St. Francis de Sales

  A Saint so Human

A Saint so Human

St. Francis de Sales is foremost among those who were consistently and manifestly human.  He radiated divine light through his humanness like his Master Jesus.  Among the saints who were very human not all have left behind a written spiritual message that is deeply human and divine at the same time - a balance extremely difficult to achieve. St. Francis de Sales is so unequalled in this respect that he is even more appreciated in the Post-Vatican Period.

A Biographical Sketch

St. Francis de Sales was born on 21 August 1567 at Thonon not far from Annecy in France. He was educated at Paris, then studied at the University of Padua where he brilliantly passed his doctorate both in civil and ecclesiastical law.  On his return home he asked his father for permission to become a priest.  The permission was finally given after serious objections. He was ordained priest on 18th December 1593. 

St. Francis de Sales was sent to work among the Calvinists in the district of Chablais on 14th September 1594 together with his cousin Canon Louis de Sales. Overcoming privations and oppositions of every sort including attempt on his life, through prayer, penance, preaching, writing and perseverance he brought back the whole district to the Catholic faith.

St. Francis de Sales was consecrated Bishop at Thorens on 8th December 1602. He was a good shepherd. He cared both for the rich and the poor yet with a special preference and concern for the poor. This concern is also evident in the foundation of the Visitation Order together with St. Jane de Chantal on 6th June 1610. This Order is to accept as members the poor, the weak in health, the handicapped who are able to follow the community, the widows whom normally religious orders do not admit. He wrote two books: The Introduction to the Devout Life and A Treatise on the Love of God.  Both are spiritual classics to which we shall refer in the course of time.

St. Francis de Sales passed away at the age of 55 on 28th December 1622. On 19th April 1665 Francis de Sales was canonised by Pope Alexander VII, and declared Doctor of the Church on 16th November 1877 by Pope Pius IX.

St. Jane de Chantal

Monastery of Visitation, Annecy

Jesus' Teaching

Jesus called all to holiness and wholeness.  He did not make any exception.  Jesus told all: Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect (Mt. 5:48) - apparently an impossible task.  Jesus is not demanding the impossible but the possible: to be forgiving, loving and compassionate as the heavenly Father is.  The apostles taught the same. Holiness is to be the distinctive mark of every Christian. so the apostles called the Christians "saints" - concerning the collection for the saints (1 Cor. 16:1); they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints (1 Cor. 16:5).

The Original Teaching Lost

With the rise of hermits, cenobites, monks, monasteries, religious orders and congregations and emphasis on the hierarchical structure of the church, holiness came to be thought of as the privilege of these exclusive groups.  No one thought of the laity. Carranza, Archbishop of Toledo and Primate of Spain (1557) and his contemporary the Dominican Louis of Grenada were imprisoned by the Spanish Inquisition for teaching that all are called to holiness.

Fransalian International,  Vol. 1  January 1999

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