St. Francis de Sales
On the Grapevine 37
St. Francis de Sales was the spiritual director of St. Jane de Chantal. When they met, she was a widow with a deep commitment to God. However, although she'd decided to remain unmarried, she continued to wear dresses with revealing necklines. At their first meeting, St. Francis de Sales looked at her dress and quipped "Madame, those who do not mean to entertain guests should take down their signboard."
Francis de Sales was about as patient, cheerful and gentle a man as can be imagined. He did not ever want to force his will above God's, and so he would wait and wait until he was sure of God's will- even to the point that others would be afraid God would give up on them. He led a two man expedition to Switzerland on foot to reconvert the 60,000 Catholics who'd converted to Calvinism. At the end of three years, the other man left, no one had converted and he was by himself. But he was a patient man. Because the people would not talk to him, he began writing out his sermons by hand and slipping them under doors - to great success! It's estimated that by the time he left to go home, he'd converted 40,000 people. He became the bishop of Geneva, and together with St. Jane de Chantal, drew closer in mystical union to God and founded the contemplative Visitation nuns. You can read more about him HERE.
- Meg
Francis de Sales was about as patient, cheerful and gentle a man as can be imagined. He did not ever want to force his will above God's, and so he would wait and wait until he was sure of God's will- even to the point that others would be afraid God would give up on them. He led a two man expedition to Switzerland on foot to reconvert the 60,000 Catholics who'd converted to Calvinism. At the end of three years, the other man left, no one had converted and he was by himself. But he was a patient man. Because the people would not talk to him, he began writing out his sermons by hand and slipping them under doors - to great success! It's estimated that by the time he left to go home, he'd converted 40,000 people. He became the bishop of Geneva, and together with St. Jane de Chantal, drew closer in mystical union to God and founded the contemplative Visitation nuns. You can read more about him HERE.
- Meg
St. Francis de Sales' Act of Abandonment
O my God, I thank you and I praise
you for accomplishing your holy
and all-lovable will without any regard for mine.
With my whole heart,
in spite of my heart,
do I receive this cross I feared so much!
It is the cross of Your choice,
the cross of Your love.
I venerate it;
nor for anything in the world
would I wish that it had not come,
since You willed it.
I keep it with gratitude and with joy,
as I do everything that comes from Your hand;
and I shall strive to carry it without letting it drag,
with all the respect
and all the affection which Your works deserve.
Amen.
-St. Francis de Sales
you for accomplishing your holy
and all-lovable will without any regard for mine.
With my whole heart,
in spite of my heart,
do I receive this cross I feared so much!
It is the cross of Your choice,
the cross of Your love.
I venerate it;
nor for anything in the world
would I wish that it had not come,
since You willed it.
I keep it with gratitude and with joy,
as I do everything that comes from Your hand;
and I shall strive to carry it without letting it drag,
with all the respect
and all the affection which Your works deserve.
Amen.
-St. Francis de Sales