St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622), the patron saint of our parish, was Bishop of Geneva and a Doctor of the Church.  In his classic work, Introduction to the Devout Life, he taught that holiness was not just for clergy and religious, but for everyone.  He taught that holiness has nothing to do with avoiding the world.  Rather, love of God makes us kind, lovable, and peaceable people within the world, friends of God and everyone.  His practical spiritual counsel is still changing lives today.

St. Francis was born to a noble family in France.  He was hardworking, intelligent, and kind.  He was well-educated in Paris and Padua.  His father arranged marriage and a senatorial position, but Francis went against his family's wishes to join the priesthood.

As a newly ordained priest, Francis sought to win Protestants back to the faith.  Geneva was ruled by a Calvinist government and Catholics were persecuted.  Nonetheless, Francis walked across the surrounding countryside, preaching, and debating, handing out pamphlets he wrote, and most of all, winning people over with his kindness and goodness.  In an era of religious war, he established friendly relations with the Calvinist governor of Geneva and received 60,000 people back into the Catholic Church.

Francis said that his chief temptation was anger, but hardly anyone ever saw it.  He practiced the opposite virtue of gentleness to such a degree that he became known as the “gentleman saint.”  He was celebrated for his kindness, patience, and understanding.  He lived his axiom, “A spoonful of honey attracts more flies than a barrelful of vinegar.”

Francis saw spiritual direction as his main ministry.  As bishop, he wrote an endless stream of letters, helping guide his people towards sainthood.  “Half an hour's meditation each day is essential, except when you are busy.  Then, a full hour is needed.”  He encouraged people to practice the presence of God in their prayers and bring this sense of God into their everyday lives.  

For Francis, the key to love of 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.”

Although Francis himself lived a very busy life as a bishop, he was at the same time a mystic, filled with love for God.  "The thoughts of those moved by natural human love are almost completely fastened on the beloved, their hearts are filled with passion for it, and their mouths full of its praises. When it is gone, they express their feelings in letters, and can't pass by a tree without carving the name of their beloved in its bark. Thus, those who love God can never stop thinking about him, longing for him, aspiring to him, and speaking about him. If they could, they would engrave the name of Jesus on the hearts of all humankind."

May St. Francis de Sales inspire all of us to live lives of devotion that make us loving and gentle, and may we be filled with his love for God!