Aug. 12 Friday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time; Optional Memorial of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious, Opt. Mem.

Gospel Verse, Cf. 1 Thes 2:13:Receive the word of God, not as the word of men, but, as it truly is, the word of God.St. Jane Frances de Chantal was a married woman and a mother of seven children from Dijon, France. Her husband was killed in a hunting accident. In 1604, upon being deeply moved by the preaching of Francis de Sales, Jane asked him to become her spiritual director. She founded the Visitation nuns in 1610. Jane worked tirelessly helping the sick, and she convinced local political rulers to make special provisions for the sick and the bereaved. During the last years of her life, she experienced periods of spiritual aridity. She established eighty-five monasteries before her death in 1641.