Selected Letters of Saint Jane Frances de ChantalChantal, Jeanne-Françoise de, Saint
Religion
Selected Letters of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal
Chantal, Jeanne-Françoise de, Saint
Chantal, Jeanne-Françoise de, Saint, 1572-1641 -- Correspondence
Thinking it desirable to remove her to a distance from Paris, where the
temptations to return to her former life might prove too strong for one
so weak and so recently converted, St. Francis arranged with her family
and with Mother de Chantal to ask Mother de Bréchard to give her a home
in her convent. His solicitude was ill repaid. This volatile and
mischievous young woman brought endless bitterness to his heart, and to
that of St. Jane Frances, while she was the source of misery and
contention in the community in which she lived. In due time, acting upon
the advice of their holy Founder, who was ever too hopeful in his views
about Madame du Tertre, she was allowed to make her profession, but she
soon relapsed into her former disedifying and uncontrolled manner of
living, thereby becoming the cause of great suffering to the Institute.
A letter of St. Jane Frances' shows that her repentance at the end was
genuine, and that she died happily in peace with God.
XXXIII. _To Mother Péronne Marie de Châtel, Superior at Grenoble._
Vive [+] Jésus!
PARIS, 1619.
You ask me, my dear daughter, if we are poor. Yes, indeed we are, but I
hardly ever give it a thought. Heaven and earth may pass away, but the
word of God remains eternally as the foundation of our hope. He has said
that if we seek His kingdom and His justice all the rest shall be added
unto us. I believe Him, and I trust in Him. The extreme necessity in
which we sometimes find ourselves gives us opportunities of practising
holy confidence in God and rare perfection. Truly we already see how
wise it is to adhere to Him and to hope in Him against all human hope,
for our foundation has been a thousand times more successful than we
dared to anticipate.
XXXIV. _To Mother Marie Jacqueline Favre, Superior at Lyons._
Vive [+] Jésus!
PARIS,
_September 29, 1619._
What a great consolation for you, my very dear daughter, to have the joy
of a little visit from our dearest Father! It is such a relief that he
is out of Paris, where the epidemic[A] is so bad that his departure was
a delight to me. Although it surrounds us do not fear for us, daughter,
only pray earnestly that we may accomplish the most holy will of our
good God. I have every confidence that nothing will happen but what is
His good pleasure, and what pleases Him pleases us. So if it is His will
I shall often write to you, and I will address all my letters to his
Lordship, who has desired me to keep him well acquainted with our news.
I wish you could find out the best address for our letters and tell me
also how you will send yours. It would be well to take advantage of M.
Rousselet when he returns to this town, for he has a brother at Lyons.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account