August 20 — Saint Jane Frances Fremiot De Chantal, Widow

Although Mary's glory is within her, beauty appears also in the garment wherewith she is clad : a mysterious robe woven of the virtues of the Saints, who owe to her both their justice and their reward. As every grace comes to us through our Mother, so all the glory of heaven converges towards that of the Queen.

Now among the blessed souls there are some more immediately connected with the holy Virgin. Prevented by the peculiarly tender love of the Mother of grace, they left all things, when on earth, to run after the odour of the perfumes of the Spouse she gave to the world ; in heaven they keep the greater intimacy with Mary which was theirs even in the time of exile. Hence it is, that at this time of her exaltation beside the Son of God, the Psalmist sings also of the Virgins entering joyously with her into the temple of the King. The crowning of our Lady is truly the special feast of these daughters of Tyre, who have themselves become princesses and queens in order to form her noble escort and her royal court.

If the Saint proposed to our veneration to-day is not adorned with the diadem of virginity, she is nevertheless one of those who have deserved in their humility to hear the heavenly message : Hearken, 0 daughter, and see, and incline thy ear ; and forget thy people and thy father's house} In reply, such was ner eagerness in the ways of love, that numberless virgins followed in her footsteps in order to be more sure of reaching the Spouse. She also, then, has a glorious place in the vesture of gold, with its play of colours, wherewith the Queen of Saints is clad in her triumph. For what is the variety noticed by the Psalm, in the embroideries and fringes of that robe of glory, if not the diversity of tints in the gold of divine charity among the elect ? In order to bring forward the happy effect produced by this diversity in the light of the Saints, Eternal Wisdom has multiplied the forms under which the life of the counsels may be presented to the world. Such is the teaching given in the holy Liturgy, by bringing together the feasts of yesterday and to-day on its sacred cycle. Between Cistercian austerity, and the more interior renouncement of the Visitation of holy Mary, there seems to be a great distance: nevertheless the Church unites the memory of St. Jane de Chantal and of the Abbot of Clairvaux in homage to the Blessed Virgin during the happy Octave which consummates her glory ; it is because all rules of perfection are alike in being merely variations of the one Rule, that of love, of which Mary's life was a perfect pattern. "Let us not "divide the robe of the Bride," says St. Bernard. "Unity, as well in heaven as on earth, consists in "charity. Let him who glories in the Rule, not "break the rule by acting contrary to the Gospel. " If the kingdom of God is within us, it is because it

1 Ps. xliv. 11.

"is not meat and drink; but justice, and peace, " and joy in the Holy Ghost To criticise others on " their exterior observance, and to neglect the Rule " in what regards the soul, is to take out a gnat from "the cup and to swallow a camel. Thou breakesfc " thy body with endless labour, thou mortifiest with " austerities thy members which are on the earth ; and " thou dost well. But while thou allowest thyself to "judge him who does not so much penance, he "perhaps is following the advice of the Apostle: " more eager for the better gifts, keeping less of that " bodily exercise which is profitable to little he gives " himself up more to that godliness which is profit- " able to all things. Which then of you two keeps " the Rule better ? doubtless he that becomes better " thereby. Now which is the better? The humbler? " or the more fatigued ? Learn of me, said Jesus, " because I am meek and humble of heart."*

St. Francis de Sales, in his turn, speaking of the diversity of religious Orders, says very well: "All '.' Religious Orders have one spirit common to them "all, and each has a spirit peculiar to itself. The '5 common spirit is the design they all have of '.'aspiring after the perfection of charity; but the " peculiar spirit of each is the means of arriving at "that perfection of charity, that is to say, at the " union of our souls with God, and with our neigh- " bour through the love of God." Coming next to the special spirit of the institute he had founded together with our Saint, the Bishop of Geneva declares that it is Va spirit of profound humility "towards God and of great sweetness towards our " neighbour, inasmuch as there is less rigour towards " the body, so much the more sweetness must there

1 Rom. xiv. 17. 3 St. Matth. xi. 29.

2 1 Tim. iv. 8. • 4 Bernard. Apologia ad Gulielm.

"be in the heart."1 And because "this Congrega- " tion has been so established that no great severity "may prevent the weak and infirm from entering it "and giving themselves up to the perfection of "divine love,"2 he adds playfully: "If there be any "sister so generous and courageous as to wish to "attain perfection in a quarter of an hour by doing "more than the Community does, I would advise " her to humble herself and be content to become " perfect in three days, following the same course as " the rest. For a great simplicity must always be "kept in all things: to walk simply, that is the true "way for the daughters of the Visitation, a way " exceedingly pleasing to God and very safe."8

With sweetness and humility for motto, the pious Bishop did well to give his daughters for escutcheon the divine Heart whence these gentle virtues derive their source. We know how magnificently heaven justified the choice. Before a century had elapsed, a nun of the Visitation, the Blessed Margaret Mary, could say: "Our adorable Saviour showed me the "devotion to his divine Heart as a beautiful tree "which he had destined from all eternity to take " root in the midst of our Institute. He wills that " the daughters of the Visitation should distribute "the fruits of this sacred tree abundantly to all " those that wish to eat of it, and without fear of its "failing them."4

"Love! love! love! my daughters; ;I know "nothing else." Thus did Jane de Chantal, the glorious co-operatrix of St. Francis in establishing the Visitation of holy Mary, often cry out in her latter years. " Mother," said one of the sisters, " I

1 Entretiens spirituels.

2 Constitutions of the Visitation, Introduction.

3 Entretiens spirituels.

4 Letter of the 17th June, 1689, to Mother de Saumaise.

"shall write to our houses that your Charity is " growing old, and that, like your godfather St. John, "you can speak of nothing hut love." To which the Saint replied : " My daughter, do not make such " a comparison, for we must not profane the Saints "hy comparing them to poor sinners ; but you will " do me a pleasure if you tell those sisters that if I " went by my own feelings, if I followed my inclination, and if I were not afraid of wearying the "sisters, I should never speak of anything but " Charity ; and I assure you, I scarcely ever open " my mouth to speak of holy things, without having " a mind to say : Thou shalt love the Lord with thy "whole heart, and thy neighbour as thyself."1

Such words are worthy of her who obtained for the Church the admirable Treatise on the Love of God, composed, says the Bishop of Genoa, for her sake, at her request and solicitation, for herself and her companions. At first, however, the impetuosity of her soul, overflowing with devotedness and energy, seemed to unfit her to be mistress in a school where heroism can only express itself by the simple sweetness of a life altogether hidden in God. It was to discipline this energy of the valiant woman without extinguishing its ardour, that St. Francis perseveringly applied himself during the eighteen years he directed her. "Do all things/' he repeats in a thousand ways, "without haste, gently, as do the " Angels ; follow the guidance of divine movements, " and be supple to grace ; God wills us to be like "little children/' And this reminds us of an exquisite page from the amiable Saint, which we cannot resist quoting : " If one had asked the sweet Jesus w when he was carried in his Mother's arms, whither

1 Memoirs of Mother de Chaugy, Part iii., chap. v.

2 Treatise on the Love of God, Preface ; Memoirs of Mother de Chaugy.

" he was going, might he not with good reason have " answered : I go not, 'tis my Mother that goes for " me : and if one had said to him : Bat at least do "you not go with your Mother? Might he not " reasonably have replied : No, I do not go, or if I "go whither my Mother carries me, I do not myself " walk with her nor by my own steps, but by my "Mother's, by her, and in her. But if one had "persisted with him, saying: But at least, O most "dear divine child, you really will to let yourself be "carried by your sweet Mother? No, verily, might "he have said, I will nothing of all this, but as my " entirely good Mother walks for me, so she wills for " me ; I leave her the care as well to go as to will to " go for me where she likes best ; and as I go not "but by her steps, so I will not but by her will; "and from the instant I find myself in her arms, I "give no attention either to willing or not willing, "turning all other cares over to my Mother, save "only the care to be on her bosom, to suck her " sacred breast, and to keep myself close clasped to " her most beloved neck, that I may most lovingly "kiss her with the kisses of my mouth. And be it " known to you that while I am amidst the delights " of these holy caresses which surpass all sweetness, "I consider that my Mother is a tree of life, and " myself on her as its fruit, that I am her own heart " in her breast, or her soul in the midst of her heart, " so that as her going serves both her and me with- " out my troubling myself to take a single step, so " her will serves us both without my producing any " act of my will about going or coming. Nor do I "ever take notice whether she goes fast or slow, "hither or thither, nor do I inquire whither she " means to go, contenting myself with this, that go " whither she please I go still locked in her arms, " close laid to her beloved breasts, where I feed as

" among lilies. . . . Thus " pliable and tractable to The Church abridges could, the life of St. Jane

Joanna Francisca Fremiot de Chantal, Divione in Burgundia clarissimis orta natalibus, ab ineunte aetate eximiae sanctitatis non obscuras edidit significationes. Earn enim vix quinquennem nobilem quemdam Calvinis tarn solida supra aetatem argumentatione perstrinxisse ferunt, collatumque ab eo munusculum flammis illico tradidisse in haec verba : En quomodo hseretici apud inferos comburentur, qui loquenti Christo fidem detrectant. Matre orbata, Deiparse Virginis tutelae se commendavit, et famulam, quae ad mundi amorem earn alliciebat, ab se rejecit. Nihil puerile in moribus should we be, Theotimus, God's good pleasure."2 for us far better than we Frances de Chantal :

Jane Frances Fr6miot de Chantal was born at Dijon in Burgundy, of noble parents, and from her childhood gave clear signs of her future great sanctity. It was said that when only five years of age, she put to silence a Calvinist nobleman by substantial arguments, far beyond her age, and when he offered her a little present she immediately threw it into the fire, saying : " This " is how heretics will burn in ** hell, because they do not be- " lieve Christ when he speaks." When she lost her mother, she put herself under the care of the Virgin Mother of God, and dismissed a maid servant who was enticing her to love of the world. There was

1 " A great servant of God informed me not long ago that by "addressing my speech to Philothea in the Introduction to a " Devout Life, I hindered many men from profiting by it : "because they did not esteem advice given to a woman, to be " worthy of a man. I marvel that there were men who, to be " thought men, showed themselves in effect so little men. . . . " Nevertheless, to imitate the great Apostle in this occasion, " who esteemed himself a debtor to everyone, I have changed my " address in this treatise and speak to Theotimus ; but if " perchance there should be any woman (and such an unreason- " ableness would be more tolerable in them) who would not read "the instructions which are given to men, I beg them to know " that Theotimus to whom I speak is the human spirit desirous "of making progress in holy love, which spirit is equally in " women as in men." — Treatise on the Love of God, Preface.

2 Treatise on the Love of God, Book ix., chap. xiv. (We have preferred the translation by Dom. H. B. Mackey, O.S.B.)

ST. JANE FRANCES FR] nothing childish, in her manners ; she shrank from worldly pleasures, and thirsting for martyrdom, she devoted herself entirely to religion and piety. She was given in marriage by her father to the Baron de Chantal, and in this new state of life she strove to cultivate every virtue, and busied herself in instructing in faith and morals her children, her servants and all under her authority. Her liberality in relieving the necessities of the poor was very great, and more than once God miraculously multiplied her stores of provisions; on this account she promised never to refuse any one who begged an alms in Christ's name.

Her husband having been killed while hunting, she determined to embrace a more perfect life and bound herself by a vow of chastity. She not only bore her husband's death resignedly, but overcame herself so far as to stand godmother to the child of the man who had killed him, in order to give a public proof that she pardoned him. She contented herself with a few servants and with plain food and dress, devoting her costly garments to pious usages. Whatever time remained from her domestic cares she employed in prayer, pious reading, and work. She could never be induced to accept offers of second marriage, even though honourable and advantageous. In

:miot de chantal. 497 exprimens, a saeculi deliciis abhorrens, martyriumque anhelans, religioni ac pietati impense studebat. fearoni de Chantal nuptui a patre tradita, virtutibus omnibus excolendis operam dedit, liberos, famulos, aliosque sibi subjectos in fidei doctrina, bonisque moribus imbuere satagens, Profusa liberalitate pauperum inopiam sublevabat, annona divinitus non raro multiplicata: quo factum est, ut nemini se umquam Christi nomine roganti stipem abnegaturam spoponderit.

Viro in venatione interempto, perfections vitas consilium iniens, continentiae voto se obstrinxit. Viri necem non solum aequo animo tulit, sed, in publicum indultae veniae testimonium, occisoris filium e sacro fonte suscipere sui victrix elegit. Modica familia, tenui victu atque vestitu contenta, pretiosas vestes in pios usus convertit. Quidquid a domesticis curis supererat ternporis, precibus, piis lectionibus, laborique impendebat. Numquam adduci potuitut alterasnuptias,quamvis utiles et honorificas, iniret Ne autem a proposito castimoniae observanaae in po3terum dimoveretur,illius voto innovato, sanctissimum

JesuChristinomencandenti order not to be shaken in her ferro pectori insculpsit. Ar- resolution of observing chas- dentius in dies caritate f er- tity, she renewed her vow, and vescens,pauperes,derelictos, imprinted the most holy name aegros, teterrimisque morbis of Jesus Christ upon her breast infectos ad se adducendos with a red-hot iron. Her love curabat ; eosque non hospi- grew more ardent day by day. tio tantum excipiebat, sola- She had the poor, the aban- batur, fovebat, verum etiam doned, the sick, and those who sordidas eorumdem vestes were afflicted with the most depurgabat, laceras reficie- terrible diseases brought to bat, et manantibus foetido her, and not only sheltered, pure ulceribus labia admo- and comforted, and nursed vere non exhorrebat. them, but washed and mended their filthy garments, and did not shrink from putting her lips to their running sores.

A Sancto Francisco Sale- Having learnt the will of sio, quo spiritus moderatore God from St. Francis de Sales usafuit,divinamvoluntatem her director, she founded the edocta, proprium parentem, Institute of the Visitation of socerum, filium denique ip- our Lady. For this purpose sum, quern etiam vocationi she quitted, with unfaltering obsistentem, sua e domo courage, her father, her father- egrediens, pedibus calcare in-law, and even her son, over non dubitavit, invicta con- whose body she had to step in stantia deseruit, et sacri in- order to leave her home, so stituti Visitationis sanctae violently did he oppose her

Marise fundamenta jecit. vocation. She observed her

Ejus instituti leges integer- Eule with the utmost fidelity, rime custodivit, et adeo pau- and so great was her love of pertatis fuit amans, ut vel poverty, that she rejoiced to necessaria sibi deesse gau- be in want of even the neces- deret. Christianae vero ani- saries of life. She was a per- mi demissionis et obedien- feet model of Christian humi- tiae, virtutumque denique lity, obedience, and all other omnium perf ectissimum ex- virtues. Wishing for still emplar se prsebuit. Altiores higher ascensions in her heart, in corde suo ascensiones dis- she bound herself by a most ponens, arduissimo efficien- difficult vow, always to do ai semper id quod perf ectius what she thought most per- esse intelligent, voto se feet. At length when the obstrinxit. Denique, sacro Order of the Visitation had

Visitationis institute ejus spread far and wide, chiefly potissimum opera longe la- through her endeavours, after teque diffuso, verbo, exem- encouraging her sisters to piety and charity by words and example, and also by writings full of divine wisdom: laden with merits, she passed to the Lord at Moulins, having duly received the Sacraments of the Church. She died on the 13th December* in the year 1641. St. Vincent de Paul, who was at a great distance, saw her soul being carried to heaven, and St. Francis de Sales coming to meet her. Her body was afterwards translated to Annecy. Miracles having made her illustrious both before and after her death, Benedict XIV. placed her among the Blessed, and Pope Clement XIII. among the Saints. Pope Clement XIV. commanded her feast to be celebrated by the universal Church on the 12th of the Calends of September. plo, et scriptis etiam divina sapientia refertis, ad pietatem et caritatem sororibua excitatis, meritis referta, et sacramentis rite susceptis, Molini,anno millesimo sexcentesimo quadragesimo primo, die decima tertia Decembris, migravit ad Dominum, ej usque animam, occurrente sancto Francisco Salesio, in coelos deferri sanctus Vincentius a Paula procul distans adspexitv Ejus corpus postea Annecium translatum est: eamque miraculis ante et post obitum claram Benedictus Decimus quartus beatorum, Clemens vero Decimus tertius Pontif ex Maximus albo sanctorum adjecit. Festum autem ejusdem die duodecimo calendas Septembris ab universa Ecclesia Clemens Decimus quartus Pontifex Maximus celebrari praecepit.

The office of Martha seemed at first to be destined for thee, 0 great Saint ! Thy father, Francis de Sales, forestalling St. Vincent de Paul, thought of making thy companions the first daughters of Charity. Thus was given to thy work the blessed name of Visitation, which was to place under Mary's protection thy visits to the sick and neglected poor. But the progressive deterioration of strength in modern times had laid open a more pressing want in the institutions of holy Church. Many souls called to share Mary's part, were prevented from doing so by their inability to endure the austere life of the great contemplative Orders. The Spouse, who deigns to adapt his goodness to all times, made choice of thee, 0 Jane, to

PENT. rv. 2K second the love of his Sacred Heart, and come to the rescue of the physical and moral miseries of an old, worn-out, and decrepit world.

Eenew us, then, in the love of him whose charity consumed thee first ; in its ardour, thou didst traverse the most various paths of life, and never didst thou fail of that admirable strength of soul, which the Church presents before God to-day in order to obtain through thee the assistance necessary to our weakness. May the insidious and poisonous spirit of Jansenism never return to freeze our hearts ; but at the same time, as we learn from thee, love is only then real, when, with or without austerities, it lives by faith, generosity, and self-renunciation, in humility, simplicity, and gentleness. It is the spirit of thy holy institute, the spirit which became, through thy angelic Father, so amiable and so strong : may it ever reign amidst thy daughters, keeping up among their houses the sweet union which has never ceased to rejoice heaven ; may the world be refreshed by the perfumes which ever exhale from the silent retreats of the Visitation of holy Mary !

1 Collect, Secret, and Postcommunion of the Feast

August 22. THE OCTAVE OF THE ASSUMPTION. — ♦ —

He alone who could understand Mary's holiness could appreciate her glory. But Wisdom, who presided over the formation of the abyss, has not revealed to us the depth of that ocean, beside which all the virtues of the just and all the graces lavished upon them are but streamlets. Nevertheless, the immensity of grace and merit, whereby the Blessed Virgin's supernatural perfection stands quite apart from all others, gives us a right to conclude that she has an equal supereminence in glory, which is always proportioned to the sanctity of the elect. Whereas all the other predestined of our race are placed among the various ranks of the celestial hierarchy, the holy Mother of God is exalted above all the choirs, forming by herself a distinct order, a new heaven, where the harmonies of Angels and Saints are far surpassed. In Mary God is more glorified, better known, more loved than in all the rest of the universe. On this ground alone, according to the order of creative Providence, which subordinates the less to the more perfect, Mary is entitled to be Queen of earth and heaven. In this sense, it is for her, next to the Man-God, that the world exists. The great theologian, Cardinal de Lugo, explaining the words of the Saints on this subject, dares to say : 14 Just as, creating all things in his complacency for " his Christ, God made him the end of creatures ; so,

"with due proportion, we may say he drew the " rest of the world out of nothing through the love " of the Virgin Mother, so that she, too, might thus "be justly called the end of all things."1

As Mother of God, and at the same time his first-born, she had a right and title over his goods; as Bride she ought to share his crown. " The glorious "Virgin," says St. Bernardine of Sienna, "has as " many subjects as the Blessed Trinity has. Every " creature, whatever be its rank in creation, spiritual "as the Angels, rational as man, material as the " heavenly bodies or the elements, heaven and earth, " the reprobate and the blessed, all that springs from "the power of God, is subject to the Virgin. For " he who is the Son of God and of the Blessed "Virgin, wishing, so to say, to make his Mother's "principality in some sort equal to his Father's, "became, God as hie is, the servant of Mary. If "then it be true to say that every one, even the "Virgin, obeys God, we may also convert the pro- " position, and affirm that every one, even God, obeys "the Virgin."2

The empire of Eternal Wisdom comprises, so the Holy Spirit tells us, the heavens, the earth, and the abyss: the same then is the appanage of Mary on this her crowning day. Like the divine Wisdom to whom she gave Flesh, she may glory in God. He whose magnificence she once chanted, to-day exalts her humility. The Blessed one by excellence has become the honour of her people, the admiration of the Saints, the glory of the armies of the Most High. Together with the Spouse, let her, in her beauty, march to victory ; let her triumph over the hearts of the mighty and the lowly. The giving of the world's

1 De Lugo, De Incarnat. disput. vii., sect. 11. a Bernardin. Sen. Sermo v. de festiv. B.M., cap. 6.

THE, OCTAVE OF THE ASSUMPTION. sceptre into her hands is no mere honour void of reality: from this day forward, she commands and fights, protects the Church, defends its head, upholds the ranks of the sacred militia, raises up Saints, directs Apostles, enlightens doctors, exterminates heresy, crushes hell.

Let us hail our Queen, let us sing her mighty deeds ; let us be docile to her ; above all, let us love her and trust in her love. Let us not fear that, amidst the great interests of the spreading of God's Kingdom, she will forget our littleness or our miseries. She knows all that takes place in the obscurest corners, in the furthest limits of her immense domain. From her title of universal cause under the Lord, is rightly deduced the universality of her providence ; and the masters of doctrine show vision, whereby all that is, has been, or is to be, is present before God. On the other hand, we must believe that her charity coulcf not possibly be defective : as her love of God surpasses the love of all the elect, so the tenderness of all mothers united, centred upon an only child, is nothing to the love wherewith Mary surrounds the least, the most forgotten, the most neglected of all the children of God, who are her children too. She forestalls them in her solicitude, listens at all times to their humble prayers, pursues them in their guilty flights, sustain,? their weakness, compassionates their ills, whether of body or of soul, sheds upon all men the heavenly favours whereof she is the treasury. Let us then say to her in the words of one of her great servants : " O most holy Mother of God, who hast beautified "heaven and earth, in leaving this world thou hast " not abandoned man. Here below thou didst live " in heaven ; from heaven thou conversest with us. " Thrice happy those who contemplated thee and lived sharing in the science called of

" with the Mother of life ! But in the same way as " thou didst dwell in the flesh with them of the first "age, thou now dwellest with us spiritually. We " hear thy voice ; and all our voices reach thine ear ; "and thy continual protection over us makes thy " presence evident. Thou dost visit us ; thine eye is " upon us all ; and although our eyes cannot see theey " O most holy One, yet thou art in the midst of us, "showing thyself in various ways to whosoever is " worthy. Thy immaculate body, come forth from " the tomb, hinders not the immaterial power, the "most pure activity of that spirit of thine, which, "being inseparable from the Holy Ghost, breathes " also where it wills. O Mother of God, receive the "grateful homage of our joy, and speak for thy " children to him who has glorified thee : whatsoever "thou askest of him, he will accomplish it by his "divine power; may he be blessed for ever!"1

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Let us honour the group of Martyrs which forms the rear-guard of our triumphant Queen. Timothy, who came from Antioch to Rome, Hippolytus, Bishop of Porto, and Symphorian, the glory of Autun, suffered for God at different periods and at different places ; but they gathered their palms on the same day of the year, and the same heaven is now their Obode. " My son, my son," said his valiant mother to Symphorian, "remember life eternal; look up, " and see him who reigns in heaven ; they are not "taking thy life away, but changing it into a " better." Let us admire these heroes of our faith ; and let us learn to walk like them, though by less painful paths, in the footsteps of our Lord, and so to rejoice Mary.

1 German. Constantinop. In Dormit. B.M., Oratio i.