Francis de Sales: A Study of the Gentle Saint

Francis de Sales: A Study of the Gentle Saint

Let us consider this from Saint Francis youth: “WHEN Francis was thirteen, in 1580, M. de Boisy resolved to send him to Paris to study at the University. He wished him to reside at the College of Navarre, as it was to it all the young nobles of Savoy were sent; but it had not too good a reputation, the students were a bit wild, and the discipline lax. Francis feared he would be led away by wicked companions and become depraved, so he entreated his father to let him go instead to the College of the Jesuits. Then, as always, he had a particular affection and reverence for the sons of St. Ignatius, and he had heard that at their college the spirit of piety and of holiness reigned supreme. His mother agreed with him. She, too, ardently desired to place her son with the Saints Peres, feeling that under their care he would be secure from danger to soul or body. With some difficulty she succeeded in persuading her husband, but finally he gave a reluctant consent.” In order to understand the saints, we must read their lives, not just their works. And Saint Francis de Sales has written many wonderful works. This book will give a great insight into this wonderful saint.