ACI Prensa—Every Jan. 24, the Catholic Church celebrates St. Francis de Sales, bishop of Geneva and doctor of the Church, known as “the saint of kindness.” He reportedly had a bad temper, but he relied on divine grace and the maternal care of the Virgin Mary to temper that vice and become a man of virtue. St. Francis de Sales is also the patron saint of the Catholic press, journalists, and writers. He is considered a spiritual master, inspiring saints such as St. John Bosco and St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus. A bad temper Francis was born in 1567 in the castle of Sales, duchy of Savoy (then part of the Holy Roman Empire). He was the eldest of six siblings. He had a restless and playful character, to the point that his mother and his wet nurse had to redouble their efforts to take care of him and be attentive to his wanderings. As a child, Francis had an irascible temperament. His biographers tell that one day a Calvinist visited the castle in which he lived and little Francis, when he heard about it, took a stick and went running around the chickens shouting: “Heretics out, we don’t want heretics.” His father, on the other hand, wanting Francis to grow up well disciplined, chose a priest named Father Deage, a demanding man, as his tutor. The priest gave Francis a hard time, but, as Francis himself later acknowledged, it helped him in his human and Christian formation. Nevertheless, Francis’ bad temper would continue to play tricks on him. Sometimes his blunders or outbursts...
Read More