Hong Kong – Opening of "400th anniversary commemoration of the death of St Francis de Sales"

16 February 2022

(ANS - Hong Kong) - On Sunday 13th February, on the 116th anniversary of the arrival of the first group of Salesians in Macao, the Salesian Province "Mary Help of Christians", based in Hong Kong (CIN), held the launching ceremony of the event: "Commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the death of St. Francis de Sales".

The event was carried out in digital mode with more than 200 participants connecting from various communities of the Salesian Family, including Salesians, Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, Sisters Announcers of the Lord, Salesian Cooperators, Past Pupils, colleges and parishes.

In the first speech, Fr Domingos Leong, Provincial Vicar and Chairman of the event’s Organizing Committee, introduced the relationship between St. Francis de Sales and the Salesian Society. A relationship that appears little evident in the Chinese term commonly used since the 1920s to refer to the Salesians of Don Bosco: this term, in fact, had the merit of making "Salesians" more accessible to the local people, and of focusing on the reference to their service to young people, but in a certain sense it has hidden the semantic and charismatic root underlying it. For this reason, Fr Leong wanted to highlight, instead, the link between the Savoyard saint and the Turin saint, and began by recalling how Don Bosco, before his ordination to the priesthood, wrote a few resolutions in his diary to be carried out, including: “The charity and gentleness of St. Francis de Sales are to be my guide.”

Next, Fr Leong examined Don Bosco's motto “Da mihi animas, caetera tolle - Give me souls! Take away the rest!.” And although he asserted that it cannot be found in the writings of St. Francis de Sales, he said that without a shadow of a doubt it was always fulfilled in his own life, when, as bishop of Geneva, a city that was Calvinist at the time, St. Francis de Sales did everything for the care and salvation of his people, while renouncing any claim on the goods of the diocese.

In the second part of the meeting, each group of the Salesian Family shared how they shall promote and deepen their knowledge of St. Francis de Sales in this year dedicated to him.

The Salesians, for their part, committed themselves to:

- Help members of the Salesian Family understand the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales from the perspective of Don Bosco, especially with regard to the theme of “holiness for all people.”

- Promote and translate the writings of St. Francis de Sales and books dedicated to him (including, for example, "Was Don Bosco a True Salesian?" by Fr Gianni Ghiglione, which delves into seven steps to personal sanctification in the footsteps of these two giants of the faith).

After the sharing, Fr Joseph Ng, CIN Provincial, gave the blessing and addressed a message of exhortation to all participants. He emphasized how Don Bosco asked the first Salesians to learn loving-kindness from St. Francis de Sales; he recalled the commitment of both saints to the sanctification of all Christians, starting from their own state of life; and he cited the title of the Rector Major's Strenna for 2022: “Do all through love, nothing through constraint,” taken from a maxim of St Francis.

In conclusion, the Provincial invited everyone to love the Lord and one's neighbors and to do God's will in daily life, just as St. Francis de Sales did. “As long as we follow the will of God in everything, life will be fulfilling” he assured.

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