We who live in this vale of tears have the present moment to return to God, and we have Mary to obtain that grace from Him. Who then should despair?
Newsroom (22/10/2022 10:19, Gaudium Press) If ever there was a saint who fought relentlessly against discouragement, discouragement, it was St. Francis de Sales. Also known as the “Bishop of Geneva,” Francis was born in 1567 in the castle of Thorens in Savoy and died in Lyon in 1622. His canonization took place three years later. Pius IX proclaimed him a Doctor of the Church in 1877 and Pius XI named him patron saint of Catholic journalists and writers in 1923.
It is difficult to calculate the value of all the doctrinal wealth that St. Francis de Sales bestowed on Catholic piety. All his works exude the sweet aroma of peace and confidence, and are capable of restoring cheer to any “depressed person,” which has earned him the title “Doctor of Piety and Consolation”.
Joseph Tissot, in his work “The Art of Making Use of One’s Own Faults” – inspired by the doctrine of St. Francis de Sales – recounts a post mortem fact of this saint that, besides instilling us with confidence, also makes us grow in devotion to Our Lady, and makes patent to our eyes the degree of fear that the Blessed Virgin produces in the hells.
Have recourse to the Blessed Virgin
This is how Tissot describes it: “As if even after death he wanted to continue the war he had declared on discouragement, St. Francis de Sales extracted from the devil himself a confession full of encouragement even for the most criminal souls.
“A young man who had been possessed by an evil spirit for five years was brought to the tomb of the bishop of Geneva at the time when the process of his beatification was underway. It took several days before he was cured, and in the meantime Bishop Charles-Auguste de Sales and Mother de Chaugy subjected him to several interrogations at the Saint’s tomb. An eyewitness reports that on one of these occasions, the devil shouted with more fury and confusion, saying:
‘Why should I leave?’
“And Mother Chaugy exclaimed with that vehemence which was peculiar to her: ‘O Holy Mother of God, pray for us! Mary, Mother of Jesus, help us!’
“At these words, the infernal spirit redoubled its horrible alarums and roared:
‘Mary! Mary! Ah, and I, who have no Mary…. Do not utter that name, it makes me shudder. If there were a Mary for me, as you have for you, I would not be what I am…. But I have no Mary!’
“Everyone cried.
“- Ah!” continued the demon – “If I had a single instant of the many you waste, yes, a single instant and a Mary, I would not be a demon.”[1]
“Well then. We who live in this vale of tears have the present moment to return to God, and we have Mary to obtain that grace for us. Who is there then who can despair?”
By Lucas Rezende
Excerpted with alterations from: TISSOT, Joseph. The art of taking advantage of one’s own faults. São Paulo: Quadrante, 2003, p. 48-49.
[1] Report by Sister E.-C. de la Tour, from the first monastery of the Visitation (Note taken from the above-mentioned book: “The art of taking advantage of one’s own faults”).
