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Francis’ connection to the Oratory began on a trip to Rome in 1598, where he met Ven. Cesare Cardinal Baronius and Blessed Juvenal Ancina, who became a close friend. On this trip he was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Geneva after passing a theological exam administered by St. Robert Bellarmine.
In 1602, he established an Oratory at Thonon, and a few months later he succeeded as Bishop of Geneva. It was on business as bishop that he traveled to Dijon in 1604, where he met St. Jane Frances de Chantal. Their twenty-year relationship is among the most well known spiritual friendships in the history of the Church, and it resulted in the foundation of the Order of the Visitation.
Today, Francis is best known for his writings. His Introduction to the Devout Life, based on a collection of correspondence with a spiritual directee, became an immediate runaway bestseller that went through numerous printings and was translated into several languages during Francis’ lifetime. He is also remembered for his Treatise on the Love of God, which he wrote between 1614 and 1616. Both works are still in print today.
Francis did not allow high blood pressure and heart problems to slow him down. He continued preaching regularly, writing twenty to thirty letters a day, and traveling (on another visit to Paris in 1618, he met St. Vincent de Paul) until December 1622, when he died of complications from a stroke.
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