Association Of Catholic Bloggers

St Francis de Sales The feast of St Francis de Sales is celebrated on 24 January. He was an outstanding bishop, theologian, a Doctor of the Church, that is, someone recognised as having brought us to a deeper understanding of the teaching that Christ gave to St Peter and the Apostles to be passed on to each generation. This great saint is a patron saint of journalists and writers - and of the Deaf and hearing impaired. Below is something I posted originally on 24 January 2009 and again four years later. This time I've added  [some comments] . I  originally posted  the following on 24 January 2009. Today is the feast of St Francis de Sales (1567-1622), Bishop and Doctor of the Church, patron of journalists and of the Deaf. So he is my patron on both counts, since I edit  Misyon   [phased out in 2018]  and have been working with the Deaf on a part-time basis since 1992 and frequently celebrate Mass in Sign Language. Above all, he was a man who lived the fulne...

Photo by  Leo Rivas  on  Unsplash When I was a little girl, I'd pick weeds from the lawn - dandelions, mostly, and bring a bouquet in to my mother. She'd smile and put them in a little green glass vase, add water, and put the vase on the kitchen windowsill. Every time I walked by the window and saw my gift to her, my heart would fill with joy, and I'd be so happy. I had given my mother the best thing I knew. In today's randomly chosen reading from St. Francis de Sales, a letter he wrote in 1605 to Rose Bourgeois, one his spiritual daughters, gently reminded me of a simple truth: God wants our weeds. Read more on my author site: Jeanne Grunert - God Wants Our Weeds

I like to imagine that, were he living in our age, St. Francis de Sales would be a blogger.  After reading the following on Catholic Online, I suspect my idea may not be all that far-fetched....   "Francis' unusual patience kept him working.  No one would listen to him, no one would even open their door.  So Francis found a way to get under the door.  He wrote out his sermons, copied them by hand, and slipped them under the doors.  This is the first record we have of religious tracts being used to communicate with people."  It is primarily because of his tracts, copied tirelessly by hand and slipped under doors, that Francis de Sales has been named patron of Catholic journalists. I cannot imagine a more appropriate saint for bloggers. May he pray for all who slip faithful, God-honoring, blog posts through today's cyber-doors... from thecloisteredheart.org

Live Today Well: Saint Francis de Sales’s Simple Approach to Holiness , by Fr. Thomas F. Dailey, O.S.F.S is a gem! This five-star book offers anyone wanting to grow closer to God a practical means of doing so. Fr. Dailey takes the reader through Saint Francis de Sales’ Spiritual Directory , using contemporary ways of applying this ever useful, and timeless instruction of St Francis on how to live today well; from one’s first rising in the morning until one lays their head down to sleep at night. This book offers prayerful ways that we can grow in virtue; thus grow in holiness. My favorite line from Fr. Dailey’s book is this: By seeking ways to practice a particular virtue throughout the day, we can counteract those imperfections toward which prior examinations have revealed we may be inclined (page 113). How to Live Each Day Well How often have we looked back on our day and said to ourselves... Read more...

A Wet Sunday Morning by Edmund Blair Leighton In the following piece of advise, St Francis talks about what is required for our Sunday obligation in which we receive Jesus in Holy Communion.  The last bit of counsel for married couples was quite interesting. "There is no danger in doing all sorts of good and necessary tasks and in working on the day when one has been to communion.  In the primitive  church when everyone went to communion everyday, do you think that they sat their with their arms folded for the rest of the day?  And St. Paul, who generally said Mass, went on earning his living by the work of his hands. To read the rest, visit The Sincere Gift

St. Francis de Sales is patron of Catholic writers.  As a blogger, therefore, I happily claim him as a patron of "me." As the Church celebrates his feast on January 24th, I can imagine him sitting in the world of today with a laptop, clicking out the good news that indeed Jesus lives.  Francis wrote voluminously.  Not only is he known for his books, but for his (numerous) letters.  He also composed short pamphlets for wide distribution, to help clarify the faith in a time when confusion abounded.  I like to imagine him patting today's Catholic bloggers on the back, encouraging us to "keep it up" as we distribute our witness to the Truth in THIS age of the Church and in our turbulent world.       St. Francis was a bishop and founder of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary; he was a busy man in France in the early 1600s. Still, he found time to take up his quill pen and spread the good news of Christ. As we clack a...