Nine Heroic Efforts of St. Jane de Chantal to Combat One of Europe's Worst Plagues

With the daily alarming reports of the COVID-19 pandemic it is helpful to recall how the saints in the Church responded with clear-mindedness and charity.

One such saint, St. Jane de Chantal, prayed assiduously and took noble action in her role as the superior of her community of Visitation Sisters in Annecy, in east-central France. Her virtues shone in the face of one of Europe’s most devastating plagues, which killed nearly a million people in France alone between 1628-1631. 

St. Jane, along with St. Francis de Sales, founded the Visitation Sisters which grew throughout France and eventually to America and other parts of the world.

Nine Heroic Efforts

A brief review of the accounts of the day reveals St. Jane’s thoroughness and zeal. She:

• Sent food and medicine to seven of her convents.

• Called a council of physicians in Paris to find what could be done to combat the scourge.

• Assembled a body of theologians to examine whether the Sisters could in conscience leave their enclosure in order to avoid the contagion. 

• Sent circular letters to all her houses to encourage and console the Sisters, and to remind them to prepare for the coming of the Spouse.

• Refused to leave her community when demanded to do so by the local duke with the declaration that she would not abandon her flock.

• Recommended the exact observance of the Rules, which are guidelines for daily living within each community.

• Prepared her sisters in the event of her own death.

• Served the poor and sick near the convent by making available to them food and spiritual aid.

• Prayed and fasted with the other sisters on bread and water, performed public penances in the refectory, and fervently begged that God would remove the plague from their midst.

Plagues Nothing New

Historians have tracked various plagues in Europe since the 700s. In Christian countries, plagues have sparked great supplications to God and acts of public penance for relief of the suffering.

A historian of the Visitation Sisters, Emile Bougaud, recounts in his book, St. Chantal and the Foundation of the Visitation, Vol. 2, the acts of the saint at the time.

“Never did Mother de Chantal appear more admirable than under these circumstances. The old ardor of her nature, which for so many years she had been trying to moderate, now reasserted itself.

‘I have written three or four letters to you, my dear daughter,’ she wrote to the Superioress of one of the convents attacked by the plague, ‘and of what are you thinking not to answer me? Do you not know that I am on thorns?’ 

“It was also at this trying period that she displayed that industrious activity, that practical knowledge, that enthusiasm tempered by coolness, so valuable on such occasions. She thought of, she provided for everything. Her heart embraced in its tender solicitude all the wants of her daughters; her mind was as large as her heart.”

Bougard also noted, “Her burning words fired the enthusiasm of the Bishop, Monseigneur Jean-Francois de Sales, who, with a handful of heroic priests, went about ministering consolation to the dying for more than ten months.”

The Convent’s Peace and Serenity

In the midst of such tribulation and unrest in society, how did the sisters in St. Jane’s community at Annecy fare?

Bougaud continues, “It was indeed wonderful, the peace and serenity of her spiritual daughters in the very centre of the infection, and face to face with a death imminent and horrible, that put the bravest to flight. The community exercises were not once interrupted. In the midst of the mournful silence of the city their bell rang out as sweetly and regularly as before, and the same soft and devout chanting was heard behind their grate. 

“‘I always saw our Sisters in their usual tranquility,” wrote St. DeChantal; ‘there never appeared in the community fear, anxiety, or dread. The customary exercises of our state went on exactly without interruption or dispensation, with the usual peace and cheerfulness. . . . Although two or three times there was reason to believe the disease was in the house, yet I never observed the least consternation among our Sisters. They took their little remedies quite cheerfully, each one keeping herself ready to pass into eternity as soon as notified….”

The way their confessor was treated shows the practice of their own version of social distancing. St. Chantal recalls a practice that might well be practiced today in our 21st century liturgies: “...we were determined not to expose our good and holy confessor. If anyone had stood in need of him, he would have heard her confession from a distance. To administer the Holy Eucharist to her, he would have put the Sacred Host between two small slices of bread and laid it upon the place prepared for the purpose, whence it would have been taken as respectfully as possible by the Sister nurse. This is the way the sacraments are administered in this country to the pest-stricken.”

The historian concludes, “The plague yielded, at last, to these ardent prayers. It abandoned the city after having ravaged it for nearly a year.”

Three Takeaways

We can discern three takeaways from this experience of St. Jane and the other sisters:

1.  Help your own family, as well as other people.

2.     Keep a consistent routine among those you live with.

3.     Pray and however it turns out, resign yourself to the will of God.

By Kevin J. Banet,  website

Kevin J. Banet is a journalist and publicist. He works mainly for Catholic religious communities and non-profits. Kevin worked for years for family-based organizations, and then really got his eyes opened when he got married and became the father of two children. He and his family live in the Chicago area. His website is VocationPromotion.com.

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DeSales Weekly Editor: Fr. Bill McCandless, OSFS

Keeping Our Spirit Strong

In times of uncertainty, such as this time of isolation due to COVID-19 quarantine and shelter-in-place directives, taking time to reflect becomes essential. As we continue to look for ways to navigate this time at home, I find that these ten phrases keep my spirit strong and so, I share them with you. 

1. Even though this virus is a pain for so many, I do not have to be one. (Adapted from Maya Angelou)

2. Be patient with everyone, above all yourself. (St. Francis de Sales)

3. Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46)

4. Repetition is good: Wash your hands; Don’t touch your eyes; Love one another.

5. Do not let your hearts be troubled; you have faith in God, have faith also in me. (John 14:1)

6. Do not worry about tomorrow with its cares and concerns. Live only for today with its cares for when tomorrow arrives, it too will be called today. Live today well. (St. Francis de Sales)

7. You are unique, an irreplaceable, irrepeatable work of God: Be who you are and be that thoroughly well. (St. Francis de Sales)

8. Live four-letter words: Live, Love, Give, Tell, Open, Hear, Hope, Sing, Gasp, Fall, Lift, Amen. These give us Life.

9. Fear and hate, as well as other four-letter words, should be avoided because they do not give us life and only remind us that we are not being the very best of who we are.

10. The first gift of the Risen Lord to His disciples was peace. Peace be with you. In the midst of their, anguish, sadness, despair, confusion, and loss, He offered peace. Peace be with you and your families in these uncertain days. Peace, because it is Easter. Our peace has to end with Alleluia because that is our calling and anthem. Peace, Alleluia!

Alleluia! Live Jesus!

Fr. Matt Hillyard, OSFS

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Jesus’ Voice Soothes: A Message of Comfort

Before sheltering in place, I was shopping recently at Macy’s department store. While there, I encountered a toddler loudly crying, “Mommy! Mommy!  I want my mommy!”  Surrounding this teary-eyed frightened crying child were other mothers all urgently trying to comfort him.

However, no matter how soothing their words or reassuring their pleas, no one stopped his crying or his unlimited tears.  Everyone kept hearing, “Mommy, I want my mommy!”  Then suddenly we heard, “Peter, Peter, Mommy’s over here.”

At the sound of his name, Peter stopped his crying as he ran in the direction of the voice calling his name.  He jumped into his mother’s arms and they both tenderly hugged each other.  Mommy was definitely the only person Peter needed to see and hear.  They belonged to each other.  They felt safe together and they were at home, even in the large department store!

Watching Peter snuggle in his mother’s arms, I gained an insight into how Jesus wants his voice to touch our everyday lives.  Jesus wants his voice to be the power that soothes in unsafe times, encourages during cloudy days, and provides joy and delight in cheerful moments.

No other voice but Jesus’ alone can manage all these with such gentleness, kindness, and thoughtfulness.  Why? Because Jesus’ words arise from his painful act of dying, rising, and reconciling creation with his Father.  After undertaking all these things without counting the cost to himself, why wouldn’t his love show in every word he speaks?  Love is always pouring from Jesus’ heart anticipating the next moments he can console those he loves. 

This is why Jesus whispers our name no matter the frequency, the place, or the reason.  What delights Jesus most is to see us run as affectionately towards him as Peter did towards his mother.  When we do, Jesus may even hug us while saying, “You are home.  You’re safe.  You belong with me.”  And, like Peter in that huge department store, we too will feel just as safe!

Happy Easter!

Fr. Richard R. DeLillio, OSFS

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Gravy and Grace: A Reflection for Easter Triduum

A professor of mine once opined that economics is a matter of scarcity:
How do we distribute resources that are finite?

Regardless of whether all economists would agree with my professor’s statement, during this time marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, we can agree that scarcity has confronted us in a new, stark way.

Hospitals, care homes, and other essential services desperately try to maintain staffing levels. Industry races to manufacture life-saving equipment and protective gear. Neighbors, colleagues, friends, and families long for the everyday, face-to- face interactions we so often took for granted.

Scarcity, as a brute fact, can be jarring enough. When the fact transforms into mindset, it can breed competition, desperation, and even hopelessness.

I expected to find myself immersed in such mindset when I began working at a men’s shelter in Vancouver just before the start of Lent. After all, a person does not usually walk through the doors of a shelter unless he or she is experiencing scarcity of some kind or another: housing, work, or a safety net of social relationships.

Particularly, I feared confrontation with scarcity at mealtimes, when I was occasionally tasked with distributing food to a room full of hungry men who had spent the day hard at work, walking the streets, or waiting for shelter.

This was especially true one night when the dinner to be served was barbeque pork chops and potatoes. My friendly smile hid my anxiousness as I counted the dwindling number of pork chops and peered out at the still lengthy line of men awaiting their meal. What kind of mutiny would ensue if we ran out? After all, if I had not had a good meal all day, being told “we’re out” would likely result in more than a little frustration and anger.

To my relief, we had enough pork chops for everyone, and once the last juicy cut of meat had been distributed, I began to hastily stack the empty pans on a cart, ready to retreat to the dish room.

Before I could discreetly wheel the cart away, a guest noticed that the pans weren’t completely empty. A thick layer of leftover gravy lined the bottom of the pans. He asked if he could take a pan to scrape off the remaining gravy.

What happened next transformed my exhausted nervousness into delight.

Rather than just taking some extra gravy for himself and returning the pan, as I had expected, he began to cheerfully walk around the room, declaring, “gravy! gravy!” and doling out the delicious excess onto the plates of his fellow guests. I detected more than a few smiles as the men received the rich mix of juices and barbeque sauce.

What that one perceptive and generous guest did in the presence of his brethren was no less than the action of Christ himself, of whom we are all members. He took a sign of scarcity, a stack of empty pans, and took the drippings, the waste, and transformed it into the sign and substance of abundance. He declared that humans are not made solely to be nourished for bare survival: we are made to joyfully draw water (or sometimes gravy!) from the springs of salvation, even if those springs have the appearance of a stack of dirty dishes.  

This guest’s action of fraternal generosity was a needed reminder for me that in times as these, when we find ourselves scraping by on leftover money, energy, or love, it’s Jesus who looks at the bottom of the pan and pours rich gravy for us...who anoints our head with oil, who pours our cup to overflowing.

Perhaps it is scandalous to so lavishly write about abundance when so many of us face the bleak realities of deprivation and loss. But this is the same scandalous liberality with which Christ confronted his own impending death. Sometimes, the fear and trembling must come, as it did for Jesus as he wept in the garden. But before the hour when darkness reigns, Jesus broke bread and shared wine with his friends in the upper room reminding us that friendship and joy are the alpha and the omega. He reminds us that even when night seems to befall us from all sides, the light of God’s grace, God’s abundant love, still remains.

There’s been times during the past few months which I’ve doubted the existence of grace. In having to tell men at the door, “sorry, there are no more beds available ,” and in seeing the desolation felt by men condemned by these words to wander through empty streets and past shuttered doors, I have sometimes felt like uttering the desolate cry of Christ on the cross, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken us?” Even more temptingly, the declaration of Nietzsche’s character, Zarathustra, “God is dead.”

From the depth of these doubts God raises up the Good News proclaimed by the Church, even when it has appeared to be silenced. When we gather this Easter Triduum with those we love or have been forced to love through our involuntary confinement together, and we break bread together in our homes we break open the Word that spans all time and distance and will bring us all together.  Once again, we declare that even if God appears locked away in the tomb, God is not dead, God has not forsaken his people, God is alive and continues to dine with us, drizzling the gravy and gracing us with his presence.

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Amidst Crisis, A Mom Leans on St. Francis de Sales

To keep her children busy, Paula organizes daily activities for them. Pictured here are her four kids on a hike with their mom in Wissahickon Park in Chestnut Hill, PA

Be who you are and be that well.

This well-known maxim of St. Francis de Sales has guided me as I’ve held many roles in my life.  Some of those roles can seem inconsequential while others feel overwhelmingly important. Francis teaches us to celebrate all the roles we play, regardless of their “importance.”  I have especially cherished his teaching that being holy means living our ordinary lives in extraordinary ways.

Now, in this time of crisis, as my roles seem harder and harder to fulfill, I find St. Francis’ words challenging me in new ways.

Being mom to four teens/preteens has always been my favorite job.  As this pandemic unfolds, my favorite role feels completely upended.  Now, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, I am homeschool teacher, short order cook, conflict mediator, cruise director, sports coach, gatherer, and counselor.  With each passing day, new demands present themselves and new conflicts arise as I try to meet my kids’ needs, while also completing work requirements.

As professor to college seniors, I find myself working to support these promising young men and women who today are crushed and confused but were so hopeful just weeks ago.  They need so much more than lectures and feedback on their papers.  I give them what I can but at times, I feel so lost for them.

With the many new challenges each day brings, Francis’ words echo through my mind more clearly and more loudly.  His directive to be who you are and be that well has evolved into hourly reminders that sustain and nourish me.  As my roles evolve and the needs of my children and students grow, I repeatedly tell myself that each effort I make, regardless of how small it may seem, is significant.  If I try to do my work well, Francis tells me, I am living Jesus.

I feel Francis gently pushing and encouraging me to simply do the best I can.  When I spend extra time with students, force myself to play that millionth game of cards with the kids, or drag myself out to officiate sibling squabbles, I remind myself that doing my best in each of these roles really does matter. I tell myself that this is where I need to be, even when other responsibilities are put aside or when I’d rather be doing anything else.

Being sheltered in one place results in stressful moments when anger rises, and it feels like these walls are closing in on me.  In those moments, I try to remember Francis’ other directive – be patient with everyone, but above all be patient with yourself.  His words remind me that being gentle on myself is the only way I will get through this; it’s the best way to ensure I can fulfil these roles.  I must make self-care a priority as I care for others.

Like many of you, I am scrambling my way through this new pandemic world.  Francis reminds us to focus on the moment at hand, be gentle with ourselves, and whatever we do, to do that well.  St. Francis de Sales’ words comfort and guide me; I hope they offer solace to you as well.

Paula M. Riley

Communications Consultant

Paula M. Riley

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Our Lady of Deliverance: A Reflection on Francis de Sales - A College Student in Crisis; Inspired by the prayerful meditation of an administrator at DeSales University in response to the Coronavirus

Between the ages 16 and 21, Francis de Sales studied in the late 16th century at the College of Clermont in Paris.  There, he experienced tremendous sadness and despair, having difficulty sleeping and maintaining a healthy body weight.  He was deeply preoccupied with the fear of predestination, a popular Calvinistic theological belief that prompted young Francis to worry about eternal damnation.

During these student days, Francis visited St. Etienne-des-Gres Church (St. Stephen) and prayed before the statue of Mary, mother of God daily.  This particular image, known as Our Lady of Deliverance, grew increasingly important to him, for during one of his visits while praying the Memorare, his painful turmoil was lifted, and he experienced a liberating peace that eased his suffering and ended his anxiety.  Francis attributed this grace from God to the prayerful intercession of Mary, Our Lady of Deliverance.

You may not be able to visit this statue, pictured here, on our campus; this is a replica of the one Francis prayed before during his deep struggles while a college student.  Yet, you may join him in the same prayer, the Memorare, which he prayed for years.

Walking together through this journey, we may fear infection with COVID-19; the loss of rich experiences in student life, a favorite clinical setting, the classroom, lab, stage, court or field; anxiety for those we love or hold in solidarity; worry about economic and employment challenges for ourselves and others; or recurring doubts and fears for our futures.  Let us model the faith of our patron, St. Francis de Sales, who was full of similar and sizeable doubts and fears and still turned to God to pray.

We know that our Christian tradition hails Mary as the mother of God.  Our Jewish sisters and brothers acclaim her fidelity to the covenant of Abraham and Sarah, and our Muslim sisters and brothers respect her discipleship, with 15 mentions in their beloved Quran.  Together, during this time of great turmoil and anxiety, let us—like the college student Francis de Sales during his crisis—pray to God through the intercession of Mary, or through another favorite prayer, that we will be delivered from this coronavirus experience.

Memorare
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection,
implored your help, or sought your intercession was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence, I fly to you, O virgin of virgins, my mother.
To you, I come; before you, I stand, sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions,
but in your mercy, hear and answer me.  Amen.

By Rev. Kevin Nadolski, OSFS
Vice President for Mission, DeSales University

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Do Not Be Afraid: A Salesian Reflection on Anxiety amid Coronavirus

Do not let your hearts be troubled; Fear not; Do not be afraid. After love one another, do not be afraid is the next most often repeated phrase in the gospels. St. Francis de Sales says that after sin, anxiety is the next greatest evil. His point is that anxiety and fear rob us of the present moment because they cause undue worry about the future or sadness and dwelling on the past. The present moment is where we meet God and at this moment we are called to live.

It is difficult not to have fear or anxiety about the present moment with its uncertainties and the moment-to-moment changes that take place surrounding the Coronavirus. Our fears, anxieties, and uncertainties are understandable. After the crucifixion, we find the disciples in the upper room, behind locked doors, sad but also huddled and stymied by their fears. Jesus did not let them live in that condition. His first words to them were, "Peace be with you." They stayed in that upper room but more and more, Jesus gave them the courage to act even in the face of their fears. My prayer for us is that we have the same trust and courage in God's love, presence, and peace.

In this uncertain climate, consider a few things:

1. Please listen to the experts and the steps they are asking us to take. Yes, they are restrictive, but let us look to the good and health of the whole community.

2. Please pray each day for one another and all affected by the virus. The consequences are far-reaching, and we need to be attentive to how we can help one another. We begin with prayer and move to action.

3. Social distancing in our Salesian community called to Live Jesus. Six feet distances, groups of ten or fewer can lead to a sense of isolation and even loneliness. Please reach out to neighbors, especially those who are alone and reassure others of our care and concern.

4. Remain optimistic. Mark Twain wrote, "I have been through some terrible things in life, some of which actually happened."  Peace and anxiety can coexist. It is up to us to try to choose peace. When life seems to be OOC (out of control), let us try to choose to be CCC (calm, cool and collected).

May the peace of Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you and reign in your hearts. Live Jesus!

By: Rev. Matthew Hillyard, OSFS

Pastor, Our Lady of Good Council, Vienna,  Virginia

Provincial Councilor, Wilmington/Philadelphia Province

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A SALESIAN REFLECTION ON THE FEAST OF ST. JOSEPH

If I were to name the place in the Holy Land most special to Salesian spirituality, I would name, “Nazareth.”  I am sure that “Jerusalem” would have come immediately to mind for most readers.  Surely, Calvary is the place most sacred in the redeeming death of Jesus, and the tomb in Jerusalem is the holy ground from which Jesus rose in glorious triumph on Easter Sunday.  St. Francis de Sales would agree with all of that.

Still, we often tend to forget or downplay the redemptive value of the thirty years that Jesus spent in Nazareth learning about God from his parents and apprenticing the carpenter’s trade from St. Joseph.  Those “hidden” years are especially sacred to de Sales for they speak to the “ordinary” that is at the heart of Salesian spirituality.

For de Sales, those thirty hidden years are just as significant for redemption as the ministry, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus.  Most people spend most of their lives in the ordinary and give and take of daily interactions with family, friends, classmates and colleagues.  Doing and embracing God’s will is the only essential thing for Francis, just as it was for Jesus: “I have come to do the will of the One who sent me.”  And the principal arena for God’s will is one’s state in life and all the ordinary and often-little things that come with living, working and interacting with others day in and day out.  Indeed, “Doing ordinary things with great love” is the secret to holiness for the Salesian family.  This is what Nazareth teaches us.

For thirty years, Jesus lived with his mother and foster father, interacting with them and with his relatives and neighbors in hundreds of ordinary ways every day.  He had ample opportunity to learn and practice the “little virtues” so celebrated by Francis: kindness, compassion, forgiveness and charity.

The parents of Jesus were his first and best teachers of the ways of God and the expectations of love’s double commandment. Mary also taught him a continual availability –her “fiat!-- to the divine will: “Let it be done to me according to your word!”  In his quiet and gentle manner, Joseph taught him to be open and responsive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit as Joseph himself was in taking Mary for his wife and in fleeing to Egypt at his son’s birth.  He also taught his son the carpenter’s trade, teaching him by example how to work with his hands and, thus, to esteem and respect all those who, like him, earned their livelihood by hard work and the sweat of their brow.

We celebrate the feast of St. Joseph this week.  Jesus learned much from that large-hearted man of great faith, gentle strength and hard work.  May we learn from him as well!  Esteem your own “Nazareth,” for therein lies the secret to holiness!

By Rev. Lewis S. Fiorelli, OSFS

Provincial

Oblates of St. Francis de Sales

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Transfigure Us, O Lord, to Live You!

Last Sunday was the Transfiguration Gospel of the Second Sunday in Lent. We heard God’s call to Abram and Sarai to “go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and your father’s house to a land that I will show you.”(Gen 12:1). Both readings invite us to see with faith eyes and call for trust in God and for our transfiguration to shine like the Son.

When has God’s call to see or be different meant you stepped out in trust? Have people commented: “You’re beaming,” “You look different, at peace, happy, whole?” Transfiguration Sunday and our Lenten journey are about living our baptismal commitment to “Live Jesus,” always and in all ways.

A dozen students and staff gather on campus to feed on homemade soup and the Sunday readings. One student commented this past week that it must have taken Abram’s huge trust in God to go forth and leave all that was familiar and do what God asked. He and Sarai left all, and trusted God’s promises of numerous descendants and to make Abram a blessing for all the communities of the earth, all. What is it like to trust God like that?  Did Abram and Sarai shone with God’s light like the transfigured Jesus?

Another student talked about becoming a student missionary and leaving all that was familiar to witness his faith in Jesus. Why? He hopes that his example and presence invite others into a relationship with Jesus like his. It hasn’t been easy. There have been times of doubt. But these two years of mission have been a blessing in many ways.

Another visit with students brought us to the home of a woman who wanted us to paint for her. She had others needs from our perspective, but that was what she wanted done. We try to meet people where they are on life’s journey, like Jesus did. Her dog, her companion of 14 years, died the night before. So, she asked us to bury her dog. We dug a grave, buried her canine companion, and joined her in prayer and song at the graveside. Meeting her in her needs was God’s call for us that day. Doesn’t life often invite us to find God in situations we least expect?

Each year the students I mentor, and the people we meet in service, serve us by opening our eyes to look beneath the surface of our own assumptions, presumptions, and biases. What do we see? Hopefully we see another beloved daughter or son of God.

Each Lent calls us to renew the promise we made at Baptism to see with eyes of Faith and “Live Jesus,” as St. Francis de Sales says. Mother Mary de Sales Chappuis, VHM echoes this writing, “We do that by imprinting the Gospel, word for word, concretely, in our bodies.”

When we do, we are transfigured and shine with the light of Christ.

In a time where fear often replaces fact and can make us more self-centered rather than other-centered and God-centered, listen for God’s invitation addressed to us: I will bless you. You will be a blessing to all. You put on Christ in Baptism. You are God’s beloved son, daughter. So listen, trust, and let God transfigure you and me by living Jesus and shining with Christ. May God be praised!

Paul H. Colloton, OSFS

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A Salesian Reflection on Coronavirus: St. Francis de Sales on Fear

As fears about the Coronavirus escalate in our country and around the world, the calming words of St. Francis de Sales keep coming to mind, “Do not be afraid.” 

Francis de Sales had a great reverence for divine Providence.  For him, God is hardly indifference or aloof from his creation, especially from us who bear his image.  Far from it.  He states, “By his providence God is a father to his children.”  A father loves, provides, protects and cares deeply for his children.  Such is God, our father.

Because of his unshakable trust in Providence, Francis often repeats the words that Jesus spoke to comfort his frightened disciples: “Do not be afraid.”  Children have all sorts of fears: “Something’s under my bed, thunder and lightning, the shadow across my window,” and so forth.  All the child needs to cast those fears aside is the reassuring presence and the comforting and soothing words of a parent, “There, there.  I am here now.  There’s nothing to be afraid of.” 

For Francis, that parent is God.  He is there to love, care, comfort and protect us even with our adult fears such as the fear of losing our job, or the fear of ill health and aging, even the fear of the timing and circumstances of our death.  Today, many of us are frightened by the new virus and its growing menace.  In all such fears, we look to God as a loving parent who speaks quietly and comforting to our heart, “Do not be afraid.  I am here.  All will be well.”

The way that a provident and caring God becomes the reality of our lives is by getting to know God –indeed, by falling in love with God.  Then, words of his loving and caring Providence will no longer simply be words on a page, but reality itself.  Such a love casts out all fear.

We are in the Season of Lent.  This new virus colors this Lent. So, spend some quality time getting to know God.  For, to know him is to love him and, in loving him, to no longer be afraid, “I am here now.  All will be well.”

Rev. Lewis S. Fiorelli, OSFS

Provincial

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St. Francis de Sales on Fasting During Lent

The book, “Sermons of St. Francis de Sales For Lent,” gives us twelve sermons by DeSales on key aspects of the Christian life given during Lent in 1622.  The topics include fasting, how to resist temptation, the danger of losing one's soul, living faith vs. dead or dying faith, Christian attitude toward death, proper conduct in illness, God's special providence toward those living a spiritual life, the hidden meanings of Our Lord's Passion, eternal happiness, mutual charity, and many other topics. 

If you are interested in obtaining this book, click here: https://embracedbygod.org/product/sermons-for-lent/

St Francis de Sales’ sermons during Lent 1622 begin with his discourse on fasting during Lent. 

“I thought of speaking to you of the conditions which render fasting good and meritorious. Understand that of itself fasting is not a virtue. It is a virtue only when it is accompanied by conditions which render it pleasing to God.

We find some people who think that to fast well during the holy season of Lent it is enough to abstain from eating some prohibited food. We know very well that it is not enough to fast exteriorly if we do not also fast interiorly, and if we do not accompany the fast of the body with that of the spirit.

Now among all the conditions required for fasting well, I will select 3 principal ones...

The first condition is that we must fast with our whole heart, willingly, wholeheartedly, universally and entirely.

The second condition is never to fast through vanity but always through humility.

The third condition necessary for fasting well is to look to God and to do everything to please Him, withdrawing within ourselves in imitation of a great saint, St. Gregory the Great who withdrew into a secret place where he remained for a time.”

Three hundred and ninety-eight years later we can still learn from Francis as we work to create a rich and meaningful Lenten experience for ourselves.

Source:        Sermons of St. Francis de Sales For Lent

“Sermon for Ash Wednesday” - February 9, 1622

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DeSales Weekly Editor: Rev. John (Jack) Kolodziej, OSFS

Mardi Gras: St. Francis de Sales on pre-Lent Preparation

As Catholic Christianity spread throughout Europe, different cultures celebrated the time before Lent in their own ways, adapting practices to suit their cultures. In France, the day before Ash Wednesday became particularly popular as people feasted on foods that would be given up during the forty days of Lent. Meats, eggs, and milk were finished off in one day, giving the holiday its French title of “Mardi Gras”, which literally translates as “Fat Tuesday.”

In the time of Francis de Sales, the great French saint, the intent of Mardi Gras was to indulge. However, he surely would have reminded his flock, in the words of one his famous maxims, “All good things in moderation.”  DeSales taught, as can be read in the book, “Sermons of St. Francis de Sales on Lent,” about the importance of properly preparing our hearts for this holy season.

For many, Lent focuses on external symbols and acts, such as being marked with ashes and the external mortifications of “giving up” things. St. Francis de Sales places attention on the internal transformations of the heart during Lent.  His writings and sermons often relied upon metaphors to express a deeper spiritual teaching. In this case of a marked internal transformation of the heart, he used the image of an almond tree as understood in botany during the early periods of the Renaissance.

“Men engaged in horticulture tell us that if a word is written on a sound almond seed and it is placed again its shell, carefully wrapped up and planted, whatever fruit the tree bears will have that same written word stamped on it. For myself…I cannot approve the methods of those who try to reform a person by beginning with external things, such as bearings, dress, or hair. On the contrary, it seems to me that we should begin inside. ‘Be converted to me with your whole heart,’ God said. ‘My child, give me your heart.’  Since the heart is the source of actions, as the heart is, so are they…

For this reason, I have wished above all else to engrave and inscribe on your heart this holy, sacred maxim, LIVE JESUS! I am sure that your life, which comes from the heart just as the almond tree comes from its seed, will after that produce all its actions — which are its fruits — inscribed and engraved with this sacred word of salvation.”

Although we may enjoy the celebratory spirit of Mardi Gras, let us also use these few remaining days of pre-Lent to prepare properly.  With the inspiration and guidance of St. Francis de Sales, may we ready our hearts for the interior transformation we are called to as God’s children. 

God be praised!

Fr. Steve Shott, OSFS

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DeSales Weekly Editor: Rev. John (Jack) Kolodziej, OSFS

Saint Valentin’s Day: A Salesian Reflection on Love

The bishop stood before the 36 young confirmandi about to receive the sacrament of confirmation. Everyone was quiet as they gazed at the bishop looking upon them. He pointed at the tabernacle and began: “Do you see that flame flickering near the tabernacle?”

Everyone turned to look at the candle burning a bright red near the tabernacle.  He continued, “It’s quivering flame reminds us that Jesus is present in this Church. Whenever we come into this church, day or night, we will see that candle burning. Its constant flame tells everyone Jesus is here,” he said.

Then with staff in hand, the Bishop continued, “During your confirmation the Holy Spirit will light a flame in your hearts.  It’s your reminder that Jesus is constantly there too!”

Pausing, the Bishop said, “And its flame shows you that Jesus sees you, knows who you are, and loves you. The quiet, flickering, and ever-burning flame is there to remind you that Jesus is near. We never have to fear loneliness or know the panic of being all alone.” The Bishop added, “The Holy Spirit’s special task is keeping the warmth of Jesus’ love safeguarding and protecting everyone who follows Jesus.”

What a powerful image of the Holy Spirit!  To keep alive in the heart of believers this amazing promise, Jesus, the son of God and Messiah, is always traveling with us through each day.

Jesus is next to us when days are bright and sunny, and behind the dark clouds when nights are somber and slow.  The burning flame shows Jesus as our true best friend forever who is always unfailingly close.

Saint Francis de Sales knew the warmth of the Holy Spirit’s flame when he wrote: When did God’s love for you begin? It began when God began to be God-which God has always been. So also, God has loved you from all eternity. Saying “I have loved you with and everlasting love,” Ps 103.

Happy Saint Valentine’s Day.

Rev. Richard DeLillio, OSFS

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DeSales Weekly Editor:: Rev. John (Jack) Kolodziej, OSFS

Spiritual Light in the Darkness of Winter

Some of us find that February and March to be long months. There is still too much cold and wind, still too much darkness, and not enough spring beauty. There are those who refer to these as nesting months: spending time inside the walls of home, school, and work and hopefully inside the walls of our hearts.

I would like us to begin some late winter and early spring spiritual cleaning as we navigate these uncertain days of wind chill, wintry mixes, and unseasonable warmth.

Here are some considerations:

1. Uncertainty and doubt are not necessarily spiritual weaknesses but often spiritual invitations to a deeper faith. Live the questions, doubts, and uncertainties.

2. In dark moments, we do not always receive neon clarity, but frequently we get just the light needed for the next step or two.

3. Barren trees are beautiful. When I run through Wildwood Park these days, I can see the raw beauty of nature and its expanse. There is little to block the wider view. Spring brings an abundance of green, flowering colors and beauty but also with limited and a more focused range of vision.

4. Nesting is a gift. Wintry mixes and snowfalls take us out of our comfort zone and routine to show us that we are not ultimately in charge. Do not panic but enjoy the unexpected gift of a day off or a two-hour delay. How many rolls of toilet paper or gallons of milk do we really need to make it through that unplanned for day?

5. Wind is my winter adversary. Cold does not stop me, but a certain wind speed will deflate my courageous spirit to go out and run. I am not proud to say that it can win too easily. What are our adversaries that deflate the wind of our spiritual sails?

6. The fluctuating temperatures of this season can remind us of the changes of our hearts. Warm, tender, loving, giving, but also, cold, calculating, unforgiving are all possible moments that beat from this life-giving organ. What life do we want to pulsate from within us?

7. In the Scriptures, seven is the whole number. This season is only part of the fabric of the changes that take place each year. Hopefully, these changes ask us to look at each day and each season to remind us of the importance of living each day and moment wholly and with all the love and devotion we can bring forth from our loving hearts.

Live Jesus!

Fr. Matt Hillyard, OSFS

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DeSales Weekly Editor:: Rev. John (Jack) Kolodziej, OSFS

Salesian Reflection of Feast of the Presentation: Keep This Light Burning Brightly

Sunday is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Forty days after Christmas Jesus was presented to the Lord in the Temple. Simeon meets Mary, Joseph, and Jesus and says that the child Jesus is: “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” (Lk 2:32) This Feast is also called Candlemas and Church tradition has us begin Mass by blessing candles and processing with them.

When we were baptized, a light was taken from the Paschal Candle and presented to us or to our parents and godparents, if we were too young to hold a candle safely. The Deacon or Priest said:

“Receive the Light of Christ. Parents and godparents, this light is entrusted to you to be kept burning brightly. These children of yours have been enlightened by Christ. They are to walk always as children of the light. May they keep the flame of faith alive in their hearts. When the Lord comes, may they go out to meet him with all the saints in the heavenly kingdom.” (Rite of Baptism for Children, n.127)

The Light of Christ is entrusted to us to keep burning brightly alive in our hearts. How are you doing with that? Is the Light of Christ seen in you? Is it on full power or faintly burning? Wherever we fall in the spectrum, the Light of Christ remains in us.

Last Sunday, we heard in the prophet Isaiah: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom, a light has shone” (Is. 9:1). When quoted in the Gospel we heard: “The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen.” (Mt. 4:16).

Notice the bolded verbs in the quote from Isaiah are in the past tense: “walked” and “dwelt.” The bolded verbs in Matthew’s Gospel are in the present tense, “sit” and “dwelling.” While the Light of Christ will not be overshadowed, we heard at Christmas there is still darkness that needs Christ’s light: there is a darkness in ourselves, our families, our Church, our nation, and our world. Yet, the Good News of Christmas, The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time A, and The Presentation of the Lord, is that we have a light that will guide us through any situation and empower us to be the Light of Christ for our world.

In 12-step programs people can sometimes feel sorry for themselves and sit on the proverbial pity pot. The wisdom of the program is the wisdom of these feasts and readings. They tell us to “Get up off of your pity pot and look out.” In other words, raise your heads and your eyes. See that there are people suffering more than you who need the Light. St. Francis de Sales offers similar advice: “Our imperfections are going to accompany us to the grave. Do not be disheartened by your imperfections, but always rise up with fresh courage.”

Our imperfections and darkness are always with us. These are gifts to us because they can lead us to renew God’s merciful Christ-Light if we rise up with fresh courage. We are sinners, whether our sin is big or small. None of us is perfect. Yet, as a friend of mine recently said to his son who was contemplating suicide, “God is good and so are we.” We are made in the Divine image; thus, we are God’s love made real and visible. God dwells in us.

When we are tempted to think, “I’m a schmuck, unworthy, unlovable, and/or unforgivable,” we must remember that God dwells in us. Look up and see the darkness around you, see where you can be the Light of Christ for others.  Look to those who can be light for you and, turn to the Light of Christ in them.

As we prepare to celebrate Candlemas on Sunday, remember that we have received the Light of Christ. We are living candles when we “Live+Jesus,” we become the light of God’s merciful love alive and real today. God is good and so are we. When we’ve been in darkness that goodness shines brighter, if we turn to the Light and live it.

May God be praised.

Paul H. Colloton, OSFS

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The Feast Day of St. Francis de Sales

January 24 is the Feast of St. Francis de Sales, the patron saint of writers and Christian unity whose role as a priest and bishop helped bring thousands of Protestants back to the Catholic Church.

In the late 16th and early 17th century, St. Frances de Sales conducted spiritual direction both in person and in written correspondence. This inspired his famous works; “Introduction to the Devout Life” and “Treatise on the Love of God.”

During his ministry in Switzerland, he wrote and distributed religious pamphlets that made inroads among Protestants and helped over 50,000 people return to the Catholic faith.

Because he is a patron saint of writers, his feast day traditionally marks the release of the Pope’s annual message for World Communications Day. Pope Benedict XVI’s 2013 message reflected on social networks and their potential to strengthen unity and harmony between people. He also warned that these enable a mindset that rewards popularity, rather than rewarding what has intrinsic value.

St. Francis de Sales was no stranger to unpopularity. As a priest he volunteered to lead a mission to return the Calvinist Switzerland back to the Catholic faith. He faced much hostility, including death threats and potential assassins.

He was born in 1567 in the Savoy region in what is now part of France, near the famous Lake of Annecy. He was a diplomat’s son, born into a household with great devotion to St. Francis of Assisi, in whose honor DeSales was named.  As the oldest son, it was planned from his birth that the young Francis would follow in his father’s footsteps.

He studied rhetoric, the humanities and law in preparation for a political career. He had resolved to hold to religious celibacy, and he held a deep devotion to the Virgin Mary, but he kept this strong spiritual life secret from the world.

This devotion clashed with the wishes of his father, who had arranged a marriage for him. The Catholic bishop of Geneva found Francis de Sales a position in the Swiss Church, leading to his ordination as a priest in 1593.

Francis was named Bishop of Geneva in 1602, after which he worked to restore Geneva’s churches and religious orders. He helped the future saint Jane Frances de Chantal, whom he had served as spiritual director, found a women’s religious order, The Visitation of Holy Mary.

He died in 1622 in Lyons at a convent of the Visitation that he had helped to found. Francis de Sales was canonized in 1665 and named a Doctor of the Church in 1877.

Source: Adapted from The Catholic News Agency

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DeSales Weekly Editor: Fr. Bill McCandless, OSFS

Our Personal Construction Projects in 2020

Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build.
            -Psalm 127

The Brookland neighborhood in Washington, DC has become home to a flurry of construction projects over the past few years. One of the most recent of these projects is a new mid-rise housing complex that covers an entire city block.

During the fall semester, I passed by the site every day on my way to school and was amazed at how quickly the structure rose. Only a few months ago, there was just a bare concrete foundation, and now several floors of timber frames rise above the streetscape. I’ve wondered when the building will be completed. A year from now, six months, a few weeks?

While we do not all use our hands at construction sites like the one in Brookland, we all have our own building projects to which we dedicate much of our everyday lives. Each of us can probably name a few that we’re working on at this very moment, such as our “New Year’s resolutions.” More often than not, these are very worthwhile endeavors. We look forward to getting to behold our accomplishment as we hammer in the nails, shine the windows, and plant flowers along the walkways.

And we should be proud of our work. To deny the fact that we put a lot of mental energy, ingenuity, perspiration, and yes, caffeine, into those works that are important to us would be a false humility, a denial of the creative agency that God has given to each of us.

The temptation comes when we buy into the subtle but attractive illusion that these construction projects are solely our work, when we forget who the architect is and who the project is for. A new building does not exist because of those preparing the ground and pouring the concrete. It exists because of the architect who designed it. It exists because of the people who will come to live in it.

If we remember this, we’ll get less upset when our projects aren’t completed by the time we wanted. We’ll be less frustrated when the construction is slowed by the snows of winter or the rains of spring. Perhaps even more importantly, we’ll be a bit more willing to let go of our favorite power tool, to walk away from our prized project, though unfinished, if the architect beckons us to take up a new task.

The coming of a New Year is an opportunity to remember who all of our personal construction projects are ultimately for: the God whose coming we have celebrated during the season of Christmas, the God who makes his dwelling among us, who literally “pitches his tent” among us (John 1:14). We may think we know where he wants to stay, in this or that house we’ve been so feverishly working on. We may up our tempo even more when we realize that our project may not be finished by its projected completion date. At such a point, God may surprise us, asking us to leave the installation of the final few wall studs and roof shingles to someone else, to work according to a new blueprint in some other corner of our lives, so that he may take up his dwelling there.

This New Year, may God give us the dedication to do well the work that God has entrusted to us, taking hold of the tools he has given for its purpose. May God give us the humility to let go of these when he asks. And whatever house we’re building, whether it be a grand mansion or humble little shed, whether it be finished or not, may we always open the door to the God who comes to dwell with us, who is the Master Craftsman whose handiwork we are.

By Joseph McDaniel, OSFS

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DeSales Weekly Editor:: Rev. John (Jack) Kolodziej, OSFS

Salesian Concept of The Epiphany

This coming Sunday is the Feast of the Epiphany.  We will hear proclaimed from the Gospel of Matthew:

Behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
“Where is the newborn king of the Jews?
We saw his star at its rising
and have come to do him homage.”

Not just on Epiphany, but every day –– every hour, every moment –– we are called to follow the star that is our Lord, our Redeemer and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Each day, we are called to set out onto the road of life, following the signs of God’s love, justice, reconciliation and peace wherever we experience them. And like the astrologers in today’s Gospel, we, too, are called to “do him homage.”

Homage, an old-fashioned, quaint-sounding term, is defined in the dictionary as “special honor or respect shown publicly.”

Hmmm, perhaps not so quaint or out-of-date a notion after all!

How can we do Jesus homage? How can we publicly give him special honor and respect? What kind of gifts can we give to Christ –– and by extension, to one another –– day in and day out? Are such displays of respect limited to cross-continental treks or exotic, once-in-a-lifetime treasures?

Francis de Sales offers this advice:

“Let us not be at all eager in our work, for, in order to do it well, we must apply ourselves to it carefully indeed, but calmly and peacefully, without trusting in our labor, but rather, relying on God and God’s grace. Anxious searching of the heart about advancing in perfection, and those endeavors to see if we are advancing, are not at all pleasing to God, and only serve to satisfy our own self-love, that subtle tormentor which grasps at so much but accomplishes so very little. One single good work, done with tranquil spirit, is worth far more than many done with anxious eagerness.”

Paying homage to Jesus –– showing special respect and honor in public –– is measured less by grandiose feats and more by simple, ordinary actions performed with great attention and intention. Paying homage to Jesus is not only about a multiplicity of good deeds but also more about fully immersing ourselves in each moment of each day as it comes. Paying homage to Jesus is less about trying to prove to Jesus how worthy we are and more about accepting our need for God and the actions of God’s grace in our lives. Paying homage to Jesus is less about prostrating ourselves before him and more about standing up for all that is righteous, peaceful, liberating and just.

How might our experiences this day –– and especially, the people whom we encounter in those experiences –– be inviting us to pay homage to Christ?

The answer – we pay homage to Christ by paying special honor and respect to one another – one, single good work at a time.

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DeSales Weekly Editor: : Rev. John (Jack) Kolodziej, OSFS

St. Francis DeSales' Last Christmas, 1622

The Christmas season of 1622 was a busy time for St. Francis de Sales. He had just finished participating in a series of official meetings between the governments of France and Savoy. Since these meetings had been held at Lyons, he decided to stay there for Christmas and with the Visitation nuns.

The last letter he penned was dated December 24, 1622. It was written to Roger de Saint Lary, the Duke of Bellegarde. He, too, had been a participant at the meetings and was still in Lyons at the time.

The Duke de Bellegarde at that time was the “Master of the Horse” at the court of Henry IV and Louis XIII. In his earlier years, he was one of the most worldly and arrogant courtiers of his time and a man of great power and influence.

He first met St. Francis de Sales in 1603 but did not come under his more immediate influence until around ten years later. At that time, he decided to put himself under St. Francis de Sales’ direction and straighten out his life. St. Francis worked with him and helped this nobleman change his pattern of life. St. Francis de Sales called him his favorite "Theotimus." That was the name of the spiritual friend to whom St. Francis de Sales addressed his famous work The Treatise on the Love of God.

Actually, St. Francis did see him after he sent him the letter. He bumped into the Duke on December 27 and spoke to him at length about the content of that letter. This is a simple letter with a simple request asking a kindness for a poor man, which is part of the heart of the Christmas message.

My dear Sir and Son,

This great feast of Christmas which almost deprives one of the hope of seeing you again gives me sufficient confidence to appeal to you on behalf of a poor man whom I am bound to love in charity and also because of the good example he gave of his faith and uprightness while he lived in the region of Gex where he was subject to persecution in spite of his innocence. He will explain his poverty when he speaks to you, and if you are unable to do as he begs, he presents an alternate plan, my dear sir and my son: that it may please your goodness to give him a post in the salt mines or else in forestry, which is his real work, or elsewhere under your authority.

Works of mercy are in season at this time which is dedicated to the great mercy shown to us by the Son of God when He was born on earth for our salvation, and I beg Him very humbly always to be favorable to you, Sir, according to the continued wish of my heart; and I am,

Your very humble and very obedient servant,

Francis, Bishop of Geneva.

On this the Eve of Christmas, 1622

St. Francis DeSales was concerned about this poor man. He wrote the letter. He then spoke about it to the Duke on December 27. I suspect he wanted to make sure that this Christmas gift would be granted to the poor man. The Lord granted St. Francis de Sales a special Christmas gift too. He called St. Francis home to Himself on December 28.

Praying that you and your loved ones have a Blessed Christmas Season and the Blessing of our Lord of Mercy in 2020.

-         Rev. Neil F. Kilty, OSFS

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DeSales Weekly Editor:: Rev. John (Jack) Kolodziej, OSFS