St. Francis De Sales:
Do All Through Love, Nothing Through Constraint By Fr. René T. Lagaya, SDB
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t was at 8 PM on the 28th of December 1622, at the age of 55, when St. Francis de Sales entered into heavenly glory. The year 2022 will commemorate the 400th anniversary of the glorious demise of the saintly Bishop of Geneva. The Salesian Society should celebrate this event with joyful solemnity. After all, St. Francis de Sales appears five times in the Salesian Constitutions: (1) Title – Constitutions of the Society of St. Francis de Sales; (2) Article 4: Form of our Society – “Inspired by the goodness and zeal of St. Francis de Sales, Don Bosco called us Salesians and gave us a programme of life in the motto: ‘Da mihi animas, cetera tolle’”; (3) Article 9: Patrons and Protectors of our Society – “Don Bosco entrusted our Society in a special way to Mary, whom he made its principal patroness, as well as to St. Joseph and to St. Francis de Sales, the zealous pastor and doctor of charity”; (4) Article 17: Optimism and joy – “Inspired by the optimistic humanism of St. Francis de Sales, he believes in man’s natural and supernatural resources without losing sight of his weakness”; (5) Article 24: Formula of Profession – “Father, may your grace, the intercession of Mary Help of Christians, of St. Joseph, of St. Francis de Sales and of St. John Bosco, together with the assistance of my brother Salesians keep me faithful day by day.” 6
St. John Bosco Today | April - June 2021
A certain “Fabio Chigi, the papal nuncio in Cologne, was elected pope as Alexander VII in 1655. He claimed to have been healed of a serious illness through the intercession of Francis de Sales. He thus, decreed that the process for his beatification be accelerated. Miracles abounded: 47 persons were raised from the dead; 19 deaf-mutes were healed; 12 were cleansed of leprosy; 20 blind people regained their sight; 102 cripples were able to walk again. Pope Alexander VII beatified Francis de Sales at St. Peter’s Basilica on 8 January 1662. A little more than three years later, on 19 April 1665, Good Shepherd Sunday, Blessed Francis de Sales was solemnly canonized by Pope Alexander VII. It was with a voice strained with emotion that the Supreme Pontiff enrolled the Bishop of Geneva in the saintly list of the true heroes of Christianity. On 19 July 1877, Pope Pius IX proclaimed St. Francis de Sales as Doctor of the Church. With the encyclical letter Rerum omnium perturbationem, dated 26 January 1923, Pope Pius XI proclaimed St. Francis de Sales as the Patron of Catholic Writers and Journalists” (René T. Lagaya, SDB, Ask for Nothing, Refuse Nothing: The Life Story of St. Francis de Sales, Makati, Word & Life Publications, 2011, pp. 96-97). All these realities prove the holiness of St. Francis
