Lindagale Dube: Parishioner at St. John Neumann Parish, Reston, VA; Former librarian at Bishop Ireton High School, Alexandria, VA; Member of a Live Jesus! Community in Virgina.
Lindagale Dube
When did I first meet Saint Francis de Sales? Years ago, I interviewed for a librarian position at Bishop Ireton High School. Saint Francis’ statue greeted me in the Bishop Ireton foyer; his picture was in the principal’s office. Father Metzger, OSFS, the principal, took me to see the school library, and there was Francis, a large picture of him, on the front wall of the library. I met Saint Francis de Sales when I interviewed at the school that June day but I came to love him during my twenty-three years working at the school.
I learned many facts about Saint Francis’ life as a student, priest, bishop, and co-founder with Saint Jane de Chantal of the Sisters of the Visitation. Most memorably, I learned about Saint Francis’ beliefs and devotion to God. Saint Francis was a master of sayings that conveyed truths and guidance. Students or staff members read one of these sayings of Saint Francis de Sales over the PA every school day. Now, during many major and minor occurrences, an applicable saying of Saint Francis comes to mind. Discouraged? “Be patient with everyone but above all with yourself.” Judging harshly? “The measure of our love is to love without measure.”
Two of Saint Francis’ beliefs significantly changed my outlook. The first was his teaching that we are all called to be holy. As a daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend, teacher and librarian, I have tried to do my best. However, that is not the same as viewing these roles as callings that provide paths to holiness. This shift in thinking drew me closer to God.
The second, another related de Sales’ teaching is, “Nothing is small in the service of God.” Our lives provide many opportunities to do good, “Great occasions for serving God come seldom, but little ones surround us daily” and “God takes pleasure to see you take your little steps.”
The first year I worked at Bishop Ireton, ten Oblates of St. Francis de Sales were working at the school. I met many others at the school and at my parish. The Oblates enhanced my understanding of who Saint Francis was through instruction and my observation of their behavior. They, like Francis, try to live holy lives, and favor optimism, gentleness, openness and hospitality. As Saint Francis stated, “It is wonderful how attractive a gentle, pleasant manner is and how much it wins hearts.”
I am genuinely grateful and wonderfully enriched that I met Saint Francis de Sales and many Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. Saint Francis’ life and his beliefs, passed on through Salesian Spirituality, are embedded in the culture of the school where I worked, my parish and in my heart.
Live Jesus!
