Saint Francis de Sales, (French: François de Sales; Italian: Francesco di Sales; 21 August 1567 – 28 December 1622) was Bishop of Geneva became noted for his deep faith and his gentle approach to the religious divisions in his land resulting from the Protestant Reformation. He is known also for his writings on the topic of spiritual direction and spiritual formation, particularly the Introduction to the Devout Life and the Treatise on the Love of God.
Francis' future was planned by his father, a senator from Savoy, France. He was to be a lawyer, then take his father's place in the senate.
In the 'man proposes, God disposes' form, Francis stufued law in Padua. After receiving his doctorate, he returned home and entered the priesthood. While is father was strongly opposed. after much patient persuasiveness his father consented.
Francis was ordained and elected provost of the Diocese of Geneva, then a center for the Calvinists. Francis set out to convert them, especially in the district of Chablais. By preaching and distributing the little pamphlets he wrote to explain true Catholic doctrine, he had remarkable success.
Francis was born two months premature on 21 August 1567 in the Château de Sales into the noble Sales family of the Duchy of Savoy, in what is today Thorens-Glières, Haute-Savoie, France. His father was François de Sales, Lord of Sales, and Novel, and by marriage, de Boisy. His mother was a noblewoman, Françoise de Sionnaz, the only child of the prominent magistrate, Melchior de Sionnaz, Seigneur de Vallières, de la Thuile, and de Boisy.
He was baptized Francis Bonaventura after his godparents, François de la Fléchère and Damoiselle Bonaventure de Chevron-Villette, who was also his widowed, maternal grandmother. His father wanted him, the first of his six sons, to attend the best schools in preparation for a career as a magistrate. Francis, enjoyed a privileged education in the nearby town of La Roche-Sur-Foron, and at the age of eight at the Capuchin college in Annecy.
In 1578, Francis went to the Collège de Clermont, then a Jesuit institution, to study rhetoric and humanities. As a nobleman, he was accompanied by his servant and by a priest tutor, Abbé Déage. To please his father, he took lessons in the gentlemanly pursuits of riding, dancing, and fencing. He is described as intelligent and handsome, tall and well built with blue-grey eyes, somewhat reserved and quiet, and a welcome guest in the homes of the nobility.
Francis ultimately concluded that God had good in store for him because "God is love " This faithful devotion to God not only expelled his doubts but also influenced the rest of his life and his teachings. His way of teaching Catholic spirituality is often referred to as the Way of Divine Love, or the Devout Life, taken from a book he wrote of a similar name: Introduction to the Devout Life.
Francis completed his studies at Collège de Clermont and enrolled at the University of Padua, in Italy, where he studied both law and theology.
In 1592, Francis received his doctorate in law and theology and decided to become a priest. He made a pilgrimage to Loreto, Italy, and then returned home to Savoy. As the eldest son and heir, he held the title of Seigneur de Villeroget. The Senate of Chambéry admitted him as a lawyer. Meanwhile, his father secured various positions for Francis, including an appointment as a senator. His father also chose a wealthy noble heiress as his bride, but Francis refused to marry, preferring to stay focused on his chosen path. His father initially refused to accept that Francis had chosen the priesthood rather than fulfill his expectations with a political-military career. His cousin, Canon Louis de Sales, persuaded the Bishop of Geneva, Claude de Granier, to obtain for Francis the position of provost of the cathedral chapter of Geneva, a post in the patronage of the pope M. de Boisy yielded. Francis was ordained in 1593.
Since the Calvinists controlled Geneva, the bishop resided about twenty miles south, in AAnnecy. Francis preached in the Cathedral of Annecy, at parish churches and before confraternities. He was an effective speaker; his voice was deep and rich in tone and his speech somewhat slow and measured. His sermons were comparatively short. He avoided controversy and focused on a particular point of duty, a specific virtue or the correction of some vice. The cathedral chapter recommended that although he was only twenty-seven years of age, the provost be named Grand Penitentiary of the diocese, where Francis took many more confessions.
In 1594, the Duke of Savoy requested the bishop of Geneva to send a missionery to Chamblais, an area that had been long held by the Swiss and only recently returned to Savoy. The task would be both difficult and dangerous, and the most qualified for the assignment was the provost. Despite his family's objections, Francis readily accepted. Accompanied only by his cousin, the Canon Louis, they made their base the fortress of Allinges to which the Governor of the Province, Baron d'Hermance, insisted they return each night. Gradually they expanded their efforts, with de Sales concentrating on Thonon-les-Bains, which had become almost completely Calvinist. He also attended the Savoyard soldiers garrisoned at Allinges.
They met great opposition from the Geneva ministers, who accused de Sales of being a sorcerer. He moved to Thonon, where he boarded with a widow, who on one occasion hid him from some armed men. More than once, he escaped death at the hands of assassins. His mother managed to send him some linen and money, which he distributed to the poor. A good deal of his religious instruction was handled individually and privately. It was at this time that Francis began writing pamphlets which were later collected and published as The Catholic Controversy. Gradually, the mission began to show some success.
In 1599 he was appointed coadjutor bishop of Geneva. In 1602, he was sent on a diplomatic mission to Henry IV of France to negotiate the restoration of Catholic worship in Gex, a part of the diocese that had been returned to France. He was invited to give the Lenten sermons at the Chapel Royal. The morals at court reflected those of the King, which were notorious, but King Henry became personally attached to Francis and is said to have observed, "A rare bird, this Monsieur de Genève, he is devout and also learned; and not only devout and learned but at the same time a gentleman. A very rare combination".
In 1602, Bishop Granier died, and Sales was consecrated Bishop of Geneva by Vespasien Gribaldi, assisted by Thomas Pobel and Jacques Maistret, O.Carm., as co-consecrators. He resided in Annecy (now in France) because Geneva remained under Calvinist control and was therefore closed to him. His diocese became famous throughout Europe for its efficient organization, zealous clergy and well-instructed laity.
During his years as bishop, Francis acquired a reputation as a spellbinding preacher and something of an ascetic. His motto was, "He who preaches with love, preaches effectively". His goodness, patience and mildness became proverbial.
These qualities are evident in Frsncis' books, the most famous of which was Introduction to the Devout Life, which, unusually for the time, was written for laypeople, especially for women. In it, he counseled charity over penance as a means of progressing in the spiritual life. De Sales also left a mystical work, the Treatise on the Love of God, and many highly valued letters of spiritual direction, including those with Jane Frances de Chantal compiled in the Letters of Spiritual Direction.
With Chantal, Francis founded the women's Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary (Visitandines) in Annecy on 6 June 1610. Archbishop Denis-Simon de Marquemont required the order's members to maintain cloistered lives.[12]
Francis also established a community of men, an Oratory of St. Philip Neri, at Thonon-les-Bains, with himself as the superior, or Provost.
The Feast of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, is celebrated on August 12. Born Jeanne-Françoise Frémyot, Baroness of Chantal. She was a French Catholic noble widow, mother of six and nun and founder of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary. She was was beatified in 1751and canonized in 1767. Her feast is August 12.
Saint Jane is Patron saint of parents separated from children, forgotten people, and widows.
St. Jane was born in Dijon France in 1572. Her mother died when she was 18 months. Jane developed into a woman of beauty and refinement, lively and cheerful in temperament. At 21, she married Baron de Chantal, by whom she had six children, three of whom died in infancy. At her castle, she restored the custom of daily Mass, and was seriously engaged in various charitable works. As a wife and mother, she was very devoted to her family. She also had great compassion for the poor and is said to have always welcomed them into her home when they needed food
Left a widow at twenty-eight, with four children, after her husband was killed while out shooting, the broken-hearted baroness would not forgive the individual responsible for her husband's accidental death. She took a vow of chastity and in her prayers she prayed for God to send her a guide. In a vision,
God, showed her the spiritual director she prayed for in the holy bishop, St. Francis de Sales. After listening to St. Francis preach on the love of God, she had a change of heart and forgave her husband’s killer. Saint Francis became a friend and later her spiritual director. Together with his support and the support of her father and brother, she founded the Congregation of the Visitation and established several convents throughout France
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In December 1622, Francis was required to travel in the entourage of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, for the Duke's Christmas tour of his domain. Upon arrival in Lyon, Francis chose to stay in the gardener's hut at the Visitandine monastery in that city. While there he suffered a stroke, from which he died on 28 December 1622
- "Lord, I am Yours, and I must belong to no one but You. My soul is Yours, and must live only by You. My will is Yours, and must love only for You".
- "Be at peace. Do not look forward in fear to the changes of life; rather look to them with full hope as they arise"
- "Please pray for me, that I may also respond to your preaching and may seek to become a saint within the context of the vocation I have been given".
- "Teach me, O Father, to fix my eyes on heaven, that I may generously trample under foot every obstacle that presents itself in my way".
- "Obtain from God my perfect conversion, and that of all sinners".
- "Ask him to pray for a Catholic writer whom you know".
- "Ask him for prayers if you work in the field of adult education, or if you are an adult completing your education".
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