St. Francis de Sales

The gentle bishop of Geneva who won back Calvinists with pamphlets and taught laypeople they could be saints.

The story

Sent into the Calvinist Chablais, Francis slipped handwritten leaflets under doors when no one would listen, and reconverted the region. As bishop he wrote the Introduction to the Devout Life for a laywoman, insisting that a soldier, a merchant, or a mother could reach holiness in their state. With St. Jane de Chantal he founded the Visitation. His motto: "Nothing by force, everything by love."

What Francis teaches

A spoonful of honey attracts more flies than a barrel of vinegar. Gentleness converts.

Patronage

writers, journalists, the deaf.

Prayer

St. Francis de Sales, give us your gentleness, and teach us to seek holiness in our daily duties. Amen.