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
To hear him speak of God and of perfection was a delight, for his terms
were precise and intelligible, so that they easily brought home to the
understanding the high and subtle points of the spiritual life and this
great gift he used for the guidance of souls. Reading the depths of
their hearts and clearly seeing the motives from which they acted, he
guided and governed them with a skill other than that of this world. His
indefatigable charity for souls is well known, and the incomparable
delight with which he laboured amongst sinners, never resting till he
had put the conscience in peace and set the soul on its way to heaven.
What care did he not bestow upon the weak and repentant sinner, making
himself one with him, weeping together with him over his sins, and
becoming so one in heart with his penitent that none could conceal
anything from him.
Zeal for the salvation of souls was, I consider, his dominant virtue,
and in a sense it may be said that he preferred the service of his
neighbour, for whom he wore himself out, to the immediate service of
God. His charity was regulated in a remarkable manner, for he loved the
many souls for whom he had a special regard, and they were great in
number, not equally yet perfectly, and purely, recognizing the most
estimable virtue and the measure of grace in each and giving it place
accordingly in his regard. While to all he bore the utmost respect
because he saw God in his neighbour and him in God, yet his humility
never prevented him from reverencing the dignity of his position as
Bishop, and with what gravity and majesty he bore himself in it.
I now venture to repeat what so many persons have said to me--that when
they saw this man it seemed to them that they looked upon Our Lord on
earth. And to me he always appeared the living picture in which the Son
of God, Our Lord, was portrayed, for most truly the order and economy of
his soul was divine.
I remain, my Reverend Father,
Your very humble, obedient, and unworthy
daughter and servant in Our Lord,
SISTER JANE FRANCES FRÉMYOT
(_Of the Visitation of Holy Mary_).
FOOTNOTES:
[A] This letter is taken from "Sainte Jeanne-Françoise Frémyot de
Chantal: Sa Vie et ses Oeuvres," Vol. II.
[B] The treatise on the Love of God.
LIX. _To a Religious of the First Monastery of the Visitation at Paris._
Vive [+] Jésus!
ANNECY, 1625.
MY DEAREST DAUGHTER,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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