Francis De Sales, a saint and bishop of the Roman Catholic church, born at the chateau de Sales, near Annecy, Savoy, Aug. 21, 1567, died in Lyons, Dec. 28, 1622. Both his parents were of noble birth. Francis, their eldest son, was sent successively to the college of Annecy, to the Jesuits' school in Paris, and to Padua, where he studied law, and at the age of 20 received the degree of doctor of laws. His inclination, nevertheless, was toward the ecclesiastical life. He refused repeatedly the offered dignity of senator, and finally obtained his father's permission to accept the place of provost in the cathedral at Geneva. On being ordained deacon, he gave the first proofs of his eloquence as a preacher. His earnest manner, and the spiritual elevation and beauty of his thought, gave him a powerful hold on his audiences. He was raised to the priesthood in 1593, and immediately gave himself up to the impulses of his zeal. He went on foot through the neighboring villages, visited the prisons, and became everywhere known as the friend of the sick and the poor. Accompanied by his cousin, Louis de Sales, he went on a mission among the Protestants of the province of Chablais. All sorts of difficulties were thrown in his way, and nearly four years passed by without any considerable impression upon the masses.

At last, however, conversions multiplied; new missionaries came to his aid, and in 1598 the Catholic religion was publicly restored and the reformed faith was suppressed throughout the province. Repeated conferences were held with distinguished Protestant leaders, and the brilliant success of Francis in the argument with La Faye led the pope to select him to deal with Theodore Beza; but in this case he was not able to report a conversion. In 1599 he was chosen coadjutor to the bishop of Geneva, whose death in 1602 left to Francis the full charge of the diocese. His episcopal life was characterized by the same zeal, vigor, and devotion which had marked his missionary career. He went first to Paris, where he preached before Henry IV. in the chapel of the Louvre, and the most tempting offers of wealth and position were made to retain him in France. But he preferred to return, and after assisting the cardinal de Berulle in the establishment of the Carmelite order and the congregation of the Oratory, he went back to Switzerland. He established new and stricter rules, not only for the clergy and laity of his diocese, but for his own personal conduct. He renounced all luxuries, multiplied fasts, discouraged lawsuits, and reformed the lax discipline of the monasteries.

His fame as a preacher led various cities to solicit his aid in the services of the Lenten season. He was more than once chosen, from his moderate and peaceful temper, to reconcile dissenting parties and orders in the church. A still wider renown was given to his name by the publication (in 1608) of L'Introduction a la vie devote. It was translated into many tongues, and in less than 50 years 40 editions of it were published. Francis was far from undervaluing monastic institutions. He not only established convents of existing orders, but, in conjunction with the widowed baroness de Chantal, founded the order of the Visitation. Having become acquainted with that lady during a visit to Paris in 1604, he communicated to her his plan of a new order of nuns. In 1610, at Annecy, he gave the habit of the new society to her and two other ladies. In 1616 he published his Traite de l'amour de Dieu, a fit sequel to his Introduction." The appointment of a younger brother as assistant bishop enabled him to give himself more fully to the work of conversion. The famous Calvinistic leader Lesdiguieres became one of his converts.

In 1619 he visited Paris as one of the embassy sent to secure the hand of the princess Christine for the young prince of Piedmont. His preaching in this visit revived the impression which it had made in the previous reign. On his return to his own diocese he applied himself more resolutely than ever to the ministration of alms, the suppression of scandals, and exercises of personal discipline. In 1622 he accompanied Louis XIII. of France from Avignon to Lyons, where on Christmas day, after preaching, he was attacked with apoplexy, and died, The works of St. Francis have been often published. The best editions are that of Louis Vives (14 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1857-9), and that of Perisse freres (5 vols. 8vo, Lyons, 1855 and 1864).