Francis De Sales - A Study of the Gentle Saint #244947

Thursday, August 21, 1567, between nine and ten in the evening, Francis de Sales was born in the old Chateau de Sales, in a tiny room called "la chambre de St. Francois d'Assisi," on account of a picture of the seraphic Father that hung over a small altar.<br><br>Seven years previously his father, François, Seigneur de Nouvelles, had married the young daughter of Melchior de Sionnay, Seigneur de la Valliere, de la Thuile, and de Boisy. She was heiress to all these vast possessions; consequently, on her marriage she was given the broad lands of Boisy, her husband taking the title with the estate, so they were generally known as Monsieur and Madame de Boisy.<br><br>On a glorious afternoon in August I visited the old chateau; but, indeed, only the room in which our Saint was born remains - it is now a small chapel. Such a tiny room!