Catholic Blesseds, Saints, Solemnities & Holy Days

Jane Frances was born in Dijon, France on January 28, 1572.  She was the mother of six children, while three of them died shortly after they were born.  She was also widowed at the age of 28.  She met St. Francis de Sales when he preached at the Sainte Chapelle in Dijon.  They became intimate friends. 

After developing her friendship with Sr. Francis de Sales, she was inspired to start a religious order for women, the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary.  It would be an Order with the support of St. Francis de Sales, for those women rejected by other orders due to poor health or age, those that were rejected by other orders. 

St. Jane Frances de Chantal died on December 13, 1641 at the age of 69.  She passed at the Visitation Convent in Moulins, one of those she founded, and was buried in Annecy.   She was beatified in 1751 by Pope Benedict XIV and canonized in 1767 by Pope Clement XIII.   St. Jane Frances’s feast day is currently celebrated on August 12^th.