At the foot of the castle where St. Jeanne de Chantal lived with her six children, for eight years, on an exceptional morning under azure blue skies, the family of Chatellus has traditionally hosted the feast of Saint Jane de Chantal, in the park of its eponymous castle.
It all started with a conference . In the village church, Myriam Cordier recalled the journey of St. Jane de Chantal, model of life for our time. Born of high nobility, after a magnificent marriage with the Baron de Chantal, Jeanne will live a terrible drama, that of the hunting accident of her husband who, when she was only 29 years old, put her in a solitude to which she was not prepared. Disillusioned by her tragic destiny, she will take refuge at the Château de Monthelon where, for eight years, she will take care of thirteen children, her own and those of her father-in-law.
Animated by the desire to love, Jeanne de Chantal nourishes a special sensitivity to those who suffer. Her meeting with François de Sales, Savoyard bishop to whom she had asked to guide her spiritually, will lead her to the creation of the Foundation of the Order of the Visitation, whose 400th anniversary was celebrated in 2010.
After being reunited by Faith and spirituality, beatified then canonized, Jeanne de Chantal and François de Sales rest in the basilica of the Visitation in Annecy. Monthelon keeps relics of “this good lady”.
From the church Morvandelle, it is in procession that these relics joined the park of the castle where, in a remarkable rural setting, the Mass was celebrated by Mgr. Benoît Rivière, bishop of Autun, assisted by Father Pascal Renty, parish priest of Saint-Lazare in Autunois and Notre-Dame du Morvan.In his homily, Mgr. Rivière put forward the fact that “facing a Saint , we aspire to a super successful life. We can ask, like Jeanne de Chantal, to make the light shine “. And to recall that “without this communion of love, we only live in appearance. There is not one heart for prayer and another for human relations, it is the same heart that shines like a single diamond. The Eucharist lived this Sunday of August in the footsteps of Saint Jeanne de Chantal was thus a “personal renewal”.