Today, we celebrate the memorial of Jane Frances de Chantel, wife, mother and consecrated religious sister. Born at Dijon in 1572, into a prominent family, St. Jane Frances de Chantal, received an excellent education. At the age of 20, she married the Baron de Chantal, who was an officer in the army of Henry IV.
She suffered the loss of three children, who died soon after birth. She then gave birth to 3 girls and a boy.
Once when her husband was away, someone commented about her modest clothing even while her husband was gone. And she replied, “The eyes which I want to please are a hundred miles from here.” She was happily married for 8 yrs. until left a widow with her four children, when her husband was killed in a hunting accident. In 1604, she heard St. Francis de Sales preach and placed herself under his spiritual direction. The both became instrumental in founding her new congregation.
After her children were raised, she established the congregation of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known today as the Visitation Sisters. The Visitation Sisters are well known due to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, who had visions of Our Lord’s Sacred Heart. Before her death in 1641, 86 houses were established.
For many years, St. Jane suffered great interior trials with the utmost resignation, while she labored to extend her newly founded Congregation. Today, let us turn to St. Jane and ask her to help us persevere through interior and exterior trials.
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