Edited by Joseph F. Chorpenning, OSFS

(Chairman, ICSS)

ISBN: 978-0-9800371-0-4

The following introduction is taken from the PREFACE

2004 marked the fourth centenary of the first meeting, on Friday, 5 March 1604, of Francis de Sales, the 37-year-old Savoyard prince-bishop of Geneva resident in Annecy, and Jane Frances Fremyot, baroness de Chantal, the 32-year-old Burgundian widow of three years with four small children. This initial encounter took place in the Sainte-Chapelle in Dijon, the ancient city of the dukes of Burgundy. Lent and Advent were the two most important preaching seasons of the year, and in the major cities of Europe, it was the custom to invite a renowned preacher to spend the duration of these seasons, preaching at least three times a week, if not daily or in some cases several times a day. Francis had been invited by the civic officials of Dijon to preach the Lenten season of 1604.

Jane had her chair placed opposite the pulpit. When Francis mounted the pulpit to begin his sermon, Jane recognized him as the figure she had seen in her vision in the meadow on the estate of Bourbilly, where she had lived with her husband. For his part, Francis took note of the young widow's presence and close attention to his every word, later questioning his host, Andre Fremyot, the archbishop of Bourges and Jane’s brother, about the identity of this woman. Andre was pleased to introduce her as his sister. It would be difficult to exaggerate the long-term significance and impact of this meeting of these two future saints.

To commemorate this foundational moment of the Salesian tradition in a way that would promote original research into primary sources, the International Commission for Salesian Studies (ICSS) issued an invitation, in January 2004, to Salesian scholars worldwide to submit papers focusing on the theme of “Human Encounter in the Salesian Tradition” for a collected volume that it would sponsor and publish. The theme selected was suggested by the nature of the event commemorated; at the same time, this theme was also deemed as being sufficiently generic to encompass a wide range of topics and approaches.

Twenty Salesian scholars from Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States contributed papers. Many of these scholars are members of the various “working groups” of Salesian researchers, and the papers that some submitted were prepared in connection with their participation in these working groups. This is the first project of this kind that the ICSS has undertaken since its establishment in 1976, and we were gratified by the response and the results, which it is a pleasure to present here.

The twenty papers comprising this volume are divided into five thematic sections. Section I explores the theological foundations of encounter, specifically in light of Salesian spirituality: the Biblical (James Cryan, OSFS), Christian humanist (Rob Faesen, SJ), quotidian and human (Helene Bordes), and Eucharistic (Thomas Dailey, OSFS). Next, attention is focused, in Section II, on the initial encounter of Francis and Jane from diverse perspectives: the event itself and its far-reaching consequences in the lives of the two saints and the resulting Salesian tradition (Dirk Koster, OSFS, and Marie-Patricia Burns, VHM); Francis’s and Janes conviction about the active presence of divine providence and grace in this event as confirmed by modern mathematical theories of chance and causality (Daniel Wisniewski, OSFS); and Francis’s important subsequent letter of spiritual direction to Jane of 14 October 1604, which sets forth what would become many of the hallmarks of Salesian spirituality (Alexander Pocetto, OSFS).

The remaining three sections broaden consideration of the theme of encounter. Section III attends to the engagement of the Salesian tradition with other major figures and traditions of Christian spirituality, as well as the context of early modern Catholicism: a comparison of the spirituality of Francis and of St. Teresa of Avila with regard to the privileged place that each accords to St. Joseph (Joseph Chorpenning, OSFS); the paradigmatic role of Teresian iconography in the development of Jane’s cult as evidenced by Gregoire Huret’s engravings for Henri de Maupas du Tour’s La vie de la venerable Mere Jeanne Frangoise Fremiot of 1644 (Christopher Wilson); Jane’s presentation of Francis’s distinctive spirituality in the canonical process for his canonization (Wendy Wright); and Francis’s rapport with the Carthusians and his appreciation of their spirituality (Viviane Mellinghoff-Bourgerie).

Conversely, Section IV considers encounters within the Salesian tradition: the encounter of Francis and Jane with the ubiquitous reality of death and dying in their lives and spirituality (Herbert Winklehner, OSFS); the pedagogical relationship of friendship, reciprocity, and heart-to-heart communication that Francis forges with his reader(s), listeners, and directees (Philippe Legros); and how Francis and his specific form of holiness is visually encountered in the fifty-two emblems and text of Adrien Gambart’s La vie symbolique du bienheureux Francois de Sales of 1664 (Agnes Guiderdoni-Brusle). Two additional papers examine the relationships among several major figures of the nineteenth-century “Salesian Pentecost”: Mother Mary de Sales Chappuis, Fr. Louis Brisson, and St. Leonie Frances de Sales Aviat (Agnes-Theresia Furian, OSFS), and St. John Bosco and St. Dominic Savio (Joseph Boenzi, SDB).

Section V turns to the application of the guiding principles of Salesian spirituality in contemporary therapy, pastoral ministry, and ecumenical dialogue. Similarities and differences between Francis’s method of spiritual direction and Viktor Frankl's psychological logotherapy are identified, and it is suggested how the former can learn from the latter and what the boundaries between them are (Raymund Fobes). The specifics of Francis’s and Jane’s ministerial praxis embodying Jesus’s particular manner of ministering to others are set forth, and it is underscored that this praxis must necessarily serve as the paradigm for those who aspire to minister in a Salesian manner (Lewis Fiorelli, OSFS). Finally, the key role that relationships play in ecumenical dialogue is emphasized, and insights from the Salesian tradition that can strengthen these relationships, and thus advance ecumenism, are enumerated (John Crossin, OSFS).