St. Francis de Sales

One

Today is the Feast of St. Francis de Sales. He’s a Doctor of the Church because he is one of the most important spiritual guides we should know. 

Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622) was born into nobility in the area of the Alps that includes Geneva and Grenoble. He studied law and theology at the University of Paris and in Padua. Despite his father's wishes for him to pursue a secular career, he felt a strong call to the priesthood. He was ordained a priest in 1593 and became the Bishop of Geneva in 1602. He worked to bring Protestants back to Catholicism in the Chablais region, using persuasion rather than confrontation.

He is best known for his conviction that everyone is called to holiness, which has always been the teaching of Christ and the Church but too often seen as a thing only for priests and nuns. 

His aim was to show everyone how to become a saint through their ordinary circumstances and for this end he wrote one of the most important spiritual books “Introduction to the Devout Life.”

Emphasizing that if we want to reach the goal for which God created us, then we need to commit to daily meditation and a resolution and we all need someone to guide us, we all need a spiritual mentor. 

He writes, “Do you seriously desire to travel the road to holiness? If so, look for a good person to guide you. This is the most important advice I can give you.” 

Two

The great aim of St. Francis de Sales was to tell everyone they were created for holiness.

Now, holiness is first of all a deep friendship with Jesus. Any friendship takes time…talking, listening and just being together. And that is what we mean by Daily Meditation. 

Francis writes, “Children learn to speak by hearing their mother talk, and stammering forth their childish sounds in imitation; and so if we cleave to the Savior in meditation, listening to His words, watching His actions and intentions, we shall learn in time, through His Grace, to speak, act like Him. Believe me, there is no way to God except through this door of daily meditation.”

There are three essential steps of meditation: 

Read or listen to something from the Word of God found in Scripture, the writings or lives of the Saints or the teaching of the Church. 

Then Reflect or think about what struck you. Try to Understand it. Apply it to your life and draw conclusions that fit you. 

But then every Meditation should end with a concrete Resolution - choosing something practical and concrete to remember or do that day based on your meditation. 

This is what we aim to do in the Rosary and it’s why we do the Rosary this way because the Rosary is meant to be a meditation on the Word of God and not just a rote saying of words while our mind wanders. 

Three

The Importance of a Resolution

Listen closely to what De Sales says about the importance of the  resolution, “The most important thing of all is that you cling firmly to the resolutions you have taken in meditation so as to practice them carefully.  That is the great fruit of meditation, without which it is often not only useless but harmful.  Why so?  Because the virtues upon which we have meditated but not practiced sometimes puff us up so much in mind and heart that we think we are already what we are resolved to be which no doubt is the case if our resolutions are solid and ardent.  But when, on the contrary, they are not practiced, they are useless and dangerous.” (Introduction to the Devout Life, II Chap 8)

Examples of a resolution: Today I will listen more than I speak. I will not gossip today. I complain too much, so today I will practice thanking God ahead of time for working everything for good. I am anxious, so today I will replace that feeling of anxiety with an act of trust in God.

What if I cannot find a resolution? Remember your meditation all day long. This remembrance will change the way you think and the way you act.

Four

If we want to become holy, then we’re gonna need some good friends.   

De Sales writes, “Those who aim at a holiness need to be united one with another by a holy friendship…When people are walking on level ground, they don’t need the help of others. But when we are climbing very steep slopes that are slippery, we have to hold one another up – lend each other a hand…No one can deny that our Dear Lord was supported by his special friendship with Martha, Mary Magdalene and Lazarus their brother…” Introduction to the Devout Life, Chapter 19 on True Friendships  

The world, our fallen human nature, and the devil make it a steep and slippery climb to holiness. We need good spiritual friendships by which we help one another. 

How do we develop good friendships? Well, first of all, you have to be the one who is committed to inviting others to get together and do good things. If you wait for others to invite, it will never happen.

Make the habit of inviting family and friends to share a meal and hang out with you, especially on Sundays, the day God set aside for friendship with Him and friendship with others. Then fight the temptation to sit in front of a screen with them. Do good things together and while you do it be interested in their lives, delight in the things they delight in, and delight in them. Who doesn’t want to spend time with people who absolutely delight in them?

Five

Finally, De Sales insists that everyone needs a regular time and place to reset. We all need a retreat or pilgrimage once a year. 

He writes, “There is no clock, however good, that doesn’t need to be continually wound up; and moreover, during the course of each year it will need to be taken apart, to cleanse away the rust which clogs it, to straighten bent works, and replace the ones that are worn. Even so, anyone who really cares for his soul will wind it up to God every morning by meditation and examine its condition each night, correcting and improving it; and at least once a year he will take the works to pieces and examine them carefully…so as to repair whatever may be amiss.”

If we want to become a saint, then we should see ourselves like an old clock, needing to be wound twice daily and then totally broken down and reworked once a year. (Yes, his examples are old school, but the point is clear nonetheless.) 

The daily “winding” is our daily meditation and resolution, where we refocus and rededicate ourselves to God. The annual total rehabbing of the clock is a yearly pilgrimage or retreat. 

Do you desire to get away from everything and focus on God alone without any distractions? Then do so every day and at least once a year.