This article first appeared in Our Sunday Visitor magazine. Subscribe to receive the monthly magazine here.
It comes as no surprise to encounter an order of nuns who minister to those on the margins, the sick and elderly, and those whom others have cast aside. Christ taught his disciples, regardless of their vocation, to tend to such as these, explaining the works of mercy — feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked — by saying, “as you did it to the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40, RSVCE).
But what about prospective postulants who are rejected by the religious orders to which they offer themselves, those women who are denied an opportunity to serve due to poor health or advanced age? Who would be willing to quench their thirst for a life with Christ?
Enduring hardship
A French noblewoman who married at 20 and was widowed with four children at 28, St. Jane Frances de Chantal consistently tended to those around her in need. She prioritized spiritual and corporal works of mercy when she was married, in her life as a single woman (she vowed chastity after her husband’s death) and in the years thereafter that she spent in religious life as founder of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary. She didn’t see others’ needs as someone else’s responsibility. She chose to respond generously to whomever she encountered, regardless of what the obligations of her own daily life looked like.
Such a brief overview of Jane’s story could lead to the false impression that she did all the things and made them look easy. Yet like anyone, she bore her share of hardship. She struggled with forgiving the man who killed her husband in a hunting accident. She carried the cross of a challenging father-in-law. She experienced spiritual dryness. These are part of her story, too. To deny the hardships in our lives eliminates our need to depend on God.
The love of Christ resonated through St. Jane’s self-gift in menial everyday works as well as in obedience, as when objections arose concerning her nuns’ active rather than cloistered life. For St. Jane, there were no excuses. There was only love.
Seeking guidance
St. Jane lived heroic virtue in seeking to serve in each of the states of life to which the Lord led her. She persevered in faith, thanks in part to spiritual direction, first by St. Francis de Sales and then by St. Vincent de Paul. And before anyone suggests that not all of us can obtain that sort of guidance, we ought to recall we have access to these saints’ writings, as well as the wisdom of present-day clergy. Not only did St. Jane give help where she could, she also sought help when she needed it — a hallmark of her strength, humility and trust in the Lord.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ taught, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Mt 5:6). St. Jane Frances de Chantal responded to the physical and spiritual thirsts of those she encountered, whether it meant offering someone a meal or making it possible for her to live out a vocation to religious life. It would seem that in seeking to relieve the thirst of others, her own thirst was quenched.
“Go forward always,” she is quoted as saying, “never doubting that God is leading you by the hand.”
