The Patience & Perseverance of a Saint

Tomorrow the Church celebrates the feast of St. Francis de Sales, who was born in the 15th century.  He is a much beloved saint, not only because of the life he led but also because of his prolific writings.  Living during the time of the Reformation, St. Francis felt called to convert Calvinists in Geneva.  But after three years of knocking on doors of Calvinists homes, he was still preaching to a mostly empty church.  It is truly here that one begins to understand the patience and devotion to God’s will that St. Francis possessed, since he persevered despite his lack of results.

Because everyone slammed their doors in his face, St. Francis took to writing his sermons down and passing them under people’s doors (the earliest instance we have of tracts being used an apologetics tool).  And since truth inevitably triumphs, his efforts finally began to have.  In fact, estimates range from some 40,000-70,000 Calvinists converted!  These sermons can be read in the book (unfortunately out of print) Catholic Controversy.

St. Francis is probably most well known for The Introduction to the Devout Life, but Finding God’s Will For You and collections of his letters are immensely popular as well.  Treatise on the Love of God is my personal favorite and I can’t recommend it enough!

I want to finish with a quote from St. Francis about patience and God’s will.  It is from a letter written to St. Jane de Chantal, to whom he was something of a spiritual director.

Trees bear fruit only because of the presence of the sun, some sooner, some later, some every year, and others every three years, not all of them always yielding equal harvests.  We are very fortunate to be able to remain in the presence of God; so let us be content that He will make us bear our fruit sooner or later, every day or only occasionally, according to His good pleasure to which we should be fully resigned.

May we all learn to see our efforts and results in light of God’s will, as St. Francis did!

1 Comment

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  By Rich Maffeo, January 26, 2012 @ 11:25 am

  Great post. I am saving this for future use. Thanks.

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