FRANSALIAN SCHOOL
Pre & Primary School
Learning and Growing Together
Missionary Society of St. Francis de Sales
MSFS
"Nurturing the heart, educating the mind."
Ownership & Management
The Fransalian School Bombambili is proudly owned and managed by the Missionary Society of St. Francis de Sales (MSFS), commonly known as Fransalians.
Our Heritage
Founded in 1838 in Annecy, France by Father Peter Marie Mermier, the society was established to rejuvenate the faith through missions and education.
Our Philosophy
Following the spirit of St. Francis de Sales, we emphasize "Gentleness, Optimism, and Humility" in our educational approach.
Our Global Impact
Fransalians operate in over 30 countries, running prestigious schools, colleges, and social centers dedicated to human development.
Inspirational Figures
Leaders of the MSFS Legacy
Meet the visionary saints and founders whose spirit guides our mission and education.
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St. Francis de Sales
(1567 – 1622)
This school is dedicated to its heavenly patron St Francis de Sales (1567-1622). He was born on 21 August 1567 into a senatorial family in France where he was destined to work in government positions of authority. Instead, he felt called to become a priest in the Catholic Church. Within a few years of priestly ordination, Francis de Sales became the Bishop of Geneva, and became noted for his deep faith and his gentle approach to the Protestant Reformation at that time.
Through his missionary efforts, he won back hundreds of Protestant Christians to the Catholic fold. He authored two well-known theological classics: Introduction to the Devout Life and Treatise on the Love of God. As a Doctor of the Church, Francis de Sales is famous for his teachings on the Catholic doctrine. He is also known as the Gentleman Saint. He died on 28 December 1622, aged 55 years. He was canonized as a Saint in 1665.
Missionaries of St Francis de Sales
The Missionaries of St Francis de Sales (MSFS), also known as the Fransalians, was founded in Annecy, France, on 24 October 1838, by Fr Mermier, under the patronage of St Francis de Sales. Fr Mermier’s idea was to bring about a spiritual renewal of his people by preaching parish missions. This special apostolate, in turn, gave rise to a community of preachers gathered around Fr Mermier.
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.
Accordingly, Fr Mermier put the design into execution. In 1830, the institute was formed with La Feuillette as the site for the mother-house. It was blessed by the bishop in August 1837, and the congregation canonically instituted by him on 08 October 1838. In 1845, his offer was accepted by the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and the first missionaries set out for India. The first batch of the MSFS landed in Pondicherry in September 1845, and they reached Visakhapatnam on 19 February 1846.
Fr. Peter Marie Mermier
Founder of the MSFS Congregation
Fr Peter Marie Mermier, the founder of the Congregation of the Missionaries of St Francis de Sales, was born in Annecy, France, in 1790. He entered the seminary in Annecy, and was ordained priest in 1813. He died in 1862, and Pope John Paul II raised him to the status of Servant of God.
Fr Mermier was interested in starting a congregation for preaching missions abroad. With the support of a few fellow-priests, he founded the MSFS Congregation which received canonical approval in 1838. For Fr Mermier, the Salesian spirituality was all-embracing and pastorally effective. Mermier felt proud of his native saint, SFS. He wanted the members of his congregation to be contemplatives in action and mystics of God’s love.
The invitation of Pope Gregory XVI to extend missionary activities to the Church in Asia and Africa was the answer for Mermier’s prayer and longing. The congregation was invited to take up pastoral activities in the Apostolic Vicariate of Visakhapatnam in 1846. The MSFS today work in 26 countries, starting with India in 1845 and ending with Poland in 2003.