St. Jane de Chantal, as Superior and Foundress of the Visitation Nuns, had many occasions to write to her spiritual daughters.
Her letters to those Sisters who were mystics or experiencing mystical favors exhibit her profound understanding of these souls.
One of these Sisters was the Sister Jeanne Benigne Gojos, a lay Sister at Turin, to whom St Jane de Chantal wrote the following lines:
Vive ✠ Jésus!
Annecy, 1640.
My daughter most dear,
Your few words explaining your interior occupation have made your soul as clear to me as if it lay open before mine eyes. All that passes within you and without you is God’s own work.
Regarding your interior life, my advice is: Give God a free hand to do as He likes, while you look on in loving simplicity. And as to the exterior. Practice virtue by making faithful use from moment to moment of the opportunities provided by divine Providence. But it is superfluous for me to offer advice, as the heart that is governed by God needs no other guidance. Beseech of Him in His goodness, my dear daughter, to accomplish in us His holy will, without let or hindrance on our part.
Yours, etc.
So, what was passing within her soul?
At the Visitation Monastery in Turin, in 1635, this humble domestic Sister received wonderful favors. She spent her life in adoring and invoking the Heart of Jesus Rapt frequently into ecstasy, united in an ineffable manner to the Heart of Jesus, sharing His sadness, and inflamed with the desire of making Him known and loved, she foresaw in divine light the virgin of Paray, ( St Margaret Mary Alacoque)and announced the great mission with which St Margaret Mary would one day be charged.
The Word said to her one day, “I not only give myself to thee, I imprint myself on thee so as to engrave in thee the divine image.”
HER LIFE
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 Jeanne Benigne Gojos died at Turin, in the odor of sanctity, November 5th, 1692. Her life was written under the title of “The Charm of Divine Love,” and it possesses all the beauty of true mysticism. It is hoped that one day she may be raised to the Altars of the Church. St. Jane Frances said of her: “From the day of her profession she seemed no longer to be on earth.”
Sources: https://archive.org/stream/selectedletterso00chanuoft/selectedletterso00chanuoft_djvu.txt
and https://visitationspirit.org/2013/06/june-mystic-sister-jeanne-benigne-gojos/
andhttps://visitationspirit.org/2013/06/mystic-sr-jeanne-benigne-gojos-part-2/