The Visitation Monastery of Turin, Italy, where Sister Jeanne Benigne Gojos spent most of her religious life, had the honor of being the first among the Monasteries of Italy to see flourish within its walls the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The community had a side altar erected within the ancient chapel, dedicated to the Sacred Heart, where in 1694 the first Mass of the Sacred Heart was celebrated in Italy, encouraged by Sister Jeanne Benigne.
But Sr Jeanne Benigne was born in the Diocese of Geneva in 1615. How did she get to Turin?
Here’s her story:
Jeanne Gojos was born July 20, 1615 in Viuz (Véronay), in the diocese of Geneva, in a deeply Christian family and was baptized on the feast of St. Mary Magdalene. She was a sweet and beautiful girl, loved especially by her grandfather , a rich man and well regarded in the country for the love he had for the poor. At four years, Jeanne was stricken with smallpox which left some marks on her face and, shortly after,she fell from a horse. The Lord, who had wonderful plans for her, saved her miraculously. The grandfather took her to his home in Ville de Fernay to be educated.
In January 1623, when traveling from Lyon to Annecy, the body of St. Francis de Sales, for one night, was received into the house of her grandfather.She was only seven years, but that night changed her life.
She also had the good fortune to gradually feel, in her heart, stronger and stronger, the desire to give all to God. The priest of the country, at first, tried to dissuade her. Jeanne did not give up and asked with confidence, help of the Virgin. Soon after, she was able to establish contact with a Visitandine nun in Annecy. Only when she was sure that she would be received in that monastery, she told her parents. Her father suffered much due to the decision, but then the girl was able to follow her vocation. She left in the middle of the night and arrived in Annecy December 28, 1635.
During those years, a monastery was founded in Turin, Italy. Sr Jeanne Benigne was asked to go on this foundation. She crossed the Alps with Mother Jane de Chantal. The trip took two weeks. Arriving in the capital of Savoy, they had the joy of venerating the Holy Shroud.
Sister Gojos was always available to community services, even during the difficult times of the civil war that erupted between the pretenders to the throne after the death of the Duke Vittorio Amedeo I. For months several bombs fell in the garden of the monastery and the nuns, as soon as possible, fixed the holes. Many were the poor who knocked at the door to ask for help, for all there was a word of comfort and some material help.
Sister Jeanne Bénigne and companions were solemnly professed June 10, 1640, and had as a sponsor of the ceremony Catherine of Savoy, the “venerable Infanta”, daughter of Carlo Emanuele I and Catherine of Austria.
In 1644 Sister Gojos, because of sciatica, was reduced almost to a standstill. At the height of the pain she saw Mother de Chantal and asked that Father Francis heal her.
The Lord later suggested some practices of great profit to the faith, that the faithful could follow. These consisted in offering to God every action, in praise and honor of Him. The act of Jeanne Bénigne can be expressed in the following thoughts: ” All for God, for all His glory and all for pure love “, and ” nothing is small for what we do for God. “
In August 1647, she was struck by a serious illness . One day she was wrapped in God in prayer with a total alienation from the senses, and in front of the Virgin Mary,she asked the Lord for a healing. On the day of the Assumption she was able to get out of bed healed.
Two years later, again, she fell ill: her bed became a cross from the torments she felt, but also a haven for heavenly consolations that she received.
In the last months of life Sister Gojos felt great anxiety at the thought of becoming a burden to her sisters, suffering especially in the night. She reached the point of not being able to eat. She could only receive Holy Communion.
As she approached her last days, the community gathered around her bed. To all the sisters Sr. Jeanne Benigne asked pardon for the faults she committed, then renewed her vows with the formula of profession. On the last night she stopped speaking altogether. She received the viaticum, and breathed her last.. It was Nov. 5, 1692, 8 pm. Sr Jeanne Benigne was 77 years old, and had been 57 years in the Monastery.
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