Year of Saint Jane de Chantal

As the Visitation Sisters move toward the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Visitation order in 2010, we are dedicating the year 2008 to our foundress, St. Jane de Chantal. St. Jane de Chantal was an extraordinary woman who found sanctity in the ordinary events of her life. In some ways her life could be described as ordinary; in other ways it was extraordinary because of the many losses she experienced, including her loved husband, who died in a hunting accident right after the birth of their fourth child.

Under the direction of St. Francis de Sales St. Jane learned how to see the hand of God and "God's good pleasure" in the challenges she faced during her life of close to 70 years.

This woman of a strong, ardent and somewhat impatient temperament learned how to curb her natural dispositions so she developed a serenity in her life which enabled her to lead others along paths of kindness and gentleness.

For those of us engaged in working with young students, she has a special message of encouragement.

"Lead those in your care with a kind and understanding heart. Give them a holy liberty of spirit and remove from your mind and theirs any unhealthy spirit of constraint."