Ministers and Catechists

This section of our web site provides a variety of resources for use by ministers, catechists and anyone else looking to deepen their knowledge of and appreciate for the Salesian tradition. These can also be helpful for sharing Salesian spirituality with others.

Homily Helps

Homily Helps are resources composed by the late Fr. William J. Dougherty, OSFS.
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Sundays Salesian offers a Salesian perspective on some aspect or dimension of the Sunday Lectionary. Please use them to generate ideas for preaching or as a possible focus for personal payer and reflection.
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Salesian Sunday Reflections

Salesian Sunday Reflections offers a Salesian perspective on some aspect or dimension of the Sunday Lectionary. Use them to generate ideas for preaching or as a possible focus for personal payer and reflection. All of these were authored by the late Pasqualina Young, a long-time member of St. John Neumann Catholic Community in Reston, Virginia. Pasqualina's joyful, loving spirit was a blessing to all who knew her. We are deeply grateful to her husband, John and their two sons for offering her reflections to be posted on our web site.
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Spirituality Matters

Spirituality Matters complements Sundays Salesian, Salesian Sunday Reflections and Homily Helps by offering Salesian perspectives for the weekday Lectionary Readings, Mondays through Saturdays inclusive.
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Spirituality Bulletins

Spirituality Bulletins present the essence of each Salesian Perspectives pamphlets (without discussion questions or suggestions for further reading) in an 8 ½ by 11 inch format that can be easily inserted and/or included in a bulletin, a newsletter, or standard mailing.
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Practical Holiness

Feast Day Prayers and Readings

Feast Day Prayers and Readings offers prayer and readings proper for the celebration of the Eucharist on the feasts of St. Leonie Aviat, St. Francis de Sales, St. Jane de Chantal, and St. Margaret Mary.

Salesian Images

Salesian Images offers you the opportunity to explore much of St. Francis de Sales’ spiritual insights by an alphabetical compilation of many of the images he employed in his attempt to capture the imagination of the people of his day in his preaching, writing, and catechizing.
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Salesian Discipleship

Salesian Discipleship is a program offered by the DeSales Spirituality Services for establishing a core group to help develop/offering strategies and opportunities for helping others to learn, live and share Salesian spirituality in a ministry. This core group would serve as "go-to people" upon whom you could reply to "run with" some of your apostolate’s efforts at offering Salesian spirituality to others.
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The Spiritual Directory

Written by St. Francis de Sales, The Spiritual Directory offers a practical approach to developing the interior attitudes necessary to recognize the presence of God in all things, people and circumstances, attitudes that likewise assist us in our efforts to embody the humble, gentle love of neighbor so clearly demonstrated in the life of Jesus Christ. The Spiritual Directory is also the rule of life for the Oblates.
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Salesian Spirituality & Collaborative Ministry

The Oblates of St. Francis de Sales believe the spirit and doctrine of St. Francis de Sales constitute the core of our identity and purpose. Our mission is to attempt to live and to disseminate this Salesian spirit and doctrine.

Collaboration is the process that celebrates the unique gifts and differences of all those who share this mission. Collaboration is a dialogue among individuals who have much in common but frequently identify very real differences. In this dialogue both these agreements and differences need to be stated.

Salesian spirituality, in contrast to the divisions and confrontations so often associated with human diversity, promotes a unity which respects, yet transcends, differences of gender, ethnic origin, ability, vocation, and religious practice. St. Francis de Sales uses the concept of "unidiverse" to describe this paradox. He writes in the Treatise on the Love of God, "the sovereign unity of the divine (act) is opposed to confusion and disorder, but not to distinction and variety; on the contrary, it uses their distinction and variety to produce beauty" (Vol. I pp. 105-106).

"Salesian collaboration is best conceived as a dialogical, mutual engagement in the art of living Jesus. It means teaching each other, growing together, mining the tradition together, sharing the various wisdoms gained through our diverse life experiences" (W. Wright, Leaven for the Loaf, p. 11).