St. Frances de Chantal

Jane Frances Fremiot, Baroness de Chantal, the foundress and first Mother Superior of the Order of the Visitation, is honored by the Church for the holiness of her youth, of her married life, of her widowhood, and of her life in religion.

"One thing alone is necessary: it is to have God. In short, then, no matter what is going on, we must hold both our attention and our love on God, not wasting our time in studying what is happening to ourselves or what its cause is. Our Lord asks this of us." ~ St. Jane Frances de Chantal, (56) Wings to the Lord: Thoughts on Prayer by St. Jane Frances de Chantal

SAINT JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL
Widow

1572 – 1641

August 21st in the Traditional Calendar ~ August 18 New Calendar (USA)

Born of noble parents at Dijon in Burgundy, Jane Frances Frémiot de Chantal lost her mother while she was still a girl, and commended herself to the care of the Virgin Mother of God.  Her father gave her in marriage to the Baron de Chantal, and she showed herself to be a valiant woman above all others, making herself all things to all persons.  When her husband was killed while hunting, she made a vow of continence, and she so mastered herself that she did not hesitate to act as godmother to the son of the man who killed her husband.  Lest later on she should be moved from her determination to observe chastity, she renewed her vow and inscribed the most holy Name of Jesus on her breast with a hot iron.  With St. Francis de Sales as her spiritual director, who taught her the divine will, she laid the foundations of the religious Institute of the Visitation of Holy Mary, which she spread fare and wide.  Finally she bound herself by a vow always to do what she understood to be most perfect.  Full of merits, she went to the Lord on the 13th day of December, 1641, at Moulins, and was enrolled among the Saints by Clement XIII.

"Often pray spontaneously to God, whenever you can, and in whatever setting, always seeing God in your heart and your heart in God." ~ St. Francis de Chantal

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At the age of twenty-one Jane married the young Baron de Chantal,

Jane in her widow’s veil.

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"Love! love! love! my daughters; I know nothing else." ~ St. Jane Frances de Chantal

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Jane receiving the Constitutions for her community from Francis.

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”You have sent me the leaves of the tree: send me some of its fruits, in order that I may judge of them; I set little value on simple leaves. All I can say at present is that the fruits of a good heart that God nourishes are total oblivion of self, an unbounded love of humiliations, and a limitless joy for all that is done to advance God’s glory."  ~  Saint Frances de Chantal

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RESOURCES:

• St. Agnes Love of God Info Page – inspiration found here by Jessica
• St. Frances de Chantal Bio – EWTN
• St. Frances de Chantal Bio – Catholic
• St. Jane Frances de Chantal – Catholic Culture
• Patron Saint of Girls – The Life of St. Frances de Chantal
• St. Jane Frances de Chantal – A Biographical Sketch
• St. Frances de Chantal Thoughts on Prayer
• Novena to St. Jane Frances de Chantal
• Video on the Visitation Order – Founded by St. Francis de Sales & St. Jane Frances de Chantal

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 "If we patiently accept through love all that God allows to happen, then we will begin to taste even here on earth something of the delights the saints experience in heaven. But for this we must serve God willingly and lovingly, seeking to obey the Divine Will rather than to follow our own inclinations and desires. For the perfection of love demands that we desire for ourselves only whatever God wills. Let us implore the good God unceasingly to grant us this grace!"

~St. Jane Frances de Chantal