In October 2018 a famous young woman from the French Telethon Programming entered a Visitation Monastery near Nantes, France, Jeanne Pelat. Jeanne has suffered much physically in her 22 years but her faith is outstandingly strong.
Her new book is all about the value of suffering. ” The suffering, way to God, ” would be the title in English, but the book is in French, published January 30 – it analyzes the meaning of suffering. French title: La Souffrance, chemin vers Dieu
On October 16, Jeanne, 21 years old, entered the door of a Visitation monastery near Nantes. We imagine the wrenching, for her parents, her brothers, the rest of the family. For her friends too … But Jeanne is happy, her father and mother are convinced: “She is totally happy, with the sisters, and it shows,” Jean-Pierre Pelat told us; “the sisters are always smiling. There, it love and serenity is exuded.”
One could fear that her myopathy and her various health problems (diabetes etc.) would be less well taken care of. In fact, this new rhythm is more compatible with her illness: she sleeps from 10 pm to 6 am, which was not the case when she was a student, between homework to do, outings between young people … “She even took on a little weight; a chair will be easier in the monastery than in our world, where you have to fight for transport, work.”
The mother superior and her assistant take care of Jeanne: the rising, the toilet, the nights … “They were formed by Isabelle”, the mother of Jeanne, and everything goes well. The physiotherapist comes twice a week to the monastery and in case of problems, the doctor is called. Jeanne has already visited the CHR of Nantes, several times; it is 20 minutes by tram.
For now, the young woman is in the novitiate and her days take place between divine offices and study, with two breaks of 15 minutes. In May, she will be in postulancy for six months. She hopes to make her temporary vows in May 2020. She will first wear a white veil, then black. And she will change her name.
For Jean-Pierre and Isabelle, who cared for their disabled daughter for 15 years, “the void is there, especially in the evening, when you come home from work or at bedtime.. “
The parents had to face the departure of their last child at the same time as Jeanne: Valentin had left the house some time ago, Paul-Henri is a student and does not return until the weekend. They rarely enter their daughter’s room: she has left almost everything behind her …
Paul-Henri almost experienced Jeanne’s departure as a mourning. “He lost his soul mate, it was very, very hard for him. Today, things are a little better. “
Jeanne is entitled to 12 parlor visits a year, to be divided among the various members of her family, her friends (but only one in six months during the novitiate to come). “We have agreed: we, her parents, we will go a weekend by quarter,” says the father of the young nun. “We come from far away, so the Superior is flexible, we can see our daughter two hours on Saturday afternoon, 45 minutes on Sunday morning and 1:30 in the afternoon. She is behind a low wall and a gate, which is open so that we can kiss her (…) She told us she misses us, even if she is happy with her choice. The next visit is scheduled for mid-March. The Pelats hired a mini-bus to take a part of the family. Source: http://lavdn.lavoixdunord.fr/530989/article/2019-02-01/jeanne-pelat-icone-du-telethon-entree-dans-les-ordres-publie-son-second-livre
Jeanne’s Book on Suffering
Jeanne took the pen to testify one last time and dared to say that suffering is the opportunity to meet God. And the reader will understand that it can even be a source of life … and joy. For this, the author invites you to contemplate Jesus crucified. From his arrest – “Father, if you want, take this cup away from me! (Luke 22:42) until, when Jesus breathes his last, the soldiers pierce his heart. “It’s in this absolute that all the answers are,” she continues. And to enumerate: “The anxiety, the fear, the loneliness, the abandonment of his disciples and friends, the betrayal of one of them, the persecution, the humiliation of the spitting and the mockery, the ingratitude . “
What Jesus knew refers to situations, to moral and physical ordeals that are characterized, for the sick, by the loss of autonomy, the feeling of uselessness, the non-respect of their dignity. They know how long the waiting for a verdict, a recovery, a healing requires patience and confidence … God would then be absent from these lives? Jeanne Pelat, a graduate in theology, wished to address everyone. But it is a powerful illumination of what Christ went through bearing the cross, “our cross”. “This Passion of Jesus, of incomparable pain, is our inheritance. “
What can be learned from this teaching? A course of action to take to face the distress, the suffering … To recover entirely in the hands of the Father, to receive the sacrament of the patients, “this divine support”. Live mercy, for ourselves and for others. To dare to love life. And love finds mysteriously in the test of illness many ways to manifest and unfold. But “our only reason for being is to love”. A magnificent statement.