Feast of St. Francis de Sales

January 29th

Born:1567 :: Died:1622

St Francis de Sales is another one of my favorite saints. (How many does that make now?) Another of the saints from big families, St. Francis was the oldest of six brothers!  It's hard not to love his gentle, nature-filled lessons and practical kind wisdom.  But as gentle and kind as he always seems in his letters and sermons, I've read that he started out life with a choleric disposition, impatient and inclined toward anger. You'd never know, though. That he could reform so completely, by the grace of God and much perserverence, gives me hope!  He's also well known for his eloquent and inspired writings, as well as a large volume of beautifully encouraging correspondences with the faithful.  If you haven't read any De Sales, I highly recommend him!

Here is an online reprint of St. Francis' Treatise on the Love of God .

St. Francis' Introduction to the Devout Life  can be read online here.

St. Francis de Sales is the Patron Saint of:

Authors
Deafness
Journalists
Writers

Prayer of St. Francis
(from the Treatise on the Love of God, Bk 10)
 
Lord, I am yours,
and I must belong to no one but you.

My soul is yours,

and must live only by you.

My will is yours,

and must love only for you.

I must love you as my first cause,

since I am from you.

I must love you as my end and rest,

since I am for you.

I must love you more than my own being,
since my being subsists by you.
I must love you more than myself,
since I am all yours and all in you.
Amen.

Here is my particular prayer to our patron of the day:

Dear St. Francis de Sales, patron of communicators, pray for all of us who navigate the modern world through the internet. Help us to use it as a source of edification and a means of communicating to others only what is pleasing to God. Amen.
 
 Quotes from St. Francis de Sales:
 

"Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength."
 
“Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly
 
“Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections.”

“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.”
 
“Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself.”
 

“If the heart wanders or is distracted, bring it back to the point quite gently and replace it tenderly in its Master's presence. And even if you did nothing during the whole of your hour but bring your heart back and place it again in Our Lord's presence, though it went away every time you brought it back, your hour would be very well employed.”
 
“Reputation is rarely proportioned to virtue.”
 
“While I am busy with little things, I am not required to do greater things.”

“Have patience to walk with short steps until you have wings to fly.”
 
"If we say a little it is easy to add, but having said too much it is hard to withdraw and never can it be done so quickly as to hinder the harm of our success. "
 
"When you encounter difficulties and contradictions, do not try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time."

"When the bee has gathered the dew of heaven and the earth's sweetest nectar from the flowers, it turns it into honey, then hastens to its hive. In the same way, the priest, having taken from the altar the Son of God (who is as the dew from heaven, and true son of Mary, flower of our humanity), gives him to you as delicious food."
 
"Always be as gentle as you can, and remember that more flies are caught with a spoonful of honey than with a hundred barrels of vinegar."

To Celebrate the Feast

Due largely to these last two quotes of St. Francis, his tendency to use analogies from nature, and the golden sweetness and purity of his counsel, it seems only right and good to celebrate his feast day by cooking with honey!

To that end, Catholic Cuisine offers a honey breakfast bar recipe to celebrate this feast, and here is one of many sites which lists many recipes using honey.  One of our favorite honey-based recipes is our homemade granola.  Here's our recipe:

1 box (6 cups) rolled oats
1 cup chopped nuts (we like almonds)
1 cup wheat germ
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup honey (or honey mixed with maple syrup)
1/3 cup oil, any kind, but we like safflower oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 - 1 cup raisins
1/2 - 1 cup chopped dates

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Combine the first 5 ingredients. Warm the honey, add the oil and vanilla. Drizzle the honey-oil over the dry ingredients and toss to coat. Spread the mixture onto 2 cookie sheets. Bake about 30 minutes until golden, stirring every 10 minutes.

When done, remove from oven and stir in dried fruit if used. As the granola cools, it will lose its stickiness and become crunchy. Makes about 9 cups. Store in airtight containers.  Be amazed if it lasts 2 breakfast-times.

Click, copy, and print for a coloring page.

You can also find a lovely coloring page here, at Catholic Playground.

* Did this post look familiar?  :)  It's a repost from last year -- and the year before... But every year I add a little something.