01-26-2021, 04:26 PM
Every Day with Saint Francis de Sales
Teachings and Examples from the Life of the Saint by Salesiana Publishers
January 26th (page 26)
We must have a good opinion of those we see practicing virtues, even though imperfectly, since we know that the saints themselves have often practiced them in this manner. As for ourselves, we must be careful to practice virtues not only faithfully but prudently. To this purpose we must strictly follow the advice of wise men, not to rely on our own prudence but on the judgment of those whom God has given us for direction.
(INT, Part III, Ch. 2: O. III, p. 131)
In the city of Annecy it was customary at the beginning of the year to exchange cards, written in gold on satin, with which men chose their Valentines. These cards, according to the laws of that worldly society, would serve as introduction to balls, conversation or trips. The saint, realizing that these encounters were often occasions of sin for many, preached a fiery sermon against this abuse on January 26th, 1603. He implored the people, with great zeal, neither to send nor to receive Valentines, except from himself. After this sermon he distributed to every family cards bearing the name of a saint, whom he advised the receiver to adopt as patron or patroness for the year. Each card also had a quotation form Scripture or the Church fathers printed on it. This idea proved successful. When he was told that certain libertines were making fun of him, the saint replied, “Let them because those on our side are much more numerous than those against us.”
(A.S. I, p. 650)
On January 26th, 1923, the encyclical Rerum Omnium was published, dedicated by Pope Pius XI to the glory of Saint Francis de Sales on the third centenary of his death. The pope added another jewel to the splendid crown of the saint by naming him the patron of journalists and Catholic writers. Thus the bishop of Geneva, already known as the apostle of the Chablais, the patriarch of the Daughters of Mary, and the doctor of true devotion, came into possession of still another title.
Let us once and for all how to love one another as we will in Heaven.