Oblate Mission & Charism

Fr. Jim Cryan, OSFS, Shaun Lowery, OSFS, and
Fr. Marty Lukas, OSFS, share a moment together outside
Gesu Church in Toledo, Ohio.

Wondering who we are, what we do and where we come from? Click on the following links for information on:

Oblate Charism and Spirituality

As Oblates of the Toledo-Detroit Province, in the spirit of St. Francis de Sales, we commit ourselves to Christ who came not be served but to serve and to give his life for others.

Like Christ, with humility, trust and compassion and an effective love that thirsts for the Reign of God, we seek to discover and to fulfill the will of God as it presents itself in each moment.

Gifted with an evangelizing spirit and sensitive to the needs and experiences of people in daily life, we embrace the grace of the ordinary in a spirit of humility and gentle strength.

Oblate Mission Statement

The mission of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales of the Toledo-Detroit Province is to “Live Jesus” according to Salesian spirituality in our personal and communal lives and to share this spirituality with the People of God.

Oblate Creedal Statements

We believe that as Oblates we are recipients of a precious heritage, the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales. This gift to the Church is a practical guide to holiness for all the People of God.

We believe that all life comes from God and is sacred. Each person is to be treated with authentic respect and love.

We believe that the Salesian focus on the gentleness and compassion of Jesus reveals the human and welcoming face of the Church.

We believe that the ministry of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales of the Toledo-Detroit Province has a vitality. It is faithful to the mission of the Church and affirmed by the continuous response of the people we serve.

We believe that the interior life, the life of prayer that Oblates are called to live through our Directory and our charism, sustains us as men of faith, encourages us in our mission and enables us to deepen our knowledge and love of Jesus.

Oblate Commitment Statements

We commit ourselves to a life of study and prayer that nurtures our personal growth in understanding and living the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales.

We commit ourselves to live Oblate community.

We commit ourselves to making the discernment and development of vocation to our vowed way of life a priority concern by our personal witness and example of Salesian values, by the attractiveness of Oblate community and by the specific efforts we make in the ministries we fulfill.

We commit ourselves to serve God’s people well by a continual professional updating in theology and ministry, by a sensitivity to people’s needs and feelings and by developing new initiatives in evangelization in response to present day needs.

We commit ourselves to developing a corporate identity and mission that are explicit, understood and accepted.

We commit ourselves to develop our understanding of what it means to be a discerning community in the spirit of St. Francis de Sales.

We commit ourselves to “Live Jesus” in contemporary society by increasing our response to the needs of the oppressed and poor.

We commit ourselves to overcome whatever divides peoples unjustly, denies authentic human rights and violates the dignity and sacredness of life.

Oblate History

Stepping into the parlor of the Visitation Monastery in Troyes, France, in 1843, a young priest named Fr. Louis Brisson would have never known what God was about to begin to accomplish in his lifetime. He was assigned the spiritual director of these cloistered nuns founded by St. Francis de Sales. He soon found himself being directed by Mother Mary de Sales Chappuis.

Mother Chappuis had served the Visitation Sisters as Mother Superior and Mistress of Novices. She was known for her gentleness, her compassion and her life of genuine devotion. The Good Mother Mary de Sales Chappuis told Fr. Brisson that he would be the one to fulfill a wish left unaccomplished by St. Francis de Sales. Brisson was to found a religious order of men whose lives would mirror the lives of the Visitation Sisters and carry out active ministries. Chappuis assured a hesitant Fr. Brisson that this was indeed God’s will. She knew it in her heart. Brisson was not as certain.

Thirty years later, in 1873, Fr. Brisson and five other priests began a journey that has now gone well beyond the city limits of Troyes. The beginning of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales has indeed, in the words of Pope Leo XIII, “gone out to all the earth.”

Indeed, today the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales continue their mission of spreading the spiritual tradition of St. Francis de Sales wherever they live and minister. Oblates currently serve the Church in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. Each Oblate community adapts itself to the culture and needs of the local Church making the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales a diverse congregation. Yet, in the Salesian tradition, diversity is a path to unity if we strive to unite ourselves with God’s will. This is the ultimate desire – the purpose of Oblate religious life: union with the will of God.

In 1893, the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales came to the United States and have served the Church in North America faithfully since that time. Through founding a community and a high school in Wilmington, Delaware over 100 years ago, the Oblates have gone from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from Canada to Mexico passing on the gift of Salesian Spirituality. As teachers, pastors, chaplains, missionaries, military personnel, artists, scholars and in so many other apostolic roles the Oblates strive to have Jesus seen walking the earth again as the Good Mother desired. They do this by offering all their actions to God and by seeking the will of God in all the experiences of their ministries and through the needs and voices of the People of God.

Oblates live a common life, supporting one another in a quest to live authentic lives of faith. They profess the vows of Chastity, Poverty and Obedience. They are men of prayer, centered on Jesus Christ and the imitation of his love of God and all humanity.

Louis Brisson:

A Vision of Hope Continues

Please learn about and pray for the Beatification of Fr. Louis Brisson, OSFS, founder of the Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales and the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. February 2, 2008 marks the 100th Anniversary of his death.

Rome, Italy – The Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales are spearheading the cause for the beatification of Fr. Louis Brisson, OSFS, founder of the Oblate Sisters and the Oblates. The cause is in the initial stages before the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome. Please join us in praying for the cause of Fr. Louis Brisson, OSFS. Click here to read about his life and learn more about this Servant of God or follow the links below to the official Louis Brisson website, the Facebook group, and the MySpace page.

Louis Brisson, OSFS Website

Includes First Friday novena texts and online reflections

Fr. Louis Brisson, OSFS: Support His Cause