Sharing Prayerful Moments with St. Jane de Chantal

Wife, mother, widow and foundress of the Visitation Order

St. Jane de Chantal, portrait of 1636

This holy woman can speak to women of the 21st century.

The following is the foreword to the booklet, Sharing Prayerful Moments with St. Jane de Chantal. We hope to publish the booklet on this website chapter by chapter. This is the first time that this booklet has been made available on the internet, and thus, to everyone the world over with an internet connection.

* * *

The inspiration of this booklet on the spirituality of the foundress of the Visitation Order, St. Jane de Chantal, came during a Ministry Network Meeting in 1998. The members believed that the life experiences, teachings and example of this holy woman could speak to women of the 21st century with clarity and inspiration.

Since our secondary schools are engaged in the education of young women, we saw in this booklet a tangible way to share the spiritual riches of a woman who found paths to sanctity as a young woman, wife, mother, widow and religious. This final product reflects the united efforts of our Visitation schools in Brooklyn, New York; St. Louis, Missouri; Mendota Heights, Minnesota; Wheeling, West Virginia; and Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

We hope that those with whom we share this booklet – our students, our alumnae, our neighbors, our friends and the “moms” who come to our monasteries and schools – will treasure and live the spiritual legacy of this great woman of God.