Two Great Saints of Gentle Strength and Cheerful Optimism

The last week in January is surely the week of the Salesian saints: Francis de Sales on January 24th and Don Bosco on January 31st.


It is interesting to note how each one was a man of his time, although their family backgrounds were radically different. Francis was from the nobility and Don Bosco was from a poor family in Italy two centuries later. Both men seemed to be by nature a bit impetuous and strong-willed, but each came to see that to reeach the hearts of those with whom they worked they needed to be men of gentle loving kindness.


A spirituality of the heart inspired them and pe rmeated their work with souls. In a message to the Salesian congregation one of Don Bosco's followers wrote: "St. Francis de Sales is an outstanding educator in the way of perfection, and his works are totally permeated by that pedagogy which our founder took up several centuries later, adapting them with so much art. He achieved this not on paper, but in the society created by him for the salvation of youth. . . .


'We can learn much from these two gentle saints about liviing in the presence of God, accepting the circumstances of our lives with peace and avoiding what Francis one describes as " a panting heart, fluttering wings, an agitated will, that lacks any kind of resignation.