St. Jane Frances de Chantal

Their story

Jane Frances Frémyot was born in Dijon, France, in 1572. Her mother died when she was a baby, and she was raised by her father, a respected lawyer. At twenty she married the Baron de Chantal, and they had a loving and happy marriage. They had six children, four of whom survived infancy. In 1601, when Jane was only 28, her husband was accidentally shot and killed while hunting. Jane was overwhelmed with grief, and she struggled for a long time to forgive the man who had shot him. In 1604 Jane heard St. Francis de Sales preach in Dijon, and he became her spiritual director and lifelong friend. Under his gentle guidance she grew in prayer and in trust in God. Together they dreamed of a new kind of religious community for women, including widows and those whose health did not allow harsh penances, focused on humility, gentleness and love. In 1610, after providing for her children, Jane founded the Visitation Sisters in Annecy. It was a painful parting, and a famous story tells that her teenage son lay across the doorway, and she stepped over him in tears. Jane led the Visitation for more than thirty years as it grew to about eighty convents. She endured many sorrows, the deaths of loved ones and long years of spiritual darkness, yet she remained faithful and full of love. She died in 1641 and was canonized in 1767.