Trusting in God with St. Francis de Sales
In all your affairs, rely wholly on God’s providence, through which alone you must look for success. Nevertheless, strive quietly on your part to cooperate with its designs…. Imitate little children who with one hand hold fast to their father while with the other they gather strawberries or blackberries from the hedges. — St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, III.10
François (Francis) de Sales (d. 28 December 1622) was not always so ready to grasp the Father’s hand. This “doctor of charity,” whose name has become almost synonymous withdouceur (“gentleness” or “sweetness”), knew what it meant to feel abandoned by God. Born in 1567 to an aristocratic family of the Duchy of Savoy, Francis was sent to top-notch schools in Annecy, Paris, and Padua. During studies in Paris in the 1580s, he encountered theological discussions of predestination that sent him into a spiritual tailspin. The Council of Trent’s “Decree on Justification” had merely mentioned “the mystery of predestination” in passing, leaving room for diverse schools of thought on its role in the Christian life. Because many early Protestants—especially followers of John Calvin—made predestination a key part of their theology, late sixteenth-century Catholic theologians hotly debated the proper way to include predestination in the Catholic view of grace and salvation. As the young Francis de Sales delved into these matters, he convinced himself that he was unavoidably predestined to hell. This spiritual crucible lasted for about two months, at the end of which he was moved to place himself completely in God’s hands. Nearly lost in despair, he turned and accepted God’s love. Having overcome this crisis of faith, the saint became a faithful student of trust in God. Moreover, he became a prophet of the gentle God, a sure guide to countless souls who would learn from him how to trust.
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