Italian-French Jesuit missionary born in the castle of Sales, in Savoy, an ancient region of northern Italy passed to France, one of the Catholic strongholds of the Counter-Reformation. The eldest son of a noble family, he studied at the Jesuit College of Clermont, in Paris, where he had a literary and improved religious and became devoted to the Virgin Mary, to whom he took a vow of chastity and dedicated himself to her service.
After completing his studies in Paris, he proceeded to Padua, where he graduated in law at the University of Padua, Italy (1591) and served as a lawyer in the Senate of Chambéry, France. His career already seemed defined, assuring him a bright and profitable future as a lawyer, when going against the wishes of the parents, opted for the priesthood in order to spiritually advocate the cause of the most helpless, and was ordained two years later (1593).
Initially serving as a missionary in Chablais, in his native region (1593-1597), he became known for converting large numbers of Calvinists with his sermons. Holy Bishop of Geneva (1602), he founded with Saint Jeanne de Chantal the Order of the Visitation (1612), which had the purpose of caring for the sick and teaching. Preaching a morality of serene balance and tolerance, he acquired prestige in the intellectual circles of Paris. His best-known doctrinal text was Introduction à la vie dévote (1604), where he developed his doctrine, teaching that the Spiritual improvement is accessible not only to those withdrawing from society, but also to those living in the secular world.
He also wrote Traité de l'amour de Dieu (1616), sermons against Calvinism, letters, and documents on diocesan administration. After dying in Lyon, France, at the age of 55, he was beatified in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome (1661), he was canonized (1665) and appointed Doctor of the Church (1877) and is commemorated on the 29th of January. He was titular and patron of the Salesian Family, founded by St John Bosco, and also declared (1923) by Pope Pius XI patron of writers and journalists.
Source: Biographies - Academic Unit of Civil Engineering / UFCG
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Order F - Biography - Brazil School
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SCHOOL, Team Brazil. "St. Francis de Sales"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/biografia/francisco-sales.htm. Accessed on June 28, 2021.
