Doctor of Divine Charity

St. Francis de Sales

Feast: 

January 24 and January 29

Episcopal motto: 

Non excidet ~ "He [Jesus] will not fail"

"May the sweet Infant of Bethlehem ever be your happiness and your love, my very dear Mother. Oh I the loveliness of this Little Child! I imagine I see Solomon on his ivory throne, all beautifully gilded and carved, which, as the Scripture tells us, had no equal in all the kingdoms of the earth, neither was there any king that could be compared, for glory and magnificence, with the king that sat upon it. And yet, I would a hundred times rather see the dear Jesus in his Crib, than all the kings of the world on their thrones.

St. Francis de Sales giving St. Jane de Chantal and her nuns the rule of the Visitation

​But, when I see him on the lap or in the arms of his Blessed Mother, he seems to me to be more magnificent on this Throne, not only than Solomon ever was on his of ivory, but than he himself on any throne that the heavens could provide him with; for though the heavens surpass Mary in outward grandeur, yet she surpasses them in invisible perfections. Oh! may the great St. Joseph give us some of the consolation that filled his soul; may the Blessed Mother lend us something of her own love, and the Infant Jesus mercifully pour into our hearts of the infinite abundance of his merits!

I beseech you to keep close to this Divine Babe, and rest near him as lovingly as you can—he will love you in return, even should your heart feel no tenderness or devotion. What sense had the poor ox and the ass ?—and yet he refuses not to let them breathe warmly upon him. And think you he will refuse the aspirations of our poor hearts, which, though just at present they feel no devotion, yet are sincerely and loyally his, and are ever offering themselves to be the faithful servants of his own divine self, and of his Holy Mother, and of his dear protector Joseph!"

~ Letter of St. Francis to St. Jane de Chantal