Our Motto Says It All
We Oblates of St. Francis de Sales have just completed a very special year—a year filled with gratitude and remembrance—as we celebrated the 150th anniversary of our foundation, from December 1875 to December 2025. St. Francis de Sales is the beloved patron of our Congregation, but he is not our founder. That honor belongs to Blessed Louis Brisson, a nineteenth-century French priest from the Diocese of Troyes in the Champagne region of France. And so, as we bring this jubilee year to a close, I would like to reflect this on Blessed Louis Brisson—on his call, his struggle, and his deep trust in God.
To understand his story, we begin with the Gospel about the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. Simeon is an old man who has waited for many years—patiently, faithfully—for the fulfillment of God’s promise. He had been assured by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before seeing the Messiah.
When Mary and Joseph place the infant Jesus into Simeon’s arms, he sees far more than a baby. Through faith, he recognizes the Savior. Overcome with joy, he proclaims:
“Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace… for my eyes have seen your salvation.”
Those words would one day become very personal for Blessed Louis Brisson.
Many years later, at the celebration of his diamond jubilee of priesthood, Fr. Brisson distributed a holy card with those exact words printed on it: “My eyes have seen your salvation.” He explained that he chose them because, on a cold February morning many years earlier, he too had truly “seen” the Lord.
That moment occurred in February of 1845, in the upper parlor of the Visitation Monastery in Troyes. Father Brisson was still a young priest and the chaplain to the sisters of the Monastery. Jesus appeared to him—not speaking a word—but looking at him with a love so powerful that it changed his life completely.
In that silent gaze, Fr. Brisson understood that his life’s mission had been entrusted to him by Jesus himself.
For years, Mother Mary de Sales Chappuis—the superior of the Visitation Sisters—had insisted that Jesus desired the foundation of a new Congregation, the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, and that Fr. Brisson was chosen to be its Founder. Until that moment, he had resisted her firmly and repeatedly. That is why I often refer to him as our “reluctant founder.”
But after that encounter with Christ, resistance gave way to surrender. From that day forward, Fr. Brisson resolved to do whatever Jesus asked of him—with his whole heart.
From this graced moment, three deep convictions took root in his soul.
First, he became completely convinced of the holiness of Mother Mary de Sales Chappuis, whom we Oblates lovingly call “the Good Mother.” Jesus Himself had confirmed her vision. From that time on, she would be recognized as the Inspiration of our Congregation.
Second, he became unshakably certain that the Oblates were willed into existence by Jesus Himself. Though the Congregation would remain small and seemingly insignificant in the eyes of much of the world, it was meant to be a leaven in the Church—a quiet but powerful blessing. As the Good Mother had foretold, Jesus was to be seen walking once again upon the earth in every Oblate of St. Francis de Sales.
Third, the Way of the Good Mother would become our way. Her deep devotion to the spirit and teachings of St. Francis de Sales—especially as expressed in his Spiritual Directory—would shape our personal holiness and define the charism we bring to the Church.
On the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, in the year 1908, Blessed Louis Brisson died peacefully at the age of ninety-one in Plancy, the small French village of his birth. At the time of his death, the Congregation was fragile and few in number. The future looked bleak. Recently, a hostile, anti-clerical government had driven many religious communities out of France, including the Oblates and the Oblate Sisters. We had been scattered across the world.
At that moment, no one could have imagined that a new season of growth and vitality was about to begin—first in the United States, and then far beyond.
Even on his deathbed, when all seemed lost, our Founder never surrendered hope. His trust in divine Providence never wavered. He had taken hold of the mission Christ had given him, and he would never let go. He trusted completely that the Lord would remain faithful—no matter how small, fragile, or uncertain the future appeared.
As we conclude our first 150 years and look forward with hope to whatever lies before us, we are called to that same trust. The Jesus who fed thousands with just a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish is the same Lord who guides our Congregation today. He delights in doing much with little.
Our motto says it all: Tenui nec dimittam - “I have taken hold, and I will never let go.”
It expresses our fidelity to the Salesian spirit, our confidence in divine Providence, and our gratitude for a Founder who trusted God completely and never let go.
May God be praised!
Fr. Lewis S. Fiorelli, OSFS
Formal Provincial
Wilmington-Philadelphia Province