Today is the Feast Day of St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622), Patron Saint of Catholic writers. In De La Salle’s time, however, this feast was observed each January 29. Of him, De La Salle wrote, “It was his gentleness and tenderness for his neighbor that made it possible for Saint Francis to convert so many souls to God….Do you have these sentiments of charity and tenderness toward the poor children whom you have to educate?”
St. John Baptist de La Salle, Meditation on Saint Francis de Sales (January 29), in Meditations by John Baptist de La Salle; trans. Brothers Richard Arnandez & Augustine Loes; ed. Brothers Augustine Loes & Francis Huether (Landover, MD: Christian Brothers Conference, 1994), pp. 186-187.
