St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (January 24th)

Of the Saints and Feast Days commemorated this week:

Jan 20th -- St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr 

Jan 20th -- St. Sebastian, Martyr 

Jan 21st -- St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr

Jan 22nd -- Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children (USA)

Jan 23rd -- St. Vincent, Deacon and Martyr

Jan 23rd -- St. Marianne Cope, Virgin (USA)

Jan 24th -- St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church 

Jan 25th – THIRD SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (A)

Jan 25th -- The Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle 

I’ve decided to write about St. Francis de Sales.

The future St. Francis de Sales was born in 1567 in the Château de Sales into the noble Sales family of the Duchy of Savoy, in what is today Thorens-Glières, Haute-Savoie, in the alpine region France, near the border with Switzerland.  

The Château de Sales was destroyed in 1630 by French King Louis XIII during France’s invasion of Savoy after the Sales family refused to submit to the (new) French order.   In 1672, a chapel was built on the site by members of the Sales family in honor of the birthplace of their by then sainted relative St. Francis de Sales.  

The story here runs similar to that of the family of St. Francis Xavier, whose home was also largely destroyed by the forces of Spanish King Ferdinand II after over-running the largely Basque Kingdom of Navarre (in today’s northern Spain) to which the Xavier family had been aligned.

The family of the future St. Francis de Sales, was of course of nobility. His father was François de Sales, Lord of Sales, Novel, and later by marriage, de Boisy   His mother was Françoise de Sionnaz, the only child of the well-known magistrate, Melchior de Sionnaz, Lord of Vallières, Thuile, and de Boisy.   Of these various estates, the best known was apparently Boisy.  So the future St. Francis de Sales’ father was known as the M. de Boisy.

Having been of noble birth, he did receive a good education, first  Collège de Clermont in Paris, then a Jesuit institution, and later he received degrees in law and theology at the University of Padua in Italy.  

Two influences seemed to have significant effects on the future St. Francis de Sales: 

1. He grew up in Savoy not far from Geneva (today in Switzerland), during the Reformation era.  Hence he was well-acquainted in Calvinist thought.   Indeed, while in school in Paris, he attended a debate about the (Calvinist) doctrine of predestination which left him convinced and deeply depressed for about a year and a half that he was predestined for Hell!  It was only after reading and rereading the First Letter of John, which declared that “God is Love” (1 Jn 4:8), that he was able to “get up” and move forward with his life.

2. He had extensive contact with the Jesuits, first at the school he attended in Paris and later taking a Fr Antonio Possovino, SJ as his spiritual director while studying at the University of Padua.  

He went back to Savoy, eventually though initially disappointing his father who had high hopes for a political-military career for him, he became a priest.

His education as well as family connections eventually secured him the position of Bishop, but in a very challenging Diocese – Calvinist Geneva.  He was never able to enter the city, but served outside.  He also championed gentleness and love as a means of overcoming division and discord, earning eventual respect even among the Protestants who at the time otherwise battled Catholics, both figuratively and physically.

Along with St. Jane Frances de Chantal he co-founded the Visitation Sisters, and later he founded a smaller congregation of men, the Oratorians.   

At a time of much conflict and strife and above all about religion, he offered a kinder, gentler alternative.

 St. Francis de Sales, please pray for us!

Picture: St. Francis de Sales, bishop of Geneva, Château de Bussy-Rabutin (wikipedia-commons)