This time of year is oddly silent in the Church calendar. The lights of Christmas have dimmed, and Lent hasn’t yet begun. Spiritually speaking, we’re somewhere in between—caught in the grey, sluggish weeks of January, when our resolutions falter, our energy dips, and the days stretch long with little liturgical colour to rouse the soul.
It’s exactly the kind of season St Francis de Sales understood well.
The patron saint of writers, confessors, and spiritual directors, St Francis—whose feast falls on 24 January—had no time for melodrama in the spiritual life. His advice was often quiet, practical, and above all, gentle. He didn’t demand fireworks. He simply asked us to begin again. And then, when we fail, to begin again. And again.
