Saints
St. Jane Frances de Chantal
St. Jane Frances de Chantal
St. Jane Frances de Chantal was born on January 23, 1572, the second child of Benigne Fremyot, President of the Dijon Parliament, who belonged to one of the oldest and most honorable families of Burgundy. His wife died a year and a half after the birth of Jane, when their long-desired son was born.
Burgundy at the time was overrun by the Calvinists, and the new heresy prevailed everywhere. Consequently Jane was thoroughly instructed in the Catholic Faith. She was a precocious child, remarkable from her earliest years for her strength of character. She received a very good education and had great compassion for the sick and the poor. From the time she received her First Holy Communion, Jane felt a strong desire to devote herself in some way to God’s service. Because of the troubled religious and po political situation in Burgundy, Jane, now fifteen, went with her sister to Poitou, but there she was greeted with sadder sights, as the Huguenots had either ruined or desecrated the churches in Anjou and Touraine.
In 1591, Jane, upon the request of her father, returned to Dijon. He had chosen Christopher de Chantal, second Baron of the name, who was deeply religious and highly educated, to be her husband. The wedding took place the following year. Four children, one boy and three girls blessed the union. Each was offered to God and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin by their pious mother.
Divine Apparition
In the autumn of 1601, the Baron de Chantal was accidentally shot while out hunting with two friends, and died nine days later. After recovering from the shock, Jane de Chantal laid aside her expensive clothes and distributed those of her husband to the poor. She prayed that God might give her a holy Director, who would make known more clearly the Divine Will. One day as she rode around her property looking after her servants, she saw at a little distance a person who looked like a Bishop, walking towards her. His countenance was serene and heavenly, and she felt a great inward peace.
At the same moment the following suggestion was given to her soul: “”This is the guide, well beloved of God and man, in whose hands you will place your conscience. She rode quickly to the spot, but found no one there. At the same hour a similar manifestation was manifested to the Bishop of Geneva, who in ecstatic prayer saw in a vision the face of a young widow and a new religious congregation, of which it seemed that she would be the first Mother, while he himself was to be its guide and instructor.
For a time Madame de Chantal visited her father at Dijon, and on her return to Bourbilly, as she was praying one day in the chapel, she suddenly saw herself surrounded by a great crowd of virgins and widows, and heard a voice saying, This is the generation that shall be given to thee, my faithful servant, a chaste and chosen generation, and I will that it be holy””. She was greatly comforted, but had not the least idea what the vision foretold.
It was in 1604, while visiting her father-in-law, that she met the Bishop of Geneva, who had been invited to preach the Lenten sermons at Dijon. She no sooner beheld Francis de Sales, as he took his place in the pulpit, than she recognized him as the Bishop of her vision. It was not long before she placed herself under his direction. Upon his advice, she provided for the care of her children, renounced all her earthly possessions in their favor, and determined to abandon the world.
Order of the Visitation
On Trinity Sunday, 1610, that she laid the foundation of the “”Order of the Visitation”” at Annecy, France. Postulants soon applied and the community grew. The faith of the Sisters was called forth by the plague which devastated France, Savoy and Italy from 1626 to 1631. The remainder of St. Jane’s life was spent in incessant and arduous labors for the good of the Order. She died on December 13, 1641, as she repeated the Holy Name of Jesus three times. It is said that at the moment of her death St. Vincent de Paul saw her soul ascending to Heaven like a ball of fire. She was canonized by Pope Clement XIII, on July 16, 1767.
Medals and Pendants
Patron Saints - J's
Prayers to St. Jane Frances de Chantal
Prayer to St. Jane Frances de Chantal
O almighty and Merciful God, Who didst grant blessed St. Jane Frances, so inflamed with the love of Thee, a wonderful degree of fortitude through all the paths of life, and wast pleased through her to adorn Thy Church with a new religious Order, grant, by her merits and prayers, that we, who sensible of our weakness confide in Thy Strength, may overcome all adversities with the help of Thy heavenly Grace, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer written to St. jane Frances de Chantal
Saint Jane, you forgave the man who killed your husband. Help me learn to forgive a particular person in my life who has caused me harm. You know how difficult it is to forgive. Help me to take the steps you took to welcome this person back into my life. Amen