"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?
