The French prelate St. Francis of Sales (1567-1622) taught that spiritual perfection is possible for those leading a secular life.

The oldest of 13 children, Francis Boisy was born on Aug. 21, 1567, in the Sales castle in Thorens, Savoy, in eastern France. His wealthy father sent him to the best schools and prepared him for the life of a leisured gentleman. But when Francis was 11, he secretly decided to become a priest. At the Jesuit college of Clermont in Paris, he learned the Renaissance appreciation of art and literature, and at the University of Padua in Italy he studied law. In 1593, 2 years after he received his doctorate degree, he was ordained a priest.

The Roman Catholic Counter Reformation was vigorously under way at the time. Francis volunteered to travel with several other priests through the villages of Savoy to counteract Calvinism and win the people back to allegiance to Rome...