ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST
Saints celebrated on the 12th of August
Prayer to the Angels and the Saints
Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.
In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.
Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.
Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.
ST JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL, WIDOW
Saint Jane Frances de Chantal was the founder of a religious order in 17th century France… She was also close friends and a spiritual pupil of St Francis de Sales and St Vincent de Paul.
Born in Dijon in 1572 during France’s traumatic religious wars, she was from an aristocratic family, her father being the president of the Burgundy ‘parlement’ and her brother the Archbishop of Bourges.
HER HUSBAND WAS KILLED IN A HUNTING ACCIDENT
Married at 20, St Jane lived at a castle in nearby Bourbilly before her husband, the Baron de Chantal, was killed in a hunting accident. It was a love match by all accounts and the heartbroken 28-year-old widow and mother of four took a vow of chastity. (Not only her husband but her mother, sister and eldest two children had also died.)
SHE MET ST FRANCIS DE SALES
An efficient manager of her husband’s estates, she also cared for her father-in-law (who had a reputation as a difficult man) and provided help to neighbours. Then during Lent of 1604 she met St Francis de Sales, then Bishop of Geneva, and they became friends. With his support, and that of her brother, she left for Annecy, 22 miles south of Geneva, to start the Congregation of the Visitation.
"I AM ON THEIR SIDE"
She took her two remaining daughters with her, the elder having recently married the Baron of Thorens, a brother of St Francis de Sales… The order accepted women who had been rejected by other groups because of age or health, but was active in leaving its cloisters and meeting the faithful. Criticised for not abiding by strict practise, she replied: ‘What do you want me to do? I like sick people myself; I am on their side.’
THE ORDER GREW TO 164 HOUSES WITHIN A RELATIVELY SHORT TIME
Her reputation for good management and holiness meant that the house soon attracted donations from rich women, and the order had grown to 13 houses when St Francis de Sales died, after which St Vincent de Paul served as her spiritual director. When she died, aged 69, the order had grown to 86 houses. Tragically she had outlived her son, who had died fighting Huguenots and their English allies during the latter stages of the country’s religious conflict. By 1767, the year she was canonised by Clement XIII, the order then had 164 houses.
St Jane Frances de Chantal also wrote many letters on spiritual direction. Her granddaughter was Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, the famous letter writer considered one of the great figures of French literature, and an inspiration to novelist Marcel Proust.
(This article was published in “The Catholic Herald”, paper edition, issue August 9, 2013)
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