STORY: Francis came from a noble family in the Kingdom of Savoy near modern day Switzerland. Francis grew up very religious but did not tell his parents he wanted to be a priest; they wanted him to be a lawyer because he was very bright. Eventually, though, he shared his desire and was ordained. In the midst of the Protestant Reformation, he went house to house to catechize and spread the faith and wrote pamphlets and gave sermons. He tirelessly worked to bring people back to the faith. He was ordained a Bishop and helped the future St. Jane de Chantal to found a religious order for women.

PATRON OF: Catholic writers, the Catholic press, the deaf, journalists, adult education

FEAST DAY: January 24

DATES: August 21, 1567 – December 28, 1622

SOURCE: St. Francis de Sales at Catholic.org

READ MORE: St. Francis de Sales at Catholic Encyclopedia

Image attribution: Reinhardhauke, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons