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Saint for the Day - August 21 - St. Jane Frances
de Chantal
At the age of sixteen,
Jane Frances de Frémyot, already a motherless child,
was placed under the care of a worldly-minded
governess. In this crisis she offered herself to the
Mother of God, and secured Mary's protection for
life. When a Protestant sought her hand, she
steadily refused to marry "an enemy of God and His
Church," and shortly afterwards, as the loving and
beloved wife of the Baron de Chantal, made her house
the pattern of a Catholic home. But God had marked
her for something higher than domestic sanctity. Two
children and a dearly beloved sister died, and, in
the full tide of prosperity, her husband's life was
taken by the innocent hand of a friend. For seven
years the sorrows of her widowhood were increased by
ill-usage from servants and inferiors, and the cruel
importunities of friends, who urged her to marry
again. Harassed almost to despair by their
entreaties, she branded on her heart the name of
Jesus, and in the end left her beloved home and
children to live for God alone.
It was on the 19th of March, 1609, that Madame de
Chantal bade farewell to her family and relations.
Pale, and with tears in her eyes, she passed round
the large room, sweetly and humbly taking leave of
each. Her son, a boy of fifteen, used every
entreaty, every endearment, to induce his mother not
to leave them, and at last passionately flung
himself across the door of the room.
In an agony of distress, she passed on over the body
of her son to the embrace of her aged and
disconsolate father. The anguish of that parting
reached its height when, kneeling at the feet of the
venerable old man, she sought and obtained his last
blessing, promising to repay in her new home his
sacrifice by her prayers. Well might St. Francis
call her "the valiant woman." She was to found with
St. Francis de Sales a great Order. Sickness,
opposition, want, beset her, and the death of
children, friends, and of St. Francis himself
followed, while eighty-seven houses of the
Visitation rose under her hand. Nine long years of
interior desolation completed the work of God's
grace; and in her seventieth year St. Vincent of
Paul saw, at the moment of her death, her soul
ascend, as a ball of fire, to heaven.
Saint for the Day - St. Jane Frances de Chantal
Read about the Saint for today - August 21 and spare a thought for family or friends who might suffering from ill health or are experiencing times of trouble.
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Daily Reflection
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Profit by the successive trials
of life to gain the strength and
courage of St. Jane Frances, and
they will become stepping-stones
from earth to heaven. |
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Saint for the Day Website
We hope that you gain spiritual knowledge and inspiration reading about the saint for today - August 21. An online Catholic resource providing a short Reflection for the year ahead. Use these short, inspiring words to request guidance or assistance for yourself and for the sake of others. |
