A motherly love for all
With a heart full of love, Juana dreamed of consolidating her family life, however, her husband died young and the disease took to two of his children. For this reason, she decided to leave her condition as a laywoman to follow in the footsteps of Francis de Sales. For Juana, action and contemplation were linked. Motivated by this principle, she founded the Visitation order, with the aim of caring for the sick and the most fragile. At a certain point in her life Juana wanted a religious life of seclusion in prayer, but the order summoned the postulants and she had to travel throughout Europe, establishing more than 80 monasteries as she went. It can be said that her motherhood as a married woman and later as a nun allowed her to extend the stakes of her tent and become the mother of the forgotten and the rejected in her time.
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Biography of Jeanne de Chantal
Jeanne Francisca Fremyot was born on January 23, 1572 in Dijon, France. Her father was the president of the parliament of the Duchy of Burgundy. Her mother died when she was one year old, so the upbringing of the girl was in charge of her aunt, and her father ensured that she had a good religious formation. In 1592 she is married by the Chantal’s Baron with whom he had 6 children, of which 2 died when they were still very young. As a woman, Juana proved to be an exemplary mother and wife, as pious, she felt a strong devotion to the service of the poorest. ANDn 1601, When her husband died in a hunting accident, Juana resigned herself and humbly fulfilled her duty as a state, developing her spiritual life.
In the year 1604 he made a Lenten retreat with the Bishop of Annecy, later to be known as Saint Francis de Sales. Juana saw in him the spiritual director she needed, and from that moment she received him as her spiritual guide. Subsequently, she Juana began to walk towards the Religious life, Y in 1610 founded the Order of the Visitation of Saint Mary together with Saint Francis de Sales, in the city of Annecy, thus becoming the first sister of the visitation.
for about 18 years, the souls of Juana and Francisco remained united thanks to a great friendship, which allowed them to stay in contact through epistolary correspondence. In fact, these letters that were written to each other constitute a masterpiece of French and religious literature. Later, throughout her religious life, Juana gradually got rid of material goods and her affections, dedicated herself to caring for the sick, and finally made her vows in the year 1616. It should be noted that Mother Juana He traveled throughout France to take charge of the construction of monasteries, and during his life in this land he did not stop founding them, thus allowing the extension of lto salesian spirituality in different places. After the death of San Francisco in 1622, Juana had to face notoriety, but she remained humble and at the service of the sick. As she grew spiritually, she Joan felt harassed by various temptations that were stronger and stronger. Finally, she died a saintly death on December 13, 1641 in Moulins, after having received due preparation from her. Joan of Chantal was canonized on July 16, 1767 and his feast is celebrated on August 12.
The work of Jeanne de Chantal
Joan of Chantal and Saint Francis de Sales they had a common work: they worked together to achieve the foundation of the Order of the Visitation in 1610. The mission of this new institute of religious life is “Deliver to God daughters of prayer, so devout, that they are found worthy to worship him in spirit and in truth” (Saint Francis de Sales). While Joan was still alive, the order expanded rapidly, so that by 1622 there were already 13 monasteries, and by 1641 there were some 87, of which the most famous is that of Paray-le-Monial (which has been turned into a great sanctuary). In fact, in the year of 1671 Santa Margarita María Alacoque would enter precisely this order and later receive the revelation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It should be noted that, currently, visitation monasteries are present on 4 continents.
Pray with Juana de Chantal
Saint Joan of Chantal was proclaimed patron saint of mothers and widowsas well as from forgotten people and ex-convicts, and it is known that he intercedes in a special way for these people. In fact, you can invoke his intercession through the Novena to Saint Joan of Chantal.
Prayer of Joan of Chantal: act of abandonment
“Oh sovereign goodness of the sovereign providence of my God, I abandon myself forever in your arms;
Whether you treat me gently or harshly, lead me from now on, where you best agree.
I will not set my eyes on the paths you will lead me through, but on you, O my God, who guides me;
my heart does not find rest, outside the arms and lap of this heavenly Providence, my true mother, my strength and my bastion;
That is why I have resolved, counting on your divine help, oh my savior, to follow your wishes and ordinances, without ever looking or trying to figure out the reasons why you allow one and not the other,
on the contrary, with closed eyes I will follow you according to your divine will without seeking my own delight;
It is what I have determined, to let God do everything, without leaving me out of the rest of his arms, without desiring anything else, but what He will lead me to desire, to want and to yearn for.
I offer you this wish, oh my God, begging you to bless it, assuming all things, supported by your goodness, freedom and mercy, with full trust in you and suspicion in me, in my infinite misery and incapacity.
Amen.”