Today the Paulist Fathers commemorate, along with the Church, Saint Francis de Sales (August 21, 1567 - December 28, 1622), one of our Paulist patron saints. The heir of an aristocratic Savoyard family, Francis de Sales trained as a lawyer before becoming a priest, having first surrendered his title and right of noble succession to his younger brother. Preoccupied with predestination and fearful of damnation, Francis eventually overcame his fears and anxieties by having become convinced of God’s love. This devotion to God’s love influenced the rest of Francis’ life and the specific form of Catholic spirituality which he promoted. He did so in particular in his two most famous books, both of which are still widely read today, The Introduction to the Devout Life (1608), written to promote an appropriate, non-monastic spirituality for lay people, and his mystical Treatise on the Love of God (1616).

In 1602 Francis became the Bishop of Geneva, although he had to reside in Annecy in Catholic Savoy (now part of modern France) because Geneva remained under Calvinist rule and was therefore a territory closed to Catholic ministry. Under his leadership, his diocese became famous throughout Europe for its efficient organization, its zealous clergy, and its well-instructed laity. In his lifetime, Francis was renowned for his personal goodness and gentleness and for his kind and successful outreach to Protestants. Thanks to his successful use of printed media to reach out to both Catholics and non-Catholics, he is one of the patrons of the Catholic Press.

Francis formed a famous friendship with the widow Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, a friendship in which they challenged one another to grow in holiness and union with God, and which has provided the basis for Salesian spirituality. Francis served as Jane’s spiritual director for 18 years, and together they founded The Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary (commonly known as the Visitandines).

Canonized in 1655, Francis de Sales was declared a Doctor of the Church (Doctor caritatis) in 1877.

Fr. Issac Hecker - founder of the Paulist Fathers - first read Introduction to the Devout Life when he lived in the Transcendentalist community of Fruitlands in Harvard, Massachusetts, and it greatly influenced his spirituality throughout his life. De Sales summed things up well when he said, “Love is the abridgement of all theology.”

Today we ask for the intercession of Saint Francis de Sales for our Paulist Community and the universal church.

Read more: Pope Francis’s Apostolic Letter Totum amoris est, (‘Everything Pertains to Love’) written on the occasion of the fourth centenary of the death of the Saint Francis de Sales.