Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop, Confessor & Doctor
S. Francisci Salesii Episcopi Confessoris et Ecclesiae Doctoris
Bishop of Geneva, gentle reformer, and Doctor of the Church, Saint Francis de Sales (1567–1622) taught that holiness is the calling of every Christian, whatever his state in life. He is the patron of writers and of the Catholic press.
Saint Francis de Sales was born in 1567 at the Château de Sales in the Duchy of Savoy, into a noble family. Though his father intended him for the law and a career at court, Francis felt drawn from youth to the service of God. He studied at Paris and at Padua, taking doctorates in both civil and canon law, and was ordained priest in 1593. From the beginning his priesthood was marked by patience, courtesy, and an unshakeable confidence in the gentleness of God.
A Shepherd of Souls
His first great labour was the mission to the Chablais, a region south of Lake Geneva that had largely fallen away from the Catholic faith. For several years Francis preached, visited, and reasoned with the people, often meeting hostility and personal danger. When doors were closed to him, he wrote out short leaflets explaining the faith and slipped them under doors and onto the streets — a practice that has led the Church to name him patron of the Catholic press. He won souls not by force of argument alone but by manifest charity, and many were reconciled to the Church.
In 1602 he was consecrated Bishop of Geneva, governing his diocese from Annecy, since Geneva itself remained closed to a Catholic bishop. As bishop he preached tirelessly, catechised children, reformed religious houses, and made himself available to all. With Saint Jane Frances de Chantal he founded the Order of the Visitation, intended for women who desired the religious life but were not suited to the severities of the older orders.
Doctor of Holiness for All
Francis is best remembered for his writings, above all the Introduction to the Devout Life and the Treatise on the Love of God. Against the notion that serious devotion belonged only to monks and nuns, he taught that the married, the working, and those in the world are all called to holiness, each according to his proper duties. His counsel is famously gentle: he urged souls not to be discouraged by their faults but to begin again, patiently and without anxiety, trusting in God’s mercy. He died at Lyons on 28 December 1622. He was canonised in 1665 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1877.
The Collect
O God, who didst will that blessed Francis, Thy Confessor and Bishop, should become all things to all men for the salvation of souls: mercifully grant that we, being filled with the sweetness of Thy charity, may, guided by his teaching and aided by his merits, attain unto the joys of everlasting life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
Deus, qui ad animarum salutem beatum Franciscum Confessorem tuum atque Pontificem omnibus omnia factum esse voluisti: concede propitius; ut, caritatis tuae dulcedine perfusi, eius dirigentibus monitis ac suffragantibus meritis, aeterna gaudia consequamur. Per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum Filium tuum: qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.
Patronage
He is venerated as the patron of writers, journalists, the Catholic press, and the deaf, and is invoked for gentleness and for confidence in God’s mercy.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar his memorial is kept on 24 January.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Francis de Sales?
In the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal his feast is celebrated on 29 January as a Third Class feast. In the modern Roman calendar his memorial is observed on 24 January.
Why is Saint Francis de Sales a Doctor of the Church?
He was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1877 chiefly for his spiritual writings, especially the Introduction to the Devout Life, which taught that every Christian — not only priests and religious — is called to genuine holiness within his own state in life.
Why is he the patron of writers and the Catholic press?
During his mission to the Chablais he spread the faith by printing and distributing short written leaflets when he could not preach in person. Because of this, and because of his many influential books, the Church names him patron of writers and of the Catholic press.
See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.
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