Saint Jane Frances de Chantal

****Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, also known as **Jeanne-Françoise Frémyot, Baroness of Chantal**.

She 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**.

She is honored by the Church for the holiness of her youth, her married life, her widowhood, and her life in religion.

Her influence has largely confined itself to the Visitation order she founded and to the network of schools sponsored by the Visitation nuns.

Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, born Jeanne-Françoise Frémyot, was a French Catholic noble widow and nun. She was born on **28 January 1572** in Dijon, Burgundy, France, and died on **13 December 1641**.

She was the daughter of the royalist president of the Parliament of Burgundy, Bénigne Frémyot, and his wife, Margaret de Berbisey. Her mother died when Jane was just 18 months old. Her father became the main influence on her education, and she developed into a woman of beauty and refinement.

In 1592, she married the Baron de Chantal when she was 20 and they lived in the feudal Castle of Bourbilly. 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. Chantal 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. In 1601, the Baron was accidentally killed in a hunting accident¹. Left a widow at 28, with four children, the broken-hearted baroness took a vow of chastity.

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."¹ 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.

She was beatified in 1751 and canonized in 1767. She is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. Her major shrine is in Annecy, Savoy. Her feast day is on 12 August. She is the patron saint of forgotten people, parents separated from children, and widows. She is also invoked against in-law problems.

(1) Jane Frances de Chantal - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Frances_de_Chantal.

(2) Our Patroness - St. Jane Frances de Chantal Catholic Church. https://www.stjane.org/about-us/our-patroness/.

(3) De Chantal, Jeanne-Françoise Frémyot, baronne | Internet Encyclopedia .... https://iep.utm.edu/jeanne-francoice-fremyot-de-chantal/.

(4) St. Jane Frances de Chantal (21 August) ~ Housewife & Mother Superior. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWy4JdtSiqk. (5) Santa Juana Francisca Fremiot de Chantal, fundadora de la Orden de la Visitación de Nuestra Señora. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0ZGwwZ-4MI.

(6) Cantique en l'honneur de Sainte Jeanne-Françoise Frémiot de Chantal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtPdgSug51M.

(7) The Daily Mass: St Jane Frances de Chantal - YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tzEXOcxf94.

(8) undefined. https://sensusfidelium.us/the-liturgical-year-dom-prosper-gueranger/august/august-21-st-jane-frances-fremiot-de-chantal-widow/.

(9) undefined. https://institute-christ-king.org/vocations/sisters.

(10) undefined. https://www.olmcfssp.org/index.php/olmc.