St. Jane Frances de Chantal

St. Jane Frances de Chantal (28 January 1572 – 13 December 1641) was born at Dijon, France, the daughter of a magistrate, and married the Baron de Chantal, with whom she had several children and lived happily until he was killed in a hunting accident. Left a young widow, she embraced a life of prayer and charity to the poor, and in 1604 met St. Francis de Sales, who became her spiritual director and lifelong friend and guide.

Under his direction, and after providing for her children, she joined him in founding the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary in 1610 at Annecy — conceived as a community where women of delicate health or advanced age, excluded from the more austere orders, could pursue holiness through gentleness, humility, and interior prayer rather than extreme penance. She governed the rapidly spreading order with wisdom through many trials and inner darkness, and she was a spiritual mother to St. Vincent de Paul among others. She was canonized in 1767.