Imitation to the devout life Bishop of Geneva, Doctor of the Universal Church, was born in Thorens, in the Duchy of Savoy, on August 21, 1567; He died at Lyons on December 28, 1622. His father, François de Sales de Boisy, and his mother, Francesca de Sionnaz, belonged to old Savoyard aristocratic families. The future saint was the eldest of six brothers. His father had appointed him to the magistracy and sent him at an early age to the colleges of La Roche and Annecy. From 1583 to 1588 he studied rhetoric and humanities at the college superior de Clermont, in Paris, under the care of the Jesuits. While there he began the theology course. After a terrible and prolonged temptation to despair, caused by the discussions of the theologians of the time on the question of predestination, from which he was suddenly freed by kneeling before the miraculous image of Our Lady in Saint Stephen on the Rocks, he made vow of chastity and consecrated himself to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1588 he studied law at Padua, where the Jesuit priest Possevin was his spiritual director. He received his doctorate degree from the famous Pancirola in 1592. Having been admitted as a lawyer before the Chambèry senate, he was about to be appointed senator. His father had selected one of the noblest heiresses of Savoy to be his companion in his future life, but Francis declared his intention to embrace ecclesiastical life. A sharp fight followed this, his father would not consent to see his intentions frustrated. So Claude de Granier, bishop of Geneva, on his own initiative, obtained for Francis a position in the papal patronage. This was the highest office in the diocese, M. de Boisy relented, and Francis received holy orders (1593).
Since the time of the Reformation, the seat of the Diocese of Geneva had remained established at Annecy. There, with apostolic zeal, the new provost dedicated himself to preaching, attending confessions and the other occupations of his ministry. The following year (1594), Francis volunteered to evangelize the Chablais region, where the Genevans had imposed the Reformed faith, and which had just been restored to the Duchy of Savoy. There he took as the seat of his work the fortress of Allinges. Putting his life at risk, he traveled throughout the district, constantly preaching; By dint of sheer zeal, wisdom, sweetness, and softness, he finally managed to be heard. He then settled in Thonon, the chief city of the region. There he refuted the preachers sent by Geneva to oppose him; he converted the trustee and several prominent Calvinists. At the request of Pope Clement VIII he went to Geneva to meet Theodore Beza, who was called the Patriarch of the Reformation; the latter received him kindly, and for a moment he seemed moved, but he did not have the courage to take the final steps. A large part of the inhabitants of Chablais returned to the fold (1597 and 1598). Claudius de Granier then chose Francis as his coadjutor, despite his refusals, and sent him to Rome (1599).
Pope Clement VIII ratified the choice, but wished to examine the candidate personally, in the presence of the Sacred College. The impromptu exam resulted in a triumph for Francisco. “Drink, my son,” the Pope told him, “from your cistern and from your spring of living water, and may your waters flow and become public fountains where the world can quench its thirst.” The prophecy was to be fulfilled. On his return from Rome, religious affairs in the territory of Gex, a French dependency, required him to move to Paris. There the curate developed an intimate friendship with Cardinal de Bérulle, Antoine Deshayes, secretary of Henry IV, and also with Henry IV himself, who wished “to be a third party in this beautiful friendship” (être de tiers dans cette belle amitié). The king made him preach Lent at Court and wished to make him stay in France; furthermore he exhorted him to continue, with his sermons and with his writings, teaching those souls who had to live in the world, how to have confidence in God and how to be genuinely and truly pious, thanks of which he saw the great need.
On the death of Claudius de Granier, Francis was consecrated Bishop of Geneva (1602). His first step was to institute catechetical instructions for the faithful, both young and old. He established prudent regulations for the guidance of his clergy. He carefully visited the scattered parishes in the rugged mountains of his diocese. He reformed religious communities. His kindness, patience, and gentleness became proverbial. He had an immense love for the poor, especially those from respectable families. His food was simple and so were his clothes and his house. He completely dispensed with the superfluous and lived with the greatest economy, in order to provide more abundantly for the needs of the needy. He heard confessions, gave advice and preached incessantly. He wrote innumerable letters (mainly letters of spiritual direction) and found time to publish the numerous works mentioned below. In union with Saint Juana Francisca de Chantal, she founded ((1607) the Institute of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin, for young women and widows who, feeling the call to religious life, do not feel strong enough or lack the inclination to submit to the bodily austerities of the great religious orders. His zeal extended beyond the confines of his own diocese. He preached the Lenten and Advent sermons that are still famous: those delivered at Dijon (1604), where for the first time He once met the Baroness de Chantal, at Chambéry (1606), at Grenoble (1616, 1617, 1618), where he converted the Marshal de Lesdiguières.During his last stay in Paris (November 1618 to September 1619) he had to go up to the pulpit each day to satisfy the pious wishes of the multitudes who flocked to hear him. “Never,” they said, “have sermons so holy and so apostolic been preached.” inguidos of the time and in particular with Saint Vincent de Paul. His friends tried hard to induce him to remain in France, initially offering him the wealthy Abbey of Saint Genevieve and then the office of Coadjutor Bishop of Paris, but he refused all and returned to Annecy.
In 1622 he had to accompany the Savoy court on its journey to France. In Lyons he insisted on occupying a small, poorly furnished room in a house belonging to the gardener of the Visitation Convent. There, on December 27, he suffered a stroke. He received the last sacraments and made his profession of faith constantly repeating the words: “God’s will be done! Jesus, my God and my everything!” He died the next day, at 55 years of age. Vast crowds flocked to visit his remains, and the people of Lyons were anxious to keep them in his city. With much difficulty he was able to take his body back to Annecy, but his heart was left behind in Lyon. A great number of miraculous favors have been obtained at his tomb in the Convent of the Visitation in Annecy. His heart, at the time of the French Revolution, was carried by the nuns of the Visitation from Lyon to Venice, where he is venerated today. Saint Francis de Sales was beatified in 1661 and canonized by Alexander VII in 1665; he was proclaimed a Doctor of the Universal Church by Pope Pius IX in 1877.
The following is a list of the main works of the holy Doctor:
1. Controversies, brochures that the zealous missionary distributed among the inhabitants of Chablais, when these people did not venture to come to listen to his preaching. They constitute a complete proof of the Catholic faith. In the first part, the author defends the authority of the Church and in the second and third parts, the rules of faith that were not observed by heretical ministers. The primacy of Saint Peter is widely vindicated.
2. Defense of the Banner of the Cross, a demonstration of virtue
Ÿ Of the True Cross
Ÿ Of the Crucifix
Ÿ Of the Sign of the Cross
Ÿ An explanation of the Veneration of the Cross.
3. Introduction to the Devout Life, a work whose object was to lead “Filotea”, the living soul in the world, along the paths of devotion, that is, those of true and solid piety. Everyone should strive to be pious and “it is an error, even heresy” to maintain that piety is incompatible with any state of life. In the first part, the author helps the soul to free itself from any inclination or addiction to sin; in the second, he teaches her how to unite with God through prayer and the sacraments; in the third, he exercises it in the practice of virtue; in the fourth, he strengthens her against temptation; in the fifth he teaches her how to form her resolutions and persevere. The Introduction, which is a masterpiece of psychology, practical morality, and common sense, was translated into nearly every language while the author was alive, and has since passed through innumerable editions.
4. Treatise on the Love of God, a work of great authority that perfectly reflects the mind and heart of Francis de Sales as a great genius and as a great saint. Contains twelve books. The first four give us a history, or rather explain the theory of divine love, its birth in the soul, its growth, its perfection, and its withering and annihilation; the fifth book shows that this love is double, the love of complacency and the love of benevolence; the sixth and seventh deal with affective love, which is practiced in prayer; the eighth and ninth deal with effective love, that is, conformity to the divine will and submission to its dictates. The last three books summarize what has gone before and teach how to apply the lessons taught there in practice.
5. Spiritual Conferences, family conversations on religious virtues addressed to the Brotherhood of the Visitation and collected by them. We find there that practical common sense, keenness of perception and delicacy of feeling which were characteristic of the energetic and kind-hearted Saint.
6. Sermons. These are divided into two classes: Those which he composed prior to his consecration as bishop and the full text of which he himself wrote; and the speeches he delivered when he was bishop, of which, as a rule, only outlines and synopses survive. However, some of the latter were copied verbatim by their listeners. Pius IX, in his Bull in which he was proclaimed Doctor of the Church, calls the Saint “The Master and Restorer of Sacred Eloquence.” He is one of those who at the beginning of the 17th century formed the beautiful French language; he was the forerunner and prepared the way for the great sacred speakers who were to appear. He speaks in a simple, natural way and from the heart. To speak well we only need to love well, was his maxim. His mind was imbued with the Holy Scriptures,…