St. Francis de Sales
One
Who Was He?
Today is the Feast of St. Francis de Sales. He is a Doctor of the Church, which means everyone needs to know his teaching on Spiritual Life. So, who was he?
Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622) was born into nobility in the French Alps near Geneva and Grenoble. He studied law and theology at the University of Paris and in Padua. His father wanted him to be a lawyer, but Francis chose to become a priest. He was ordained in 1593 and then became the Bishop of Geneva in 1602. He worked tirelessly to bring Protestants back to Catholicism in the Chablais region, using genuine friendship rather than confrontation.
St. Francis De Sales is best known for his conviction that everyone is called to holiness. Not just priests, monks, and nuns. And that everyone can become a saint through their ordinary circumstances. To show us the way, he wrote one of the most important spiritual books called “Introduction to the Devout Life,” or we could call it a Handbook to Holiness.
Two
Daily Meditation
The great aim of St. Francis de Sales was to convince everyone they were created for holiness. Holiness is first and foremost 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 some concrete good action to practice that day.
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 not gossip. Instead, I will practice goodwill, I will make the choice to think well of others, speak well of others, and do good to them. If I complain too much, then today, I will practice thanking God ahead of time for working everything for good. If I am anxious, then today I will replace that feeling of anxiety with an act of trust. I will say Father, no matter what happens, with you I am safe.
Four
Spiritual Friendship
If we want to become holy, then we need some friends who are also pursuing holiness. 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 spiritual friendships? One option is to invite one or two or a handful of family and friends to pray the Rosary with you. Use this podcast or read the transcript, meditate on the points, and then afterward do two things: ask, “What struck you during the meditation?” or ask, “What has been the number one thing on your mind since the last time we met?” Then listen, encourage, challenge, and help each other. And do this regularly. Give one another a hand up on this slippery road to holiness.
Five
Annual Retreat or Pilgrimage
Finally, De Sales insists 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. Go to our website Schooloffaith.com, click on pilgrimages, and join us in Medjugorje, the Holy Land, Poland, Italy, and others…