⛪ Saint Francis de Sales - Bishop and Doctor of the Church

⛪ Saint of the Day : January 24

⛪ Other Names :
• Francis of Sales • Gentle Christ of Geneva • The Gentleman Saint • Franz von Sales

⛪ Feast :
• 24 January • Formerly 29 January
• 28 December on some calendars including in Lyon, France
• 23 January (Anglican Church in Wales)

⛪ Born :
• 21 August 1567 at Château de Thorens, Savoy (part of modern France)

⛪ Died :
• 28 December 1622 at Lyon, France • Buried at the basilica of the Visitation, Annecy, France • His heart was preserved as a relic at Lyon • During the French Revolution his heart was was moved to Venice, Italy.

⛪ Patronage :

• Against deafnes • Authors •  Catholic press • Confessors •  Deaf people • Educators • Journalists (proclaimed on 26 April 1923 by Pope Pius XI) • Teachers writers (proclaimed on 26 April 1923 by Pope Pius XI)

Francis was born of noble and pious parents, near Annecy, in 1567, and studied with brilliant success at Paris and Padua. On his return from Italy he gave up the grand career which his father had marked out for him in the service of the State, and became a priest. When the Duke of Savoy had resolved to restore the Church in the Chablais, Francis offered himself for the work, and set out on foot with his Bible and breviary and one companion, his cousin Louis of Sales. It was a work of toil, privation, and danger. Every door and every heart were closed against him. He was rejected with insult and threatened with death. But nothing could daunt or resist him, and ere long the Church burst forth into a second spring. It is stated that he converted 72,000 Calvinists. He was then compelled by the Pope to become Coadjutor Bishop of Geneva, and succeeded to the see in 1602. At times the exceeding gentleness with which he received heretics and sinners almost scandalized his friends, and one of them said to him, “Francis of Sales will go to Paradise, of course; but I am not so sure of the Bishop of Geneva: I am almost afraid his gentleness will play him a shrewd turn.”

“Ah,” said the saint, “I would rather account to God for too great gentleness than for too great severity. Is not God all love? God the Father is the Father of mercy; God the Son is a Lamb; God the Holy Ghost is a Dove, that is, gentleness itself. And are you wiser than God?” In union with Saint Jane Frances of Chantal he founded at Annecy the Order of the Visitation, which soon spread over Europe. Though poor, he refused provisions and dignities, and even the great see of Paris. He died at Avignon in 1622.

⛪ Reflection – “You will catch more flies,” Saint Francis used to say, “with a spoonful of honey than with a hundred barrels of vinegar. Were there any thing better or fairer on earth than gentleness, Jesus Christ would have taught it us; and yet he has given us only two lessons to learn of him – meekness and humility of heart.”

More Info : Francis De Sales

📕 Catholic Culture 📕 Catholic Exchange 📕 Catholic Gentlemen 📕 Catholic Insight 📕 Catholic Ireland 📕 Catholic Lane 📕 Catholic News Agency 📕 Catholic Online📕 Christian Biographies, by James Keifer 📕 Cradio 📕 Domestic Church, by Catherine Fournier 📕 Franciscan Media 📕 Independent Catholic News 📕 Introduction to the Devout Life, by Saint Francis de Sales 📕 Jean Lee 📕 Katherine Rabenstein 📕 Lives of the Saints, by John J Crawley 📕 National Catholic Reporter 📕 R C Spirituality 📕 Saint Charles Borromeo Church, Picayune, Mississippi, USA 📕 Saint Francis and the Dynamics of Love, by Susanne A Kjekshus Koch 📕 Saints Alive, by Father Robert McNamara 📕 Saints for Sinners 📕 Saints Stories for All Ages 📕 Sermons of Saint Francis on Prayer 📕 Thomas J Craughwell 📕 Treatise on the Love of God, by Saint Francis de Sales 📕 uCatholic 📕 Wikipedia

Related Post