Every Day with Saint Francis de Sales - March

[Hildegard of Bingen]

Every Day with Saint Francis de Sales

Teachings and Examples from the Life of the Saint by Salesiana Publishers

March 2nd (page 62)

      Recall to mind how long it is since you began to sin; note how greatly sins have multiplied in your heart since that first beginning, and how every day you have increased them against God, yourself and your neighbor by deed, word, desire and thought. Consider your evil inclinations, and how often you have given way to them. By these two points you will discover that your sins are more numerous than the sands of the sea. Cast yourself at the feet of the Lord and say to Him, “Lord, with the help of your grace, I will never again abandon myself to sin.”

(INT. Part I, Ch. 12; O. III, p. 41)

    On March 2nd, 1592, while Francis de Sales was studying at Padua, he was sent by his father to pay his respects to Bishop Claude De Granier, bishop of Geneva. Here was a prelate of the highest caliber. Like the ancient fathers in his religious way of living, he was beloved both to God and man; living only for the good of the diocese, he did all he could to restore the original splendor of ecclesiastical discipline. Bishop Claude received the young Sales with fatherly goodness, feeling himself, as he said afterwards, supernaturally drawn by a particular affection for him. The bishop asked about Francis’s studies in jurisprudence and Theology and marveled at the young man’s answers. He was so impressed that he asked Francis to assist at a competition for a vacant curacy that was to take place on that day. There was a long discussion among the examiners concerning a proposed question, so the bishop asked Francis to give his opinion. At first he tried very politely to decline, but then, urged on by the bishop, he summarized the whole discussion with rare ability. He distinguished the various points and then gave such precise solutions to each one that everyone was amazed that so young a person could plumb the depths of theological questions. After Francis had left, the bishop said to the others gathered there, “Well, what do you think of this young man? He will be a great personage, a pillar of the Church, and my successor to this See!” These were no idle words, but were spoken under supernatural illumination. Francis’s parents wanted him to have an important position in the world; there was no indication at that time that he would one day become a bishop.

(Hamon, Vol. I, pp. 84-85)