Francis eventually was named coadjutor to the bishop of his exiled Geneva see, succeeding him in 1602. As the diocesan bishop, he was responsible for implementing the reforms of the Council of Trent, saying, “The first duty of the bishop is to teach.” Much of his tenure as bishop was spent doing just that, especially as he fulfilled the task set out by Trent to visit all the parishes and ecclesial institutions in his diocese.
Francis forged a strong bond with his people and left a major mark through his teaching, preaching, and example. During this time, he also developed a deep, loving, spiritual friendship with a widow named Jane Frances de Chantal. Together the two founded a new women’s religious community, the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, which was less strict than many orders of the time and open to older women and widows who wanted to live a life dedicated to development of the interior life, particularly humility and gentleness. Francis served as Jane’s spiritual director for many years, and their correspondence remains among the most treasured in that genre of spiritual writing.
Francis is remembered as a uniquely gifted spiritual director, and his writings were unique because of his strong belief that anyone could serve God in any vocation. This was a striking departure from the common thinking of the day, which held that entrance to a religious community or the clerical state was really the only path to holiness. But Francis insisted that everyone is called to holiness, and this was the major theme of his Introduction to the Devout Life, a collection of letters between himself and a cousin’s wife, whom he served as spiritual director. Considered too lax at the time, the work is now noted for its spiritual rigor. It was an immediate best-seller and remains one of the most loved spiritual books of all time.
Francis’ last years were spent dealing with increasing health problems, but his attention shifted also to continued writing and work with the Visitation nuns. In addition, he was called upon numerous times to perform careful ecclesiastical and political negotiations. A variety of arduous and taxing journeys in his last years took a toll on him. He suffered a stroke, and while he lay on his deathbed, a nun begged for some last advice. Given paper and pen, he wrote three times, “Humility.” Francis died on December 28, 1622, in Lyon, France. He was canonized in 1665, named a Doctor of the Church by Blessed Pope Pius IX in 1877, and formally named patron of writers in 1923.
Francis’ advocacy for the apostolate of the laity and recognition of the universal call to holiness made him a man ahead of his time. Marking the fourth centenary of the saint’s birth, Pope Paul VI wrote on his enduring relevance: “No one of the recent Doctors of the Church more than St. Francis de Sales anticipated the deliberations and decisions of the Second Vatican Council with such a keen and progressive insight. He renders his contribution by the example of his life, by the wealth of his true and sound doctrine, by the fact that he has opened and strengthened the spiritual ways of Christian perfection for all states and conditions in life. We propose that these three things be imitated, embraced, and followed.”
Introduction
By Pat Gohn
I’m a professional fretter. But I’m in recovery, thanks to Saint Francis de Sales.
For more than twenty years I’ve kept advice from one of his letters tacked under a refrigerator magnet where I can see it every day. As if the letter he wrote once upon a time, a few centuries ago, were written just for me.
That’s how it is with good advice — holy counsel — because truth is timeless.
So why don’t we just start right there, with the words I’ve kept close at hand? But, first, a little context about the woman I was back in 1996, and why I felt Francis’ words were such a Godsend.
At that time, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and experienced all the emotional upheaval and angst that cancer patients often suffer. Despite my faith in God, and the graces I knew I was receiving in the sacraments, my pessimism mounted. I was feeling sorry for myself and fretting over the impact my illness would have not only on me but on my husband and loved ones, especially our three young children. Life as I knew it had changed, and I was fearful.
Then these words, penned long ago by Francis, sliced through my fog of self-pity and reawakened me to the truth of God’s presence in my situation:
Do not look forward in fear
to the changes of life;
rather look to them with full hope
as they arise.
God, whose very own you are,
will lead you safely through all things;
and when you cannot stand it,
God will carry you in His arms.
Do not fear what may happen tomorrow;
the same everlasting Father who cared for you today
will take care of you then and every day.
He will either shield you from suffering,
or will give you unfailing strength to bear it.
Be at peace
and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.
Those words momentarily stopped my fretful languishing. While I didn’t abandon my fretting completely, whenever things would start me back down the worry path, I would read Francis’ words again. And again. This was faith-filled counsel I could trust, because I knew the God of whom the writer spoke. Yet I needed reassurances of God’s closeness and care in the midst of my trial.
Long before I knew of his groundbreaking book, Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis had captured the attention of my worrisome heart. He reminded me of who God is, and who I am in God’s sight. He spoke this fundamental truth: my fears were no match for the magnitude of God’s hope and love in my life.
It would be some years before I would read, and pray through, the Introduction. Yet it has now become one of the books I most often recommend. For Francis is a humble and wise mentor.
Francis de Sales (1567–1622) was the bishop of Geneva and a gifted communicator, who helped people come to know Christ and to grow in their faith. As a friend and a writer, he encouraged, consoled, and invited all those seeking his counsel and spiritual direction into a deeper union with Jesus Christ. Besides attending to his ministerial duties, he was a prolific letter writer. His pamphlets and books resulted in thousands of conversions to the Catholic faith.
De Sales’ approachable wisdom continues to inspire people today. He is a Doctor of the Church, and specifically a Doctor of the Laity, because of the volume you hold in your hands. Introduction to the Devout Life is considered the Church’s first complete treatise on lay spirituality. Writing four hundred years prior to the Second Vatican Council, Francis de Sales maintained that holiness is not just for priests and religious — it is for everyone.
Long before the documents of Vatican II coined the phrase “the universal call to holiness,” Francis taught that holiness is possible in every vocation. He wrote for ordinary people in ordinary life — people with jobs and families and the pressures of daily living. He maintained that living a devout life offers extraordinary results. Francis said that holiness and devotion perfects one’s vocation and profession!
In short, devotion is simply a spiritual activity and liveliness by means of which divine love works in us and causes us to work quickly and with love….
The difference between love and devotion is just like that which exists between fire and flame: love is a spiritual fire which becomes devotion when it is fanned into a flame….
But true devotion … not only does not hinder any vocation or duty, but it adorns and beautifies it. (Introduction, Part I, chs. 1 and 4)
The goal of the Introduction is to help us grow in union with Christ, for without Christ,