MEMORIAL OF SAINT JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL, RELIGIOUS AND SAINT EUPLIUS, DEACON AND MARTYR ~ FEAST DAY: AUGUST 12TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Jane Frances De Chantal, Religious and Saint Euplius, Deacon and Martyr. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and Saints Jane Frances de Chantal and Euplius on this feast day, we humbly pray for the safety and well-being of our children, students, youths, teachers and staff all over the world as they begin the new school year. We pray for parents who are separated from their children, for those who suffer the loss of parents and all widow, we pray for God’s grace and mercy upon them. We also pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the poor and needy, for peace, love and unity in our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world.🙏🏾

MEMORIAL OF SAINT JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL, RELIGIOUS AND SAINT EUPLIUS, DEACON AND MARTYR ~ FEAST DAY: AUGUST 12TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Jane Frances De Chantal, Religious and Saint Euplius, Deacon and Martyr. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and Saints Jane Frances de Chantal and Euplius on this feast day, we humbly pray for the safety and well-being of our children, students, youths, teachers and staff all over the world as they begin the new school year. We pray for parents who are separated from their children, for those who suffer the loss of parents and all widow, we pray for God’s grace and mercy upon them. We also pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the poor and needy, for peace, love and unity in our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world.🙏🏾

SAINT JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL, RELIGIOUS: St. Jeanne (Jane) Frances de Chantal (1572–1641) was born into nobility in Dijon, France on January 23, 1572. She was the daughter of the president of parliament of Burgundy and lived up to her noble status as a refined, cheerful, and beautiful woman. At the age of twenty she was married to the Baron de Chantal and together they had four children. She was strong in her faith, having daily Mass said in her castle, giving alms to the poor, and skillfully managing her household. St. Jane loved and served her young family deeply until the death of her husband in a hunting accident at age 28. For seven years she was forced to live in the house of her father in law, a trial which she was forced to bare patiently due to his ill-disposition towards her, and it was during this time that she took a vow of perpetual chastity. In all of her prayers,  St. Jane asked God to send her a guide.  In a vision, He showed her the spiritual director that He held in reserve for her. During Lent, in 1604, she visited her father at Dijon, where St. Francis de Sales was preaching at the Sainte Chapelle. She recognized in him the mysterious director who had been shown to her, and she placed herself under his guidance. Then began the famous correspondence between the two saints which produced volumes of letters of spiritual direction, some of which are available today, but most of which were destroyed by her upon the death of St. Francis. She went to Annecy in 1610, where she believed God was calling her to found an order for women and girls who felt called to live the life of Christian perfection, but not practice the severe asceticism of the religious orders of the time. At the age of forty-five, after meeting her family obligations, she and St. Francis founded a religious institute for women, the Congregation of the Visitation, which was to exemplify the virtues of the Virgin Mary at the Visitation.

The Congregation of the Visitation was canonically established at Annecy on June 6th, 1610, Trinity Sunday. The Visitation sisters accepted women who were rejected from other religious orders due to age or illness. They were notable for their charitable works. The method of spiritual perfection of the Visitation nuns was that of St. Francis, which consisted in always keeping one’s will united to the Divine will, in taking -so to speak- one’s soul, heart, and longings into one’s hands and giving them into God’s keeping, and in seeking always to do what is pleasing to Him. She also traveled extensively to found new Visitation houses, having established eighty-six at the time of her death 31 years later. St. Jane Frances de Chantal’s spirituality was a strong and resilient one; she did not like to see her daughters giving way to human weaknesses, and encouraged constant battle against the passions and habits which keep one from following God’s will. Her trials were continuous and borne bravely, and yet she was exceedingly sensitive. She endured interior crosses which, particularly during the last nine years of her life, kept her in an agony of soul, from which she was not freed until three months before her death. Her reputation for sanctity was widespread. Aristocrats and the nobilityQueens, princes, and princesses, flocked to Jeanne de Chantal’s reception-room of the Visitation to seek her counsel. Wherever she went to establish foundations, the people gave her ovations. “These people”, she would say confused, “do not know me-they are mistaken”. She underwent great trials, including the deaths of many of her close family and friends. St. Jane died on December 13, 1641at the Visitation Convent Moulins. Saint Jane Frances de Chantal was beatified in 1751 and was canonized in 1767 by Pope Clement XIII. Her body is venerated with that of St. Francis de Sales in the church of the Visitation at Annecy. She’s Patron Saint of forgotten people; in-law problems; loss of parents; parents separated from children; widows.

Quotes of St. Jane Frances de Chantal: ☆”In prayer, more is accomplished by listening than by talking.” ☆”Hold your eyes on God and leave the doing to Him. That is all the doing you have to worry about.” ☆”In prayer one must hold fast and never let go, because the one who gives up loses all. If it seems that no one is listening to you, then cry out even louder. If you are driven out of one door, go back in by the other.”

“In Madame de Chantal I have found the perfect woman, whom Solomon had difficulty finding in Jerusalem”. ~ St. Francis de Sales, her spiritual director.

PRAYER: God, You endowed St. Jane Frances with admirable qualities in various walks of life. Through her intercession help us to be true to our vocation and never fail to bear witness to the light You give us. Amen 🙏🏾

SAINT EUPLIUS, DEACON AND MARTYR: St. Euplius’ name in Greek means “good sailing”. He died in 304 AD. He was a deacon, under Emperors Diocletian and Maximian was tortured for his confession of Christ and finally martyred by being put to the sword. According to the Passion of Saint Euplius, he was a deacon who was arrested for owning and reading from a copy of the Bible during the Diocletian persecution. On Aust 12, 304 A.D., during the persecution of Diocletian at Catania, in Sicily, a deacon named Euplius was brought to the governor’s hall and staunchly professed his faith. With the Book of Gospels in his hand, he was called before the governor of the city, Calvisian (Calvinian, Calvinianus), and commanded to read from it. The saint read the passage: “Blest are they who suffer persecution for justice’s sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” St. Euplius then read the passage: “If anyone will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Questioned by the governor as to what this meant, the youth replied: “It is the law of my Lord, which has been delivered to me.” Calvisian asked: “By whom?” Euplius replied: “By Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God.” With that, the governor ordered that he be led away to be tortured.

At the height of his torment St. Euplius was asked if he still persisted in Christianity. The saintly youth answered: “What I said before, I say again: I am a Christian and I read the Sacred Scriptures.” The governor realized that he would never give up his faith, and ordered him to be beheaded. He died April 29, 304 A.D., praising God all the while. Ruins of the old church of Saint Euplius are located in Catania near Piazza Stesicoro. This urban site coincides with the place of his martyrdom. With Saint Agatha, he is a co-patron of Catania in Sicily. He is also the Patron Saint of Francavilla di Sicilia and Trevico.

St. Euplius, Deacon and Martyr ~ Pray for us 🙏🏾