On January 24, we celebrated the feast day of St. Francis de Sales. Many students have heard of him, because of our religion building. But do students at CCHS really know his story? Well, here’s how it goes:
Like many saints, oddly enough, he started off privileged, but he didn’t want to remain like that. His father would’ve preferred that he had been a lawyer going forward, but instead he felt the call to priesthood. He later volunteered to go on missions to work for reconciliation with the church.
Mr. Frice is a beloved religion teacher here at CCHS, and talked to me about the life of St. Francis de Sales. He shared that what he did “wasn’t easy- some people slammed doors in his face.” Even when people ignored him and spoke bad about his cause, “He would write these pamphlets and slip them under people’s doors to try and win them back,” says Mr. Frice.
During his ministry time in Switzerland, St. Francis de Sales wrote and distributed works that made their way to Protestants and helped 40-70,000 people return to the Catholic faith. Later, he was inspired to write his famous book, “Introduction to Devout Life.” His works throughout his life earned him the title of patron saint of writers and journalists.
St. Francis did not just sway people through his writing, though. He studied rhetoric, and was in preparation for a political career. This changed when he was given a position as a priest at the Swiss church, but then he later became Bishop of Geneva in 1602.
During his time as Bishop, he worked to restore the churches and religious orders. He also helped establish a women’s religious order with fellow Saint, Jane Frances de Chantal.
St. Francis passed away in 1622, and was canonized in 1665. Later, in 1877, he was honored as a Doctor of the Church.
“I hope what students can take away from his story is that everyone can live out holiness,” says Mr. Frice. “You don’t have to be a monk or a priest or a nun, every station in life can connect to holiness in its own way.”
We are so blessed to be able to have a building named after his amazing saint. So, next time you have a class in our De Sales building, think of how you can live like St. Francis De Sales did and strive to establish holiness in every aspect of your life.
