by Thompson, Blanche Jennings

Illustrated by Charles Walker

Just 300 years ago -only 43 years after his death- the name of Bishop Francis de Sales was added to the roster of Saints. Born in what is now France during that critical period for the church when the Reformation had made strong in-roads he brought thousands back to the faith through his preaching and writing. Together with St Jane Frances de Chantal, whose dramatic life is also recounted in this book, he founded the great Order of the Visitation. His best-known work, Introduction to the Devout Life, is so full of gentleness and understanding that it is still read and cherished. Such a source of inspiration was Saint Francis to Pope John XXIII that while a seminarian he wrote in his diary, “If I were to be like Saint Francis de sales, I would not even be afraid to become Pope”