Celebrating 150 Years Since Our Founding!
The Oblates of St. Francis de Sales celebrate 150 years of history!
Introduce your brand
Take a minute to write an introduction that is short, sweet, and to the point. If you sell something, use this space to describe it in detail and tell us why we should make a purchase. Tap into your creativity. You’ve got this.
Video: Oblates Celebrating 150 Years in Annecy, France (July 2025)
It began with a simple idea: The call to holiness
-
St. Francis de Sales
Our Patron.
Bishop of Geneva, Francis resided in Annecy because Geneva was in Calvinist control. He preached and taught in person and in writing. He taught that holiness was possible for all people and all can Live Jesus! The value and popularity of his writings led to Francis named as a Doctor of the Church and the Patron of Writers and Journalists.
-
Bl. Louis Brisson, OSFS
Our Founder.
As a diocesan priest, Fr. Brisson was assigned as the full-time chaplain to the monastery of the Visitation of Holy Mary. Mother Marie de Sales Chappuis, the superior, convinced Louis that it was the will of God that he start a religious order of men to follow the spiritual legacy of St. Francis de Sales. He founded the Oblates in 1875.
-
Oblates of St. Francis de Sales
Our Future.
Since 1875, thousands of men in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas joined the community. Oblates first arrived in the US in 1893 and later established a permanent community in 1903 in Wilmington, DE. Today there are two North American provinces - headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, and in Toledo, Ohio.
St. Francis believed in the simple practice of prayer whereby we consciously direct to God what we are about to do. The action itself becomes sacred.
Thus brief, prayerful consideration focuses our attention on the presence of God in all things. In The Spirituality Directory, St. Francis de Sales writes: “They who wish to thrive and advance in the way of our Lord should, at the beginning of their actions, both exterior and interior, ask for His grace and offer to His divine Goodness all the good they will do. In this way, they will be prepared to bear with peace and serenity all the pain and suffering they will encounter as coming from the Fatherly hand of our good God and Savior. His most holy intention is to have them merit by such means in order to reward them afterward out of the abundance of His love.”
There are different versions of the Direction of Intention prayed at Oblate schools and communities. Each is designed to take a moment and offer your actions to God.
Direction of Intention
Tenui Nec Dimittam
The motto for the Oblates comes from Song of Songs 3:4, “I have taken hold and will not let go.” These words express the tenacity, the strength of love. We are invited to listen as Jesus says those very same words to each of us: Tenui nec dimittam! Those words, heard, said, and believed over and over again throughout the course of our lives make us who we are truly called to be: one who loves, follows, and lives Jesus!
Oblates Around the World
Oblates of St. Francis de Sales serve around the world in provinces
Benin
France
Belguim
Ivory Coast
South American Province
Ecuador
Haiti
Uruguay
Austria
Germany
Switzerland
Netherlands