.jpg)
St. Jeanne de Chantal
Born to the nobility, the
daughter of the president of the Parliament of Burgundy who raised her alone
after the death of her mother when Jeanne was 18 months old. Married in 1592 at
age twenty to Baron de Chantal. Mother of four. Widowed at 28 when the Baron was
killed in a hunting accident and died in her arms. Taking a personal vow of
chastity, she was forced to live with her father-in-law, which was a period of
misery for her. She spent her free time in prayer, and received a vision of the
man who would become her spiritual director. In Lent, 1604, she met Saint
Francis de Sales, and recognized him as the man in her vision. She became a
spiritual student and close friend of Saint Francis, and the two carried on a
lengthy correspondence for years. On Trinity Sunday,
The lower window is a Monstrance, a vessel used in Eucharistic devotion.
