The spirituality of St. Francis de Sales is one of the golden leaves in the spiritual tradition of the Church.

It is a “Spirituality of the Heart,” relevant today as in the time of St. Francis de Sales himself - an all-embracing, Down-to-earth Spirituality for everyone.

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Some of the Salient Features of Salesian Spirituality | Prayer | Salesian Literature | Salesian Views

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Some of the Salient Features of Salesian Spirituality

v The Universal Call to Holiness v Devotion must be suited to One’s own Status

v Integration and Harmony in Pursuit of Holiness

v Building a Spirituality on the Virtue of Humility

v Sustaining of Spiritual Life through Prayer v  Nurturing an optimistic Attitude in Life

v Building up a Spiritual Life on Little Virtues (Acts)

The Universal Call to Holiness 

Holiness is not the prerogative of the monks and nuns but of all. Everyone irrespective of birth, color, caste, class etc is called to live a life of holiness. Holiness is never too lofty and unattainable for ordinary people. But everyone is not to live the life of holiness in the same way. A priest’s call to holiness differs from that of a married man and a nun’s obligation regarding prayer and other spiritual exercises differs from that of a spinster or a married woman.

Every human being is called to enter into living, loving and vibrant relationship with God, each according to his or her status in life. The intention of St. Francis de Sales in writing his spiritual masterpiece The Introduction to the Devout Life, was to introduce to everyone the path to holiness. Holiness is possible in all walks of life, under any circumstance and at all times. Whatever the tasks we have to perform in the world we are all called to be saints.

Pope Pius XI issued the encyclical Rerum Omnium in 1923, on the occasion of the third centenary of the death of St. Francis de Sales and declared St. Francis de Sales the ‘Doctor of the Universal Call to Holiness’. Drawing inspiration from St. Francis de Sales the Second Vatican Council lay emphasis on the call to holiness of all Christians and the need for fostering a more humane society. “It is therefore quite clear that all Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of love, and by this holiness a more human manner of life is fostered also in earthly society” (Lumen Gentium No.40). There is only one holiness but the forms are many.

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Devotion must be suited to one's own status 

All are called to live a devout life. However, the practice of devotion must be suitable to his or her status. “God commanded the plants, at the creation, to bear fruit each according to its kind. Similarly, he commanded Christians, the living plants of the Church, to produce the fruits of devotion according to each one’s ability and occupation. Devotion is to be practiced differently by the workman, the servant, the ruler, the widow, the young girl and the wife. Even more than this, the practice of devotion has to be adapted to the strength, life-situation and duties of each individual. Do you think, Philothea, that it is suitable for a bishop to desire to live the life of a hermit like a Carthusian monk? If people with a family were to want to be like the Capuchins not acquiring any property, if a workman spent a great deal of time in church, like the member of a religious order, and if a religious was always subject to being disturbed in all sorts of ways for the service of his neighbor, like a bishop, would not such a devotion be ridiculous, disorderly and intolerable?” (Introduction to the Devout Life)

Devotion does not spoil anything, but rather it makes everything perfect. If it affects one’s life adversely then it is not genuine devotion. Holiness is not away from the world… but in the world. We need to find it in our life-situations. A quite many Christians reduce holiness to mere external forms of piety, over-exaggerating certain aspects like external and vocal prayer, fasting, at the same time neglecting charity and due respect to their neighbor. According to St. Francis de Sales such people are not really devout, although popularly considered so. Fools shall we become, if we reduce Christian life to traditional structure and rubrics, formulas and worn-out habits verging on superstition.

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Integration and Harmony in Pursuit of Holiness

If one aspires to be devout one should integrate prayer and action. St. Francis de Sales cautions every Christian of the danger of dichotomy in living. It is not enough to appear pious and to perform some acts and piety but one has to be truly pious in thoughts and deeds. If a person is really devout he/she should show it not only in praying but also in his/her actions as well. He, who is in the habit of fasting, may falsely believe that because he fasts he is very devout, even though his heart is filled with hatred. Some people will not take a sip of wine or even water, anxious about sobriety, but have no scruples to damage the good name of their neighbors by speaking ill or by false statements. Some others spend hours in the church but when they get back home they fight with their spouses, children and neighbors. For St. Francis de Sales all these are sheer hypocrisy. If one is truly devout one must harmonize prayer with actions. The easiest way to know whether one is holy is to examine critically whether there is disharmony between one’s religious practices and day-to-day living.  St. Francis de Sales had an integral and holistic approach to spiritual life. In this approach every aspect of spiritual, social, cultural and human life finds harmony, balance and beauty. Gentleness is balanced by firmness, sense of justice by mercy, prudence with simplicity and so forth. His approach to the members of the other Christian Churches was marked by gentleness, patience and love.

Building a Spirituality on the virtue of humility 

God can fill only a humble heart with His gifts. Therefore, humility is one of the foundations of an authentic spirituality. True humility consists in acknowledging the gifts of God and being grateful to Him for them. Trust and humility go hand in hand. It is by practicing humility that we become humble. St. Francis de Sales says: “Do not strive to destroy pride. Make humility strong by practice.”

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Sustaining a spiritual life through prayer 

It is said: ‘Prayer is the key of the day and the lock of the night’. The focus that St. Francis de Sales gives is not on the definition of prayer because his aim was to help people to grow in God’s love through prayer. For him all the good movements of the will, proper interior disposition and good thoughts are prayers. He says: “In it (prayer) occurs so many interior movements that it is impossible to mention them all, not only because of their quantity, but also because of their nature and quality, which being spiritual, can only be extremely subtle and almost imperceptible to human understanding.” Through prayer we come to know God’s will in our daily life.

St. Francis de Sales was a man who could pray at all times and in all places. One can pray in the prison cells or in the chapel, traveling in a bus or walking in the woods and even when one is engaged in doing some serious work. These prayers need not be formal prayers. In any circumstance one can at least think a holy thought, say ejaculatory prayers, become aware of the all-pervading presence of God or at least do what one does with love.

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Nurturing an optimistic attitude in life 

An optimist sees the bright side of life and events whereas a pessimist sees the dark side of the same. St. Francis de Sales is known for his optimism. His founds his optimism on the beliefs that: a) human life is a gift of God, a sharing of His goodness; b) humans are the image and likeness of God; c) we are created for eternal happiness; d) Original sin did not totally corrupt human nature; e) the Incarnation and Redemption give greater sense of meaning to our lives; f) God’s supernatural providence takes care of our material and spiritual needs and g) God gives to all people an abundance of means and chance to become perfect. God’s will is always and infinitely good. It is this fact that gives humans enough scope for optimism.

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Building up a spiritual life on Little Virtues (Acts) 

The little virtues like patience, gentleness and humility are very often neglected by people as just the ordinary. But St. Francis de Sales sees great power in them. They can mould one’s life and make one holier. They also help the building up of religious communities. A kind word spoken, a warm greeting, a little help, a cheerful approach, a patient listening or a gentle look can work miracle in our day to day life. The truth is that we get a lot of opportunities to practice these virtues, while the chances for practicing other so-called great virtues are very rare. One who waits for them, neglecting these little virtues, will meet with disappointment.

“The call to holiness flows from the nature of the human person

who is created in the image and likeness of God.”

(St. Francis de Sales)

- Vellakada Sen msfs