Welcome to INSPIRING LIVES, a series on the lives of Saints in the catholic
church from around the world. In this series we bring you alive the heroic lives lived
by the saints. Saints are holy people who lived ordinary lives in extraordinary ways.
Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique
gifts. These saints are examples of great holiness and virtue, and thereby inspires
others to do so. Their stories are unique, which inspire and invite us to be rooted
in our faith. God calls each one of us to be a saint. In this series we bring you
those saints who are canonized by the Pope John Paul II. Last week we listened
to the fascinating story of Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys, who was canonized on 31st
October 1982 in Rome, and became the first woman saint in the Canadian Church. ‘All
I have ever desired most deeply and what I still most ardently wish is that the great
precept of the love of God above all things and of the neighbour as oneself be written
in every heart.’ So wrote Marguerite Bourgeoys, who left the security of a 17th century
French bourgeoisie life to serve the early pioneers in New France. She assisted in
bringing the gospel to the local people, established schools, taught vocational and
domestic skills to women, helped the poor, and founded the Congrégation de Notre-Dame
de Montréal. Today let us listen to the heroic life of Saint Jeanne Delanoue
(1666-1736). She was canonized on 31st October 1982 in Rome. xxx
‘It is the Spirit of God which animates you and prompts you to this penitential life.
Henceforth, then, be without fear and follow your inspirations’, so said Saint Louis
de Montfort to Saint Jeanne Delanoue. Money is not a bad thing in and of itself.
It is actually a great blessing if it is used according to God's will. But Jeanne
was so concerned with her own material success that she went against God's law, even
working on Sunday. She was also blinded to the suffering of those around her and lacked
charity toward her neighbors. God made His will clear to her through a vision and
the words of a simple, but holy woman. It was Jeanne’s ‘yes’ to God that resulted
in great miracles. She is truly a saint for us today because she was just like you
and me. JEANNE DELANOUE was born in Saumur, in the valley of the Loire River,
on 18 June 1666. She was the youngest in a family of twelve. Her father was a draper,
and her mother ran a shop selling religious goods, catering to pilgrims to a local
shrine to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of Our Lady of Ardillier. Although
but six years of age when her father died, she helped her mother run the store in
order to maintain the family. Her qualities were remarkable: she was skillful, energetic,
and indefatigable, even to the point of keeping the store open on Sundays and holy
days. But her early life was also one of self-centeredness, pride and avarice. She
was described as bad-tempered and egotistical. Her long widowed mother died when
Jeanne was twenty-five and she took over as proprietress of her mother's small store.
Jeanne also provided accommodations to pilgrims who were visiting the shrine of Our
Lady of Ardillier. She caused great scandal by opening her shop on Sunday, an unheard
of practice in 17th century France. Jeanne's only interest was making herself rich
from the pilgrims and she paid no heed to what other's thought or said about her.
xxx
The future was in the hand of Jeanne Delanoue. Her "business" was growing
and prospering. It was precisely within this context of success that, at the age of
27, two years after the death of her mother, Jeanne encountered a profound experience
which changed her life completely. On Pentecost of 1693, Jeanne encountered a poor,
elderly widow and a devout pilgrim from Rennes to the shrine of Our Lady of Ardillier.
Her name was Francoise Fouchet. She predicted that Jeanne would one day spend her
life in care for the poor. Francoise also invited Jeanne to consecrate herself to
the many poor people of her neighbourhood. But her prediction was met with skepticism;
however, as time passed, caring for the less fortunate is exactly what Jeanne came
to do. Despite the responsibilities she had accrued, in response to this call which
she believed to have come from God, Jeanne turned toward the poor. She began caring
for orphans and living a truly spiritual life. They assumed more of her time each
day than did her clients until finally they became her full-time occupation. She eventually
closed the family business to commit herself more fully to this work.As she converted
her ways, many criticized her and doubted her sincerity, but over time she won their
hearts by her unselfish love and care for all those in need. Within a short time no
longer did the poor await her visits to them, but they came to her. In 1700, she warmly
welcomed a child into her home, and soon after she took in the sick, the aged, and
the destitute. With so many needing lodging, the only place for the poor were the
grottos hollowed out in the tuff. She made them as comfortable as she could, however
it was necessary for her to seek help.
xxx Within four years, some
young girls were interested in helping Jeanne and were even willing to wear a religious
habit if she wished them to do so. It was thus, Jeanne, along with other women who
shared her vision of helping the needy, founded the Sisters of Saint Anne of Providence
of Samur. In 1704 she and her companions were clothed in the religious habit and the
order was formally recognized. Soon she was founding other houses also in Brézé and
Puy-Notre-Dame. The constitutions of the congregation were approved in 1709.
Jeanne
Delanoue's tenacity, supported by the dedicated women who worked with her, brought
about the foundation of Saumur's first home for the poor in 1715 - a home which King
Louis XIV called for in 1672! Very quickly her charity spread beyond the limits
of Saumur and of her diocese. More than that, already there were forty helpers who
were under her direction and who had made the decision to follow her example of self-sacrifice,
of prayer, and of mortification. Noted for her miraculous healing abilities, she
and her companions founded orphanages and hospices throughout France.
Worn
out by her labors, Jeanne Delanoue died on 17 August 1736, at Fencet, France, of natural
causes. At the time of her death, there were twelve communities of her sisters as
well as homes for the poor and schools spread throughout France. The congregation
Jeanne founded was renamed Congregation of St. Anne of Providence on 3rd
December 1964. She was canonized in October 1982 by Pope John Paul II.
xxx
Everyone could admire the zeal of St. Jeanne and the work she accomplished
in the numerous visits she received and made, but only her closest friends knew about
her mortification, her life of prayer and of union with God. It is from this that
her untiring charity proceeded. St. Jeanne is a wonderful example to us today
of the mercy and grace of God to all of his children. God invited her to give up her
self-centered and avaricious life and instead to dedicate herself to helping others.
Jeanne listened and said yes. She gave up her self-centered ways and instead of seeking
her own comfort and riches, she changed her focus to helping those in need, especially
orphaned children. Let us ask God today to open our hearts so that we may hear
His voice to learn the ways in which He wants us to use our talents and gifts to serve
Him.P.J. Joseph, S.J