JEANNE DE CHANTAL
Feast:
12 August
Born:
28 January 1572
Dijon, Burgundy, France
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Died:
13 December 1641
Moulins, France
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Beatified:
21 November 1751
by Pope Benedict XIV
Canonized:
16 July 1767
by Pope Clement XIII
Patronage:
forgotten people; in-law problems; loss of parents; parents separated from children; widows
About Jeanne de Chantal
Born to the nobility, the daughter of the president of the Parliament of Burgundy who raised her alone after the death of her mother when Jeanne was 18 months old. Married in 1592 at age twenty to Baron de Chantal. Mother of four. Widowed at 28 when the Baron was killed in a hunting accident and died in her arms. Taking a personal vow of chastity, she was forced to live with her father-in-law, which was a period of misery for her. She spent her free time in prayer, and received a vision of the man who would become her spiritual director. In Lent, 1604, she met Saint Francis de Sales, and recognized him as the man in her vision. She became a spiritual student and close friend of Saint Francis, and the two carried on a lengthy correspondence for years. On Trinity Sunday, 6 June 1610 she founded the Order of the Visitation of Our Lady at Annecy, France. The Order was designed for widows and lay women who did not wish the full life of the orders, and Jeanne oversaw the founding of 69 convents. Jeanne spent the rest of her days overseeing the Order, and acting as spiritual advisor to any who desired her wisdom. Visitationist nuns today live a contemplative life, work for women with poor health and widows, and sometimes run schools.
Prayer
O glorious saint, blessed Jane Frances, by fervent prayer, attention to the Divine Presence, and purity of intention, you attained on earth an intimate union with God, be now our advocate, our mother, our guide in the path of virtue and perfection. Plead our cause near Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, to whom you were so tenderly devoted, and whose holy virtues you did so closely imitate. Obtain for us, O amiable and compassionate saint, the virtues you see most necessary for us; an ardent love of Jesus in the most holy Sacrament, a tender and filial confidence in His Blessed Mother, and, like you, a constant remembrance of His sacred Passion and death. Obtain also, we pray, that our particular intention in this Novena may be fulfilled.
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V. Pray for us, O holy St. Jane Frances.
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R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
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Let us pray: O almighty and Merciful God, Who did grant blessed St. Jane Frances, so inflamed with the love of You, a wonderful degree of fortitude through all the paths of life, and was pleased through her to adorn Thy Church with a new religious Order, grant, by her merits and prayers, that we, who know our weakness while confident in Your Strength, may overcome all adversities with the help of Your heavenly Grace, through Christ our Lord. Amen
