August 12: Saint Jane Frances de Chantal
A free, strong woman, always seeking God
Wife, mother of four children, widow, foundress of the Order of the Visitation—Jane Frances Frémyot de Chantal spent every season of her life searching for God.
She was born on 23 January 1572 in Dijon into a noble and influential family. Her father, Bénigne Frémyot, was a magistrate and president of the Parliament of Burgundy; her mother, Marguerite Berbisey, died when Jane was only 15 months old.
From childhood Jane sought God passionately, and that spiritual quest marked every stage of her life. Her cousin Françoise-Madeleine de Chaugy described her as cheerful and lively, while an aunt remarked on the clarity of her intellect and the soundness of her judgment—traits that reveal Jane’s strong, brilliant personality.
At age 20 she married Christophe de Rabutin, Baron of Chantal. Though arranged, the marriage was very happy. They had six children, of whom only four survived. After eight joyful years together, the Baron died tragically in a hunting accident in 1600. Widowed at just 28, Jane—stricken with grief—found strength in her unwavering faith.
At first she returned to live in Dijon with her father. Later she moved to Monthelon, another family estate, to live with her father-in-law, who had threatened to disinherit her children if she refused. The elderly man was heavily influenced by a housekeeper with whom he had children, and under that woman’s sway Jane endured seven very hard years marked by humiliation and suffering.
Yet these difficult years were not wasted in her spiritual journey: in this “school” of trial Jane learned a humility that was real yet generous. She would say: “Let us be humble—but with that generous humility that fears only sin, that depends solely on the will of God and clings to it alone. In a word, humility already makes happy in this life all who wish to glory only in the cross of Jesus Christ.”
During that period several nobles sought her hand in marriage, but she always refused: in the depths of her heart she had resolved to belong wholly to God. One of her favorite sayings confirms this: “The heart for which God does not suffice is too stingy, and the heart that is content with less than God is miserable.”
In 1604, during Lenten preaching in Dijon, she met Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop of Geneva. One of his sayings struck her deeply: “We must do everything through love and nothing through force; we must love obedience more than we fear disobedience.” From then on a profound spiritual friendship grew between them. Francis became her spiritual director and perceived in her a special vocation. With firm gentleness he guided her toward total consecration to God.
Francis de Sales proposed that she found a new religious institute for women—open to women of every social condition. The road was anything but easy for Jane: she had to face pressure from her father, who wished her to remarry, and to provide for the future of her children.
At last, after long discernment, she left her children and her father’s house and went to Annecy. On 6 June 1610, together with Francis and three other women, she founded the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, which combined a contemplative life with care for the sick. The Order grew quickly, first in France and then across Europe.
After the death of Francis de Sales on 28 December 1622, Jane assumed leadership of the Order, which then numbered 13 monasteries. She governed it with wisdom and determination. By the time she died on 13 December 1641 at the Visitation in Moulins, the monasteries had grown to 87.
She was beatified by Pope Benedict XIV on 21 November 1751, and canonized by Pope Clement XIII on 16 July 1767. Today she is venerated as the Patroness of all women’s vocations.