Dear Friends: January 24th is the feast of Saint Francis de Sales. He is the patron saint of our local seminary and worth reflecting on. He was a man of great learning and sanctity who was an excellent teacher of the faith, pastor of his flock, and spiritual director. He is known as ‘The Gentleman Saint’ due to his dignified and noble manner. Since he was the patron of the seminary, there was an emphasis in our seminary to imitate this saint and allow his influence to permeate our lives. This led to the following emphases in formation. One was the gentleness and dignified sanctity of Saint Francis de Sales. Famously, the quote that ‘a spoonful of honey attracts more flies than a barrel-full of vinegar’ is attributed to Saint Francis de Sales. The meaning of this quote is that a gentle and loving presentation of the truths of the Gospel, coupled with sanctity in one’s own life, will lead to more conversions than bludgeoning people with the truth. Another element of his life which was emphasized was his cultivated and noble manner of life. Saint Francis de Sales was an absolute gentleman. We were taught throughout our time in seminary to live our lives as gentlemen. This consists of treating people with respect, especially those who are vulnerable. Even little acts of gentlemanly respect, such as holding the door open for people was insisted on in seminary formation. Finally, the eminent learning and sanctity of Saint Francis de Sales was inculcated in us. It was recognized that the Church needs competent priests who are steeped in Sacred Scripture and the Tradition of the Church. Furthermore, even if priests were competent, this competency must be joined to sanctity. Thus, it was always understood that one of the main goals of a seminarian was to grow in holiness and the Love of God. All of this put together led to the desire of the seminary to produce priests who were spiritually holy, intellectually sound, and pleasant men to be around. I ask you to continue to pray for vocations and to pray, especially, to Saint Francis de Sales to help form our seminarians to be good priests.