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St. Jane Frances de Chantal was born into a rich and powerful family in France.
When she was 18 months old, her mother died, which left a deep mark on her.
Jane married Baron Christophe de Chantal when she was 20. They were deeply in love. Together, they had seven children, three of whom died in infancy.
Jane helped Christophe reestablish order in his house, manage his estate, and restore daily Mass at the estate. She was well-loved by the estate’s staff and also engaged in many charitable works.
In 1601, after seven years of marriage, Christophe died. While out hunting, one of his friends accidentally shot him in the leg. Christophe died 9 days later because of the inadequate medical care of the time.
Before he died, Christophe forgave his friend, but Jane struggled to forgive. She struggled to even greet the friend in the street. Slowly, through the grace of God, she found the ability to greet him and then welcome him back into her home. She eventually became the godmother of his child.
After being widowed, Jane struggled deeply with depression, and this struggle continued for the rest of her life. Through prayer, Jane realized that this struggle was God’s invitation to deepen her surrender and to rely on His strength, lessons that would serve her well in her new mission.
Overcome with grief, Jane and her children lived with her father for a year, taking the time to grieve and discern the next steps. Unfortunately, Jane’s father-in-law was not understanding of this move and threatened to disinherit the children if she did not move back to the family’s estate. After her time with her father, Jane moved in with her father-in-law and began helping manage his household.
Jane had thrown herself further into prayer following Christophe’s death and began to ask God to send her a holy spiritual director. She had a vision of a saintly priest she did not recognize, but realized would eventually be her spiritual director.
Soon after, Jane’s father invited her to join him in attending a Lenten mission preached by St. Francis de Sales. Jane immediately recognized him as the priest from her vision. Soon, Francis became her spiritual director and began guiding her prayer life, helping her overcome her scruples and learn how to balance her responsibilities to her family.
After Christophe’s death, Jane had made a private vow of celibacy and had a strong desire to join a religious order. Because her children were still young, she decided to put her desire on hold until they were older, when she and Francis decided to revisit it.
Francis revealed his vision for a new religious order for women. He wanted to create an order for women whose health, age, or other circumstances prevented them from joining other communities. He wanted them to be active, not cloistered, and dedicated to the works of mercy. He wanted them to focus primarily on the virtues of Mary at the Visitation: humility and meekness.
So, together, when Jane was 45, Jane and Francis founded the Congregation of the Visitation of Holy Mary.
More suffering followed Jane throughout her life: The death of her dear friend, the death of her son, and a plague in France that killed her daughter-in-law and son-in-law. Despite these sufferings, Jane was diligent in her work of founding convents. At the time of her death, there were 86 convents.
Lessons From St. Jane Frances de Chantal
St. Jane Frances de Chantal is an excellent example of posttraumatic growth, or a person becoming better following an experience of trauma. This growth can show up in the following ways:
- A greater appreciation of life and a changed sense of priorities, often due to new beliefs and assumptions gained from processing the trauma
- Warmer, more intimate relationships with others, often due to disclosing one’s trauma to others and experiencing social support during the healing process
- A greater sense of personal strength. Knowing you have made it through something difficult can foster a strong belief in your ability to do hard things.
- A richer spiritual life. This richer spiritual life can also be due to changed assumptions and beliefs, and potentially turning to God for support.
- Seeing new possibilities in life, such as a new mission, a new path, or a new cause to support. Seeing these new possibilities is also often due to new assumptions and beliefs.
Following the death of her husband, St. Jane Frances de Chantal, after a time of intense grief, found posttraumatic growth. She grew in her devotion to God, learned through her depression how to rely on God, found a new friendship with St. Francis de Sales, and discovered her second vocation.
Jane’s prayer, taking her time to process her grief, and finding a confidant in St. Francis de Sales, helped to support the development of posttraumatic growth. These three ingredients (prayer, processing, and community) can also help us to find posttraumatic growth.
May St. Jane Frances de Chantal intercede for us that we may also experience posttraumatic growth.