The Gentleman Saint
Today the Church celebrates the life and ministry of the 17th century Doctor of the Church, St. Francis de Sales. I have grown fond of St. Francis these past four years for several reasons.
1) He used writing as much as preaching to convince many ex-Catholics to return to the Church.
2) His pursuit of holiness was the goal of his life.
3) He became victorious over his human foible of a quick temper and was known for his kind demeanor. (took him over 20 years)
4) I paid tuition to DeSales University for the past 3.5 years where my eldest just graduated. (He chose to go to a Catholic university before we were even Catholic)
His writings are very accessible and his Introduction to a Devout Life is a wonderful place to start.
Here are some of my thoughts of his Controversies (tracts written to convince protestants to revert)
St Francis said: "The person who possesses Christian meekness is affectionate and tender towards everyone: he is disposed to forgive and excuse the frailties of others; the goodness of his heart appears in a sweet affability that influences his words and actions, presents every object to his view in the most charitable and pleasing light."
posted by Russ Rentler, M.D. | 7:52 AM
1 Comments:
I think St. Francis has been gracing you with his intercession, TJ. You are very much like him, great writer, great love for the Church, and you are most generous of heart and affable and your writing is superb. I am hoping to get to "know" this Saint this year. I found out he's the patron Saint of writers, so I hope he'll pray for me, as I delve into my writing more. It's simple, but always sincere...sometimes silly, but sincerely silly...in a good way. :)
Thanks for the post, and I think Intro. to the Devout Life will be on my list of books to read this year.
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