St. Francis de Sales

[Sunflower15]

The saint of the day is St. Francis de Sales, of whom I knew little about up to this morning, when I did a search on him.  He was a Bishop, Confessor [not quite sure what this means since all priests are!], and a Doctor of the Church. 

I could not find out what was his main contribution as Doctor of the Church -Aquinas is the Angelic Doctor, Little Flower is the Love Doctor, St. Teresa of Avila the Mystical Doctor- I wonder what was the Salesian specialty.

Also, I could not find out what Order he belonged to.  Maybe he did not belong to any, but I would like to know for sure.

If someone knows these things, please let us know!

Pax Christi.

[Sunflower15]

I forgot to mention that the was a very educated man, he has a doctorate in Law and Theology, wrote books, such as Introduction to the Devout Life and A Treatise on the Love of God.  He once developed a sign language so that he could teach a deaf man the faith in order to offer him the Sacraments.

A Prayer from St. Francis de Sales:

O love eternal, my soul needeth and chooseth Thee eternally!
Ah, come Holy Ghost, and inflame our hearts with Thy love!
To love -- or to die!
To die -- and to love!
To die to all other love in order to live in Jesus' love, so that we may not die eternally;
but that we may live in Thine eternal love, O Saviour of our souls, we eternally sing, "Live, Jesus!
Jesus, I love!
Live, Jesus, whom I love!
Jesus, I love, Jesus Who liveth and reigneth forever and ever.
AMEN
From The Treatise on the Love of God.

[Brigid]

Well, from what I could find on him, he is patron saint of writers who founded the Visitation order of nuns (for widows and unmarried women who wanted to live a life of prayer and contemplation away from the world, but who couldn't tolerate the harsh austerities of the main womens orders of the day - 1610).
Apparently, he was a diocesan priest and soon after his ordination was sent to Savoy to persuade those who had fallen under Calvinism to return to the Church. He spent 4 years there and was constantly rejected, however due to his kindness and perseverence, the majority of the area had returned to Catholicism.

He sought to develop a community within the Church who's goal was Christian perfection no matter what their state or vocation. He gave much spiritual direction and wrote Introduction to a Devout Life, along with many letters of spiritual direction.

It seems, from what I've seen, that the Salesian spirituality emphasizes kindness and the cultivation of the "little virtues".

[CyrilSebastian]

                 Francis was born at Chateau de Sales in the Kingdom of Savoy near Geneva, Switzerland on August 21, 1567.     
                 His father wanted him to enter a career in law and politics. He forged alliances with Pope Clement VIII and King Henry IV of France.

[CyrilSebastian]

           Francis studied theology and practiced mental prayers. He kept quiet about his devotion.   
           To please his father, he also studied fencing and riding.

[Shin]

How inspiring God was with St. Francis de Sales.

[CyrilSebastian]

St. Francis de Sales wrote pamphlets to explain the true Catholic doctrine. He distributed the pamphlets.

[CyrilSebastian]

His father was Francois de Sales, Lord of Sales, and Novel, and by marriage, de Boisy.

[CyrilSebastian]

St. Francis de Sales concluded that God had good in store for him, because "God is love" as John's First Epistle attests.

[CyrilSebastian]

As a nobleman, Francis was accompanied by his servant and by a priest tutor, Abbe Deage.