Book club

What are your impressions of The Visitation: A monastic way of life in the Church? We'd love to hear from you. Leave your feedback in a comment. We might even feature you in a future post.

More Mickey

And while we're on the subject, here's another illustration by award-winning artist Brother Mickey McGrath, an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales. He captures the vibrancy of Salesian spirituality so well!We also love this illustration, commissioned by the Visitation monastery in Minneapolis.

Patron saint of writers

St. Francis de Sales was a passionate, prolific writer, so it's fitting he has been named the patron saint of writers. He is a source of inspiration for writers, poets, playwrights and bloggers, who would appreciate this modern rendition of the 17th-century saint drawn by Brother Mickey McGrath, an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales.

Salesian counsel

Everyday life

Drones make more noise and work more hurriedly than bees, but they make only wax, not honey. So also, persons who hurry about with anxious concern and bustle never accomplish much nor do they do anything well. ... Accept peacefully whatever you have to do and try to get things done in order, one after the other. If you attempt to do everything all at once or without order, your mind will be frustrated and grow weary and you are likely to be overwhelmed by the pressure and accomplish nothing. Soon we shall be in eternity and then we shall see how insignificant our worldly preoccupations were and how little it mattered whether some things got done or not."

- St. Francis de Sales

Podcast

In this podcast Sr. Susan Marie, president of the Second Federation of the Visitation, talks about her pilgrimage to Annecy, France, and the order's 400th anniversary.