Throughout the pages of the prodigious writings of Saint Francis de Sales, the reader is seized as much by the optimism as by the realism of the author. During an age desiccated by the austerities of Calvinism and of a paganising humanism, the holy prince-bishop of Geneva made true devotion both accessible and appealing, and was able to parry in advance the assaults of Jansenism already menacing the horizon. The confidence that Saint Francis de Sales inspires in his disciples has no other source than “the love that Jesus Christ bears for us”, to speak like him. He sees the evidence of this love especially in the sacrifice of Calvary. “It is certain that the heart of our dear Jesus saw yours from the tree of the cross and loved it.” The holy Doctor takes pleasure in describing the great mystery of our Redemption by using images that are simple but so very rich in teaching: “Yes, without a doubt, as an expectant mother prepares the crib, the linens and the swaddling clothes, (…) thus Our Lord, having his goodness large and pregnant with you, seeking to deliver you to salvation and make you his child, prepared from the tree of the Cross all that is necessary for you. (…) These are all the means, all the attractions, all the graces with which he leads your soul and wishes to draw it to perfection.” From this foundation, entirely contained in the mystery of the Cross, Saint Francis de Sales rises up to the very source of salvation, the internal conversation of divine love of the Holy Trinity, who, from all eternity, prepares for us the hidden graces of our salvation, as we read in the book of Jeremias: “I have loved you with a perpetual charity, and leaving I drew you with me, having pity on you.” Being nonetheless realistic with respect to the natural limits of man, Saint Francis de Sales does not disdain them, but, on the contrary, wishes to profit from the ability of man to contribute intelligent and active cooperation towards his own salvation. Contrary to Luther, who wishes to crush reason in the name of faith, our saint replies that both of these are “daughters of the same Father, the first through the mediation of nature, the latter through the mediation of means still higher and more elevated. They can and must remain together like two dearly affectionate sisters.” Against the Protestant heresy, Saint Francis rehabilitates the human will and affirms liberty: “Children are neither good nor bad … they walk during their childhood like those who, leaving a village, go straight ahead at first, but after some time they find that the road forks and splits in two; it is within their power to take the right or the left, according to which seems the best way for them to go.” Human nature, in spite of original sin, is certainly not entirely corrupted. Weakened, she can nevertheless rise up again, with the help of God strengthening her own efforts. Here is nothing else than the affirmations of the first sessions of the Council of Trent, which could be summed up as the optimistic and objective union of nature and grace. An optimist, Saint Francis concludes that one must never become discouraged, even if one has lost the state of grace by mortal sin. These falls, far from drawing us far from God, must be used to give a new impulse to our desire to live according to the will of God: “Several falls into mortal sin, provided that this be not with the intention to stagnate there, nor with turning a blind eye to evil, do not prevent one from making progress in devotion, even though one loses it mortally, which one nevertheless recovers with the first true repentance of one’s sin.” Saint Francis de Sales gives us the means for a spiritual recovery (which starts with repentance) to the sinner himself, appealing to his generosity rather than to coercive measures. He explains himself in these terms, quite indicative of Salesian spirituality, using one of his favourite images taken from the art of medicine, “I believe it is better to simply show them the malady and give them the knife that they themselves may make the incision.” Truly, according to Saint Francis de Sales, sin has not entirely suffocated man’s natural inclination to love God. Salesian optimism is not passive, like that of the quietists later on. Grace builds upon nature. A courageous effort on behalf of the soul that mobilizes the intellect and the will is necessary. The grace of God assists the good will of men. Our Lord and Saviour is our support and our guide in the spiritual life only in proportion to the serious engagement we make ourselves. Saint Francis de Sales calls upon our generosity; and this generosity requires self-denial.
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