Saint Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious

Jane Frances de Chantal, VHM (born Jeanne-Françoise Frémyot, Baroness of Chantal; 28 January 1572 – 13 December 1641) 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. 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." 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. Jane Frances de Chantal was born in Dijon, France, on 28 January 1572, the daughter of the royalist president of the Parliament of Burgundy, Bénigne Frémyot and his wife, Margaret de Berbisey. Her paternal uncle was the prior at Val des Choux. Her brother André became the Archbishop of Bourges (1602–1621). Her mother died when Jane was 18 months old. Her father became the main influence on her education. She developed into a woman of beauty and refinement. Having turned down two prior suitors, in 1592, she married the Baron de Chantal when she was 20 and they lived in the feudal Castle of Bourbilly. There 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. Jane 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 accident.