to Jane, "So many have
    come to me that I might serve
    them, leaving me no time to
    think of myself.

    For him active work did not


    weaken his spiritual inner peace
    but strengthened it.
    He gave spiritual direction
    to most people through
    letters, which attested to his
    remarkable patience. "I have
    more than fifty letters to
    answer. If I tried to hurry over
    it all, I would be lost. So, I
    intend neither to hurry or to
    worry. This evening, I shall
    answer as many as I can.
    Tomorrow I shall do the same
    and so I shall go on until I have
    finished."
    Francis insisted that every
    Christian was called to holiness and
    sanctity, lived within their own state
    in life. In holding that belief, he
    reflected the teaching of Jesus and
    the early Church Fathers.

    Francis laid the groundwork for


    the teaching of the Second Vatican
    Council on what is now called the
    universal call to holiness.
    It reaffirms the teaching of Jesus
    and the early Church that every
    Baptized Christian is called to sanctity,
    no matter what their career or state in
    life.
    In every career and state in life,
    Christians can become more and more
    like Jesus Christ.

    That is, after all, what holiness


    really means.
    Francis gave spiritual
    direction to lay people
    who were living real lives
    in the real world.

    He had proven with his


    own life that people could
    grow in holiness while
    involved in a very active
    occupation.
    He also recognized that
    Christian marriage and
    family life is itself a call to
    holiness.
    His most famous book,
    INTRODUCTION TO THE
    DEVOUT LIFE, was written
    for ordinary lay people in
    1608, not just the clergy
    and religious.

    Written originally as
    letters, it became an
    instant success all over
    Europe --
    The key to love of
    God was prayer.

    "By turning your eyes


    on God in meditation,
    your whole soul will
    be filled with God.
    Begin all your prayers
    in the presence of
    God."
    He believed the worst sin
    was to judge someone or to
    gossip about them. Even if we
    say we do it out of love we're
    still doing it to look better
    ourselves. We should be as
    gentle and forgiving with
    ourselves as we should be
    with others.
    St. Francis de Sales was
    beatified on January 8, 1661
    and canonized on April 19,
    1665 by Pope Alexander VII.

    In 1923, Pope Pius XI


    named St. Francis de Sales the
    patron saint of Catholic
    writers and the Catholic press
    because of the tracts and
    books he wrote.
    He is also the patron
    saint of the deaf,
    journalists, adult
    education, and the
    Sisters of St. Joseph.

    His feast day is


    celebrated on January
    24.
    QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:

    1. Personally, who is St. Francis de Sales for you?

    2. Give 3 characteristics/ virtues of St. Francis de Sales


    that inspires you in your life of faith and why?
    Give concrete examples/ situations in your life.

    3. How can you practice these characteristics in your


    own day to day life.
    Please submit it thru email.

    Thank you and stay safe!

    God bless you!

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