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Saints of Empowered Prayer
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"Saints of Empowered Prayer: St. Francis de Sales"

St. Francis de Sales: This remarkable saint is one of the most lovable men who ever lived. Francis was born in Savoy in 1567 into a noble family near Geneva, Switzerland. He was both intelligent and gentle. He began his education at the age of eight. At an early age he desired to serve God but kept it from his family. His father's desire for him was to enter a career in law and politics. When he was fourteen years old Francis went to Paris--which, with its fifty-four colleges, was the intellectual center of Europe--and insisted on studying at a college run by the Jesuits.

          To satisfy his father, Francis became a gentlemen-scholar and took lessons in riding, fencing and dancing. But behind it all was a deep devotion to God and the intention to dedicate himself to God's service. He was a doctor of law by the age of twenty four, was offered a seat in the senate of Savoy, and was the most eligible bachelor among the young nobility. His father planned a distinguished marriage for him, but Francis declined. Against his father's wishes, but with his consent, Francis was ordained a priest...and the rest is history.

          St. Francis de Sales plunged into the work of the priesthood with a zeal that surprised everyone and even offered to do missionary work in a region strongly dominated by hostile Calvinists, seeking to bring Calvinists back to the Catholic Church. His father was shocked, thinking that his son was going to his death. It was a difficult and dangerous mission, and Francis suffered many rejections; he was attacked by hostile crowds and beaten; on one occasion he was surrounded by wolves and had to spend the night in a tree. But, Francis managed to strengthen the faith of the Catholics in the region and even to convert a number of Calvinists. He wrote little pamphlets to explain true Catholic doctrine and slipped them under the doors, but it was his interactions and kindness with the children that attracted the parents. It is believed that he brought 40,000 people to the Catholic Church.

          On the death of the bishop of Geneva in 1602, Francis was appointed bishop and began the work of organizing his diocese. In 1604 Francis took an important step toward extraordinary holiness and mystical union with God. It was at this time that he met Jane Franes de Chantal, a prominent widow who (with Francis as her spiritual director) founded the Order of Visitation in 1610.

          Francis was overworked but continued to serve as a spiritual director to many people through letters. He was often ill but continued with the care of the people whom he was bishop of. The prevailing thought at this time was that only the clergy and those in religious life could achieve real holiness. Francis insisted that every Christian is called to holiness lived in their own state in life. In holding that belief Francis reflected the teaching of Jesus and the early Church Fathers. Out of conversations with people of his diocese who were asking for spiritual direction grew his famous book, Introduction to a Devout Life, a great spiritual classic. His "Treatise on the Love of God" made Francis famous throughout Europe. His teaching on holiness for the layman was so novel that his books were banned from many pulpits. He was rejected by many in the clergy.

          Francis believed that the key to a relationship with God was prayer: "By turning your eyes on God in meditation your whole soul will be filled with God. Begin all your prayers in the presence of God." For busy people, he advised, "retire at various times into the solitude of your own heart, even while outwardly engaged in discussions or transactions with others, to talk to God." He died on December 28th, 1622 at the age of fifty-five years of age, after giving a nun his last word of advice: "humility". He was canonized in 1665 by Pope Alexander VII. His feast day is January 24th. St. Francis is the patron saint of the Catholic press.

Questions:

1)   Are my days and life aimed toward holiness?

2)   Are my prayers centered on God and His desire for my life?

           

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