Saint Francis de Sales-- Today's Memorial

A bishop and Doctor of the Church, Saint Francis de Sales lived from 1567-1622. He was canonized a saint just 33 years after his death.

Saint Francis de Sales was known to be a kind and wise spiritual director. He gave spiritual direction to Saint Jane de Chantal. More than 2,000 of his letters still exist, some of the best of which are published in the book Thy Will Be Done: Letters to Persons in the World. He is the patron saint of journalist and other writers. (I would say bloggers would come under other writers.)

From his classic work Introduction to the Devout Life Saint Francis De Sales writes, "...meekness, temperance, integrity and humility are virtues that must mark all our actions in life...We must always have on hand a good supply of these general virtues since we must use them almost constantly." Later he goes on, "Those who appear in public as angels but are devils in their own homes greatly fail in this regard. (These quotes are found in In Conversation with God, Daily Meditations Volume Six: Special Feasts: January-June, a series I highly recommend, by the way.)

Find out more about Saint Francis de Sales from the following video from Catholic.org.