Saint Francis de Sales CO, OM, OFM Cap. |
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Bishop of Geneva | |
Native name | François de Sales |
Province | Vienne |
Diocese | Geneva |
Appointed | 15 July 1602 (Coadjutor) |
Installed | 8 December 1602 |
Term ended | 28 December 1622 |
Predecessor | Claude de Granier |
Successor | Jean-François de Sales |
Orders | |
Ordination | 18 December 1593 by Claude de Granier |
Consecration | 8 December 1602 by Vespasien Gribaldi |
Personal details | |
Born |
Château de Sales, Duchy of Savoy, Holy Roman Empire |
21 August 1567
Died | 28 December 1622 Lyons, Lyonnais, Kingdom of France |
(aged 55)
Previous post | Titular Bishop of Nicopolis ad Iaterum (1602) |
Motto | Non-excidet |
Coat of arms | |
Sainthood | |
Feast day |
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Venerated in | |
Title as Saint | Bishop and Doctor of the Church |
Beatified | 8 January 1661 Rome, Papal States, by Pope Alexander VII |
Canonized | 8 April 1665 Rome, Papal States, by Pope Alexander VII |
Attributes | Heart of Jesus, Crown of Thorns |
Patronage | Baker, Oregon; Cincinnati, Ohio; Catholic press; Columbus, Ohio; confessors; deaf people; educators; Upington, South Africa; Wilmington, Delaware; writers; journalists; the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest |
Shrines | Annecy, Haute-Savoie, France |
Francis de Sales, CO OM OFM Cap. (French: François de Sales; 21 August 1567 – 28 December 1622) was a Bishop of Geneva and is honored as a saint in the Anglican and Catholic church. He became noted for his deep faith and his gentle approach to the religious divisions in his land resulting from the Protestant Reformation. He is known also for his writings on the topic of spiritual direction and spiritual formation, particularly the Introduction to the Devout Life and the Treatise on the Love of God.
Francis de Sales was born on 21 August 1567 in the Château de Sales into the noble Sales family of the Duchy of Savoy, in what is today Thorens-Glières, Haute-Savoie, France. His father was François de Sales, Lord of Boisy, Sales, and Novel. His mother was Françoise de Sionnaz, the only child of prominent magistrate, Melchior de Sionnaz, and a noblewoman. He was baptized Francis Bonaventura, after two great Franciscan saints. His father wanted him, the first of his six sons, to attend the best schools in preparation for a career as a magistrate. He therefore enjoyed a privileged education in the nearby town of La Roche-sur-Foron and at the age of eight, at the Capuchin college in Annecy.