Jane Frances de Chantal, VHM (born Jeanne-Françoise Frémyot, Baroness of Chantal; 28 January 1572 – 13 December 1641) was a French Catholic noble widow and nun who was beatified in 1751 and canonized in 1767. She founded the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary. The religious order accepted women who were rejected by other orders because of poor health or age.

When people criticized her, Chantal famously said, "What do you want me to do? I like sick people myself; I'm on their side." During its first eight years, the new order also was unusual in its public outreach, in contrast to most female religious who remained cloistered and adopted strict ascetic practices.

Biography

Jane Frances de Chantal was born in Dijon, France, on 28 January 1572, the daughter of the royalist president of the Parliament of Burgundy, Bénigne Frémyot and his wife, Margaret de Berbisey. Her paternal uncle was the prior at Val des Choux. Her brother André became the Archbishop of Bourges (1602–1621).

Her mother died when Jane was 18 months old. Her father became the main influence on her education. She developed into a woman of beauty and refinement.

Baroness

Having turned down two prior suitors, in 1592, she married the Baron de Chantal when she was 20 and they lived in the feudal Castle of Bourbilly. There they hosted hunting parties and other entertainments for the neighboring nobles. Their first two children died shortly after birth. When her older sister Margaret died, the baroness brought her three small children to Bourbilly. She and her husband subsequently had a son and three daughters. Baron de Chantal was occasionally away from home on service to the king. Jane gained a reputation as an excellent manager of the estates of her husband, as well as of her difficult father-in-law, while also providing alms and nursing care to needy neighbors. Jane then put the estate in order and acceded to her father's request that she and her children to stay for a time with him in Dijon. She had not long returned to Bourbilly when she received a letter from her widowed father-in-law demanding that she live with him in his castle at Monthelon, Saône-et-Loire. Towards the end of 1602, Chantal closed up Bourbilly and moved to Monthelon.

Francis de Sales

In 1604, her father invited her to come to Dijon to hear the bishop of Geneva, Francis de Sales, preach the Lenten sermons at the Sainte Chapelle. They became close friends and de Sales became her spiritual director. He "...bade her avoid scruples, hurry, and anxiety of mind, which above all things hinder a soul on the road to spiritual perfection."

Her reputation for sanctity and sound management resulted in many visits by (and donations from) aristocratic women. The order had 13 houses by the time de Sales died, and 86 before Jane herself died at the Visitation Convent in Moulins, aged 69. Vincent de Paul served as her spiritual director after de Sales' death. Her favorite devotions involved the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Sacred Heart of Mary. Chantal was buried in the Annecy convent next to de Sales. In 2001, Pope John Paul II included in the General Roman Calendar the memorial of Our Lady of Guadalupe on 12 December. Consequently, he moved the memorial of Saint Jane Frances to 12 August.

In 2022, Jane Frances de Chantal was officially added to the Episcopal Church liturgical calendar with a feast day shared with Francis de Sales on 12 December.

Jane Frances de Chantal is invoked as the patron of forgotten people, widows, and parents who are separated from their children.

See also

  • Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, patron saint archive

Bibliography

  • . This book was placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum in 1913.

References

  • Saint Jane Frances de Chantal at Catholic Online
  • Saint Jeanne de Chantal at Patron Saints Index
  • Saint Jane Frances De Chantal School in North Hollywood, California