She was born Joan
Francoise Fremyot on January 23rd at Dijon, the daughter of a
president of the parliament of Burgundy. She was the active and
capable housekeeper of a great household before she became the
founder and superior of an order of contemplative nuns.
At twenty she was
married to a local nobleman, the Baron de Chantal. He was good and
kind, and the marriage was a happy one; she had the distinction and
presence of a great lady, and she possessed intelligence and good
humor too. Though she performed her role in the society of the
neighborhood her mind was elsewhere. Though she would entertain on
her husband's behalf, she received visitors with reserve during his
absences and was observed to wear dresses which were noticeably less
fine. Then she would devote herself to prayer and to exploring the
disturbing feeling that God had chosen her life for some great
service.
After eight years of
marriage she lost her husband in a hunting accident. Her only desire
now was to live a life of prayer, but everything seemed to be in the
way of it. There were her four children to bring up; she was the
guest of a difficult father-in-law; or else she was acting as
hostess for her father in Dijon. Also she had put herself in the
hands of a tyrannical and obtuse director who wearied her flesh and
spirit and would not let her seek advice elsewhere. She dreamed of a
perfect and understanding director and at last she found one in St.
Francis of Sales; she attended his sermons in Dijon in 1604; they
were introduced at the house of her brother. It was as if Francis
too had found someone he was seeking; he had had a vision of a new
order of nuns which would be led by a widow.
Francis found a great
soul whose splendid simplicity did not realize how far she had
progressed in the life of contemplation. Later when Mme de Chantal
experienced the full influence of the mysticism of the Spanish
Carmel through Mother Mary of the Trinity and others met in Dijon,
she found that they had little to teach her: they could only explain
the privileges that she had been granted by God.
Francis moved with
sympathy and discretion. He wanted to be absolutely sure of the
vocation of his charge. They met again at St. Claude in his diocese;
then after a decisive interview at Annecy in June 1610 the
Congregation of the Visitation was founded. It was intended to meet
the needs of those who desired a religious life but were not
physically or temperamentally able to withstand the stringent
demands of contemporary enclosed orders. At first its aims included
tending the poor and the sick; but under the inspiration of its
foundress it moved naturally towards a more strictly contemplative
form of life, and its charter was revised to this end in 1615.
St. Joan de Chantal is
a saint of prayer; she speaks of 'that pure capacity to receive the
spirit of God which suffices for all method'; but because she
attained to the high flights of Mary through a hard apprenticeship
to the duties of Martha she is an inspiration to all who labor at
reconciling practical life and devotion. She was canonized in 1767.
