Francis de Sales, Our Patron Saint

The eldest of thirteen children, Francis de Sales was born on August 21, 1567, to a noble family in the French-speaking Duchy of Savoy (an area straddling present-day eastern France and western Switzerland). He studied law and theology and received a doctorate degree. Although intended by his father for a diplomatic career, St. Francis was ordained to the priesthood in the diocese of Geneva in 1593. Shortly thereafter, he was sent to the Chablais region of the Savoy on a mission to persuade those who had fallen under Calvinist influence to return to the practice of Catholicism. St. Francis spent four years laboring at this difficult task, during which he suffered many indignities. More than once he was thrown out of his lodgings, and had to sleep in the open air.

Many times he celebrated Mass in empty churches or continued preaching while the congregation walked out. Nevertheless, St. Francis’s unflagging poise and kindness in this mission led to its eventual success. By the turn of the century, the majority of the area's inhabitants had returned to the Catholic Faith.

After his election as Bishop of Geneva in 1602, St. Francis continued his apostolic efforts to win souls back to the Catholic Church. At the same time, St. Francis sought to build a broad community of devout persons within the Church who would live the life of Christian perfection in all their varied states and vocations.

It was St. Francis’s absolute conviction that “holiness is perfectly possible in every state and condition of secular life,” whether one is male or female, rich or poor, single or married. He expounded this view at length in his classic work, Introduction to the Devout Life.

In cooperation with Jane Frances Chantal, St. Francis founded the Visitation of Holy Mary, a religious order of women whose aim was the life of charity exemplified in the Virgin Mary’s visit to Elizabeth.

After nearly thirty years of tireless labor on behalf of the Church and its members, St. Francis de Sales died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Lyons, France, on December 28, 1622. He had been traveling in the entourage of the king and queen of France at the time, but rather than stay in royal quarters, he lodged in the gardener’s cottage on the grounds of the Visitation convent in that city. Fittingly for this apostle of the little virtues, he died in that modest cottage.

St. Francis de Sales was canonized in 1665, only 40 years after his death.

In 1877 Pope Pius IX declared him Patron of the Deaf and Doctor of the Church.

Pope Pius XI declared him Patron of Catholic Journalists and the Catholic Press in 1923.

His feast day is celebrated on January 24.