St. Francis De Sales: For The Love of God

By Leon Bent –

The feast of St. Francis de Sales is celebrated on 24th January. The 452nd Anniversary of the birth of St. Francis de Sales falls on August 21, 2019, the source and spring of the Salesian tradition, brought to the fore, the myriad branches that comprise the formidable Salesian tradition.

Most of them are either missionaries in the real frontier missions of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Ministering to the young of the world in their most pliable age, is critical to their formation, and committed to “education of the heart” as it is phrased in the maxim that grounds the Fransalian educational apostolate – “Education of the heart is the heart of education” – of Fransalian as well as of all other Salesian traditions, like the one founded by Don Bosco.

Francis was brought up in a religion of love, his ‘very good and dear mother’s religion’. A natural blossoming of the love of God was instilled in Francis at the de Sales household, especially in the loving embrace of his mother.

From early childhood itself, Francis cultivated a lively sense of God’s creation, and the beauty and goodness it manifested. “He was a keen observer of nature, His writings express his wonderment. Francis’ mother explained to Francis that creation was “the great picture book of God,” and he was “trained to see in nature a world of symbols, which elevated him to the Creator.”

Francis opened his heart to ‘see a world where all is touched by grace” (Lajeunie). He adds, “We cannot but smile delightfully at the beautiful simplicity with which he contemplates nature, as the mirror of the spiritual world” (Cardinal Wiseman, “Introduction,” Spiritual Conferences, xiv).

Optimism is the hallmark of Salesian humanism. The 16th and early half of the 17th century constituted for Europe a period of great theological churning, uncertainty and a genuine crisis for the Christian conscience as a whole. Salesian sanguineness flowed from a profound conviction about and faith in a good and loving God who provides, protects and communicates Himself through creation, and in a preeminent manner through His Incarnate Son, as Francis reflects in the Introduction and the Treatise on the Love of God.

Central to the Salesian perspective that detects a ‘world touched by grace’ is his experience and conviction of a good and loving God whose justice is manifested in his mercy. E.J.Lajeunie writes, “…I shall fall asleep in the immense goodness of my God…I shall drink of this from the very fountainhead…this adorable majesty is good in itself, good to itself, good for itself…God has loved from all eternity, anyone who has loved, is loving, or will love him in time. To crown this loving relationship, God has blessed us in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist,” said Francis de Sales in his Treatise: The Love of God.

Francis discovers the vocation to the devotion/holiness in a radical experience of the love of God which attracts, empowers and invites the Christian to discover Him in the world, and in human affairs, and respond to Him in an active and joyful love. In Introduction to the Devout Life, a spiritual classic, St. Francis de Sales attests that, devotion is nothing else than a spiritual agility and liveliness, by means of which charity realizes its action in us, or we do so by charity, promptly and lovingly.

Francis calls this loving care ‘the Providence of God,’ and defines this supreme providence as “simply the act by which God intends to supply men and angels with the means, both, necessary and useful, for achieving their destiny.” Francis had an all-pervading and all-providing Providence which was truly profound. Central to the Christian life of ‘holiness’ is living Godly lives, walking in God’s way and always being in a ‘divine melieu’ of joyful detachment or ‘disinterested love,’ that seeks only the union of our will with God’s will.

Francis believed that the Christian vocation is to go from the heart of God to renew human hearts and the world, in Love. Unlocking the heavily guarded gates of cathedral chapters and cloisters where holiness/devotion had been a ‘privileged guest’, he unveiled it as the noble vocation of love, integral to the Christian call which is open to the entire world, in the very market-place of life.

Francis, with every nerve and sinew of his being, endeavoured to make holiness attractive, through the ‘Salesian Method’, which was the ‘way of gentle persuasion!’ The unique virtues of gentleness and optimism that are the keys to the person and spirituality of St. Francis de Sales, power the whole edifice of Salesian spiritual tradition: ‘Firm yet, gentle persuasion.’ He chose this path for his evangelization, pastoral leadership, Christian holiness and guiding souls through discernment. The Salesian maxim is: “Everything by love and nothing by force.” The Saint was in tune with Pope Francis as the latter presented his vision in his very first teaching document, Evangelii Gaudium, wherein he urged “the Christian faithful to embark on a new chapter of evangelization marked by joy, while pointing out new paths for the Church’s journey in the years to come” (EG, 1).

Pope Francis, like his namesake saint, summons Christians to be “missionary disciples” (EG, 119) and ‘spirited’ and ‘spirit-filled evangelizers’ (EG 259), evangelizing by ‘attraction’ and ‘persuasion’, who appear as a people who wish to share their joy (EG, 14), of growing in a ‘personal encounter with the saving love of Jesus’, ‘eager to speak of what we have seen and heard’ (1 Jn.1:3).

Those trained in the Fransalian spiritual tradition, and all those committed to walk the Salesian Way ought to be creative and strategic partners of this project, of living Christian holiness in contemporary times. The unique insights into the Love of God that the Salesian tradition is rooted in, and the unique dispositions of trust, joy and good humour that, ought to inform the Christian quest of holiness, can and ought to shape and enlighten this unique mission of the Christian.

Pope Francis invokes the Salesian insight into the love of God, as he exhorts the Church to a joyful daily witness of the multifaceted holiness “that proceeds from God’s love” (GE 15), directly quoting St. Francis’ Treatise, as he urges everyone “to live the present moment, filling it to the brim with love”, “seize the occasions that present themselves everyday” and “accompany ordinary actions in an extraordinary way” (GE 17, note no.16). Pope Francis poignantly echoes the Salesian ideals as he reminds us that, holiness is a call to be “more alive, more human” (GE 32), and highlight, in particular the ‘joy and sense of humour’ that ought to characterize Christian lives and their mission (GE 12ff).

Now, this gold nugget! We urge you to strive to live the Salesian ideals and radiate their lustre and light in the contemporary world, to mark the significant milestones of St. Francis’ birth, and his groundbreaking “Treatise”, Live Jesus, Live Jesus!

And, this final flourish! We must commit ourselves to walk the Salesian spiritual tradition to avoid turning its richness into a nostalgic “museum of memories” (GE 139).


Leon Bent is an ex-Seminarian and studied the Liberal Arts and Humanities, and Philosophy, from St. Pius X College, Mumbai. He holds Masters Degree in English Literature and Aesthetics. He has published three Books and have 20 on the anvil. He has two extensively “Researched” Volumes to his name: Hail Full of Grace and Matrimony: The Thousand Faces of Love. He won The Examiner, Silver Pen Award, 2000 for writing on Social Issues, the clincher being a Researched Article on Gypsies in India, published in an issue of the (worldwide circulation) Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection, New Delhi. On April, 28, 2018, Leon received the Cardinal Ivan Dias Award for a research paper in Mariology.