Who is a Fransalian? :
A Fransalian is a man called to be a missionary with a vison; an explorer of the unknown; a builder of communities; a sower of God’s words; an enlightened guide to his students; a formator for the unformed; a joyful herald of God’s reign on Earth in the spirit of St. Francis de Sales by following the 7 principal virtues of Salesian spirituality which are simplicity, humility, charity, optimism, gentleness, humanness, and resignation to the will of God in daily life.
The Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales (M.S.F.S), known as “Fransalians”, is an international Congregation of Latin Rite, founded on October 24, 1838 in Annecy, France by Servant of God, Peter Marie Mermier.
The primary patron of the Congregation is St. Francis de Sales and the secondary patroness is Mother of Compassion (Mother of Sorrows). The spirituality of our Congregation is “Salesian” and we belong to the Salesian family though our particular identity is as “Fransalians”.
The MSFS was founded in response to a desire of St Francis de Sales to found a society of missionary priests. Nearly two centuries after the Saint’s death, his successor in the See of Annecy broached the subject of such a society to Fr Mermier who had been considering the same idea. Thus the congregation was founded on 08 October 1838. Fr Mermier, the first superior general, offered himself and his companions to the Pope for foreign missions and the first missionaries set out for India. Fr Mermier’s idea was to bring about a spiritual renewal of his people by preaching parish missions. The apostolate of our Congregation is parish mission, foreign mission, education, evangelization and innovative ministries. The Congregation is currently involved actively in pastoral ministry in 33 Countries across 7 Continents of the world USA, India, France, Switzerland, England, Brazil, Chad, Namibia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Australia, Austria, Germany, Philippians, West Indies, Chile, Trinidad and other countries. The Generalate (headquarters) of our Congregation is in Rome, Italy. A total of 1321 professed members are committed to the service of the church in different parts of the world. We have 61 novices and 352 candidates in formation for the religious life and priesthood.