St. Jane Frances de Chantal

In the United States, Catholics celebrate the Feast Day of St. Jane Frances de Chantal today, rather than the usual 12 December. As I am Catholic, and my name is Jane, I thought I would tell you about her.

You can read about St. Jane Frances de Chantal life here at Catholic Online, a wonderful site.

And yes, she was French.

Here is a devotion for today:

In Her Footsteps
We have been told the secret of happiness is finding: finding yourself, finding love, finding the right job. Jane believed the secret of happiness was in "losing," that we should "throw ourselves into God as a little drop of water into the sea, and lose ourselves indeed in the Ocean of the divine goodness." She advised a man who wrote to her about all the afflictions he suffered "to lose all these things in God. These words produced such an effect in the soul, that he wrote me that he was wholly astonished, and ravished with joy."

Today, when any thoughts or worries come to mind, send them out into the ocean of God's love that surrounds you and lose them there. If any feelings come into your heart -- grief, fear, even joy or longing, send those out into the ocean of God's love. Finally, send your whole self, like a drop, into God. There is no past no future, here or there. There is only the infinite ocean of God.

Prayer: Saint Jane, you forgave the man who killed your husband. Help me learn to forgive a particular person in my life who has caused me harm. You know how difficult it is to forgive. Help me to take the steps you took to welcome this person back into my life. Amen

If you would like to say further prayers, please visit this wonderful site.