Fr.Wilson Abraham MSFS

Salesian spirituality is a way of life, based on what St. Francis de Sales (1567–1622) and St. Jane de Chantal (1572–1641) knew, lived, and communicated. Their vision is still being lived today by people from all walks of life, in all states and stages of life. Among the many salient features of Salesian spirituality, two of the essential features are the “Universal call to holiness” and the little virtues as the powerful means to grow in holiness. We have seen through these pages how we can attain holiness through little virtues from a Salesian perspective. To understand this better, we looked at who is De Sales, what is the call to holiness and how the little virtues can help attain holiness.

The first chapter deals with the biographical portrait of De Sales, some of his characteristics, and the uniqueness of his spirituality. He was a man of remarkable equilibrium, both in disposition and in the use of his mind and heart. He often preached about the wisdom of following the middle path, and his theology struck a rare balance between passion and laxity. He was a civil and ecclesiastical lawyer who became the bishop of Geneva during the post-Reformation period, where he faced militant Calvinists. He dealt with aggressive opponents with charity and gentleness, earning him the label “Gentleman Saint.” He had as his motto the phrases “Gentle and firm” and “Live Jesus.” According to him, when a person is full of love for God and neighbour, he prefers “Living Jesus” more than any worldly gain. So, he says: “When the house is on fire, men are ready to throw everything out of the window: when the heart is full of God’s love, men are sure to count all else as worthless.”351 “Living Jesus” manifests itself in interpersonal interactions. When speaking with others, we are called to have a gentle and compassionate heart. Spirituality, according to De Sales, is essentially relational. De Sales values spiritual friendships. He desires for us to have spiritual friends that can assist us in safely traversing life’s winding and treacherous roads. His prolific and convincing writings, which were later found to be error-free, earned him the title titles, “Doctor of the Church” and “Patron Saint of Journalists.”

In the second chapter of this thesis, we see in depth what is holiness from a Salesian perspective. The biblical concept of a call to holiness, in both the Old and New Testaments, is discussed, along with its importance in Christian life. The call to holiness, 351 Jean Pierre CAMUS, The Spirit of St. Francis de Sales, 299. 89 found in the teachings of the Church Fathers, especially in the writings of St Augustine, Clement of Alexandria, and Ignatius of Antioch, was evaluated, and the importance of these teachings, in our day, was drawn out. Then we looked at the teachings on holiness, from the perspective of the Second Vatican Council, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the recent papal teachings: from Popes Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis. Further, we have seen that De Sales was absorbed with the “universal call to holiness” three hundred and fifty-four years before the Second Vatican Council. He writes that this eternal invitation to holiness for humanity has no limits. He says that embracing the universal brotherhood and becoming the instrument of harmony, reconciliation, and love, in this challenging sense, is to respond to this call to holiness. The central message of De Sales to humanity is depicted in the argument that the call to holiness is for everyone, which is essential when we face pressures from globalization, new media, fundamentalism, and secularism in the modern world. This understanding takes us to the next chapter.

The third chapter is about how to attain this call to holiness through the practice of the little virtues, which were dear to De Sales. According to him, the absence of vice is not proof of the contrary virtue. He says: “Many people, not discerning in themselves certain particular vices, think that they possess the opposite virtues and are deceived.”352 One grows in the virtues, not in the absence of trials and temptations. The virtue of strength and the strength of virtue are never to be acquired without trial or when we are wholly free from temptation, but trials and temptations “add strength to our virtue and jewels to our crown.”353 In this third chapter, we looked at various kinds of virtues, what Thomas Aquinas and De Sales taught about virtues, and what are the “Little Virtues” and how to practice them in our lives. Among the many little virtues, we looked at a few in detail, from a Salesian perspective, such as gentleness, humility, simplicity, patience, honesty, cheerfulness, obedience, chastity, and poverty.

De Sales always disliked showy virtues, which cause vainglory, the bane of all good deeds, by their very existence. He preferred: “Those virtues the practice of which is comparatively frequent, common, and ordinary, to others which we may be called upon to exercise on rare occasions.”354 According to him, the little virtues are more challenging to pursue than the heroic virtues. Small matters irritate us more because of their quantity than 352 Ibid., 158. 353 Ibid., 388. 354 Ibid., 26. 90 their strength, just as flies irritate us more because of their numbers than their strength. They will irritate us, but if we have given our hearts to God, they will never hurt us. We face small trials daily; great opportunities to represent Him are few, but small ones prevail. A dedicated person will live in a polluted atmosphere without being contaminated.355

Some of the favourite sayings or maxims of De Sales were about the greatness of the little things. As for takeaways from the reading of this thesis, here I would like to mention a few of his sayings as examples for the readers to take to heart: “Progress consists less in doing much than in doing a little well.” “It is better to do little, but that little well, than to undertake a great deal and do it imperfectly.” “Make haste slowly.” “Soon enough is well enough.” “Little and good.”356 These and many similar sayings of De Sales ultimately lead to the idea that great works are achieved by little efforts, constantly made and passionately continued.

De Sales was charming, affable, and approachable to the point that we should all judge him to be a gentleman; he was agreeable because he was so much like us. Nevertheless, surely holiness should be more emphatic, awe-inspiring, and prohibitive! But God, who provides examples of goodness for each generation through his charity, had created a style for the current age with De Sales. Generation after generation has recognized him to be the patron saint of the modern gentlemen, the man who demonstrated how to achieve complete anonymity of holiness without heroics or dramatic self-humbling. Reading through the chapters of this thesis, we have learned from the life example of De Sales and the Salesian Spirituality that doing the ordinary things in an extraordinary way is better than waiting for hardcore missionary endeavours or opportunities for martyrdom to become future saints. He gives us the conviction that we too can attain “Holiness” through the practice of “Little Virtues” that are passionately cultivated and consistently practised amidst the busy schedule of our daily lives.