Hajja Salesjana April-June 2022

Born into the aristocracy of the House of Savoy Francis was born on August 21, 1567 at Château de Sales, in Thorens, Duchy of Upper Savoy. He is given his father’s name: François de Nouvelles, Lord of Boisy, a military man in the service of the Duke of Genevois-Nemours. His mother (Françoise di Sionnaz) is younger than her husband by nearly thirty years. She marries at 16 years of age and bears 12 children of whom Francis is the firstborn. His father chooses an excellent course of study for his son who is destined to become a lawyer and senator of the Duchy of Savoy. First phase of his education Francis receives private tutoring from Fr. Jean Déage before entering boarding school at la Roche-sur-Foron (at the age of six), after which he spends three years (1575-1578) at the new school founded by Eustache Chapuys in Annecy. At the age of ten he shows the first signs of a priestly vocation and, at the age of eleven (according to the custom of the time), despite his father's opposition, he receives the tonsure, a symbol of the clerical state (his father presumed that this was a “childish phase” that would pass). In 1578 Francis moves to Paris where he is groomed for the nobility, although he prefers the Jesuit College of Clermont where he had studied rhetoric and humanities. Tumultuous social and political context These are the years immediately following the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of the Huguenots in 1572, decreed by the royal house of Valois. In Paris, a violent wave of “Catholic pride” crashes down on the Calvinists. The clergy, allied with the aristocracy to form the 26 hajja Views from Valdocco Fr. Mike Pace, SDB, Vice-Director, Casa Don Bosco Museum, Turin FRANCIS DE SALES: BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES On the occasion of the fourth centenary of St. Francis de Sales’ dies natalis (1567-1622), Museo Casa Don Bosco has inaugurated a year-long exhibition in his honour, entitled Francis de Sales 400. This article is the first of a series dedicated to the patron saint of the Salesians of Don Bosco. April - Ġunju 2022