Francis Facts
Francis Facts
St. Francis de Sales, along with St Jane Frances de Chantal, founded the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, which is also known as the “Visitandines”. This woman’s order was established in June of 1610, yet in 1616 the Archbishop Denis-Simon de Marquemont restricted the freedoms of the order by requiring them to live a cloistered life, only 400 short years ago! Around the same time in St Francis’s life he also founded the Oratory of St. Phillip Neri, this was a small community of men of which Francis was the Provost. Sadly this legacy did not endure for long after St Francis de Sales died.
During the Christmas season of St Francis de Sales 55th year, Frances was required to travel with Charles Emmanuel I, the Duke of Savoy’s entourage. This Christmas tour/visitation of the Duke’s domain was when St Francis suffered a stroke in Lyon. It was St Francis’s decision to stay in the gardeners’ hut of the Visitandine Monastery, and it was there that he was called home to God on December 28, 1622.
REMEMBER WE ARE ST FRANCIS and work to keep his message alive.