St. Francis de Sales and Salesian Spirituality I

The past few weeks we’ve been taking a look at the Saints and how they give us concrete examples to follow as we journey with Christ. Last week we saw that the saints were flesh and blood people who struggled with many of the same difficulties that we do, and overcame them with God’s grace. This should give us great hope. It is tempting to think that holiness is only open to a few, extraordinary people, but this is a deception that needs to be avoided. Holiness is not only open to all baptized Christians; it is our most basic vocation. The Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, states that, “…it is evident to everyone, that all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity (40),” and that, “all the faithful of Christ are invited to strive for the holiness and perfection of their own proper state. Indeed they have an obligation to so strive (42).”

This teaching, that all Catholics are called to be saints, was presented by the Church clearly during Vatican II, but it was not a new doctrine. Many spiritual writers and Church documents had promoted this idea in various ways over the centuries, but the spiritual writer most connected with this teaching is St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622). He was a bishop, a writer and a missionary. He came from a noble family and walked with kings, yet interacted with the “man on the street” with equal ease. He taught that holiness was the call of every Christian, but that how we became saints depended on our state of life. The monk in his monastery, the house wife, the professional person and the politician needed to go about their road to holiness in a different way. His spirituality is simple, practical and adaptable to every situation. It asks us to open ourselves to God’s will, understand our present life situation and see how the two things can come together so that His will may be done in our lives.

Because Francis de Sale’s spirituality was designed for active people living in the world St. John Bosco adopted this method of prayer for his brothers and priests. This is why we who follow Don Bosco are called Salesians. As we saw, this spirituality is not just for vowed religious, but for anyone trying to build a strong relationship with God no matter what walk of life they are in. In the weeks to come we will take a closer look at Francis de Sales and Salesian Spirituality.

The Saints II

Last week we began looking at the saints, and that they are a vital part of the Church. Far from being inactive, they assist us actively by their prayers. But there is a temptation to look at the saints as being perfect people who always did the right thing from the moment of their birth. We look at their statues and images and see serene, often expressionless faces that give the impression that they were passionless and impersonal. This could not be farther from the truth. The saints were human in the fullest sense of the word, and they give us valuable examples of how to live the Christian life.

When we look at the lives of the saints we see men and women who struggled with many of same problems that we do. Don Bosco, the founder of the Salesians, struggled with his temper and as a boy was quick to use his fists if he thought a friend was being treated unfairly. St. Augustine had to deal with sexual temptations, and only learned to control them once he accepted Christ in his life. St. Vincent de Paul, who worked so tirelessly for the poor, became a priest at first because he wanted to climb the social ladder. Through openness to God’s will in their lives they learned to overcome selfishness and lived truly heroic lives.

The saints also came from different walks of life. While many who the Church recognizes for their heroic virtue were religious and priests we have other examples as well. Blesseds Louis and Marie-Azélie Martin were a married couple who had five daughters, one of whom was St. Therese, the Little Flower. St. Thomas More was a lawyer and government official, who was also a husband and father. St. Monica, St. Augustine’s mother, struggled with her wandering son and unbelieving husband, and earned her sanctity by tearful prayers. St. Dominic Savio was a school boy who became a saint by fulfilling his daily duties with diligence and cheerfulness.

All the saints became holy by trusting in God and overcoming their faults by His grace. They became holy by confronting life’s challenges with faith, not by avoiding them. They give us hope that in spite of our shortcomings sanctity is open to us all. St. Francis de Sales was the great promoter of this ideal, what we call the Universal Call to Holiness, and next time we will take a look at this gentle saint and his spirituality.

The Saints I

In the last several weeks I have been settling into my new home at St. Anthony's, Elizabeth, NJ, and have been made to feel very welcome. For this I am most grateful.

As I look at our beautiful church building I see all the statues that we have, and the great devotion that our community has to the various Saints represented by them. It is a reminder to me of when I was a boy and my grandmother brought me with her to daily Mass. After the Eucharist was over she would go to the special room that the small church had, filled with statues of St. Lucy, St. Rocco, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, among others crowded into the cramped space. Most of all I remember the look of love and trust on my grandmothers face as she kneeled, asking the help of her heavenly protectors.

I see this look now in the faces of our people who put their trust in the Saints. The Saints are a gift to us, and we should value their presence in our lives. They pray for us and give us their example of heroic virtue to follow. The Saints are alive and active within the Church. They are a sign for us that the communion of persons we call the Church is greater than what we can see. As The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us "We believe in the communion of all the faithful of Christ, those who are pilgrims on earth, the dead who are being purified, and the blessed in heaven, all together forming one Church; and we believe that in this communion, the merciful love of God and his saints is always [attentive] to our prayers." (962) The Church then is a reality of earth, purgatory and heaven! What a profound mystery we proclaim when we profess our belief in the Communion of Saints during the Creed every week.

The saints weren’t statues of holy cards. They were flesh and blood people who struggled and triumphed with the grace of God. Theirs is an example to imitate, a theme we will continue with in my next letter.