"Communication is a matter of the heart": "St Francis de Sales Communicator.
Francis is well known as the saint of gentleness.
Gentleness, in terms of communication, in the general context of his work, can be understood as his great intuitive and emotional ability to listen to the echo of people's lives in his interpersonal relationship, to understand the concrete meaning of things, to observe people, to care and to protect. Integral communication is manifested not so much "in argumentative or discursive elaboration, but in trying to communicate in tune with the frequency of events, in the language that translates the specific visibility and resonance of things". When he talks about how to give a good sermon, he makes some statements that show his profound emotional intelligence: "I cannot speak of God without emotion", "our words must come from the heart rather than from the lips. One may say fine words, but the heart speaks to the heart while the mouth only to the ears". Every sermon should always be "a sermon of love".
For St. Francis de Sales, the human relationship must be natural and manifest paternal and fraternal spontaneity. This attitude allows the communicator to be close to the people, arousing a sense of joy. It allows openness and trust in the relationship and puts the person in a state of acceptance of the message. In spontaneity, people open up and manifest themselves with gratitude and joy. In this context, Francis said: "I have just come from catechism, where we enjoyed with our children making them laugh a little, making fun of the masks and dances; I was in a good mood and a large assembly encouraged me making me feel one with them... May God make me a true child in innocence and simplicity".
Communicating is a gift and a commitment, building on a human, spiritual and cultural level. Study is also prayer. He insisted a lot with his clergy on the indispensable necessity of training, education and the solid formation of his priests. "Science," he insisted, "is the eighth sacrament of the hierarchy of the Church". From his own experience of study and scientific insights, he knew that in order to dialogue with culture and respond to the spiritual and pastoral needs of the cultural context in which he lived, the spirituality of learning was very important.
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