Founder of the Order of the Visitation 12th December
Jane was born into a noble Burgundian family and married Baron de Chantal. They had 7 children but 3 died in infancy, and in 1601, after 9 years of marriage, her husband was killed in a shooting accident. The same year she took a vow of chastity and then in 1604 she met Francis of Sales who acted as her mentor until his death in 1622.
After becoming a nun, Jane, together with Francis, founded a new Order, specifically to allow women with delicate health to live the religious life and to work OUTSIDE the cloisters. This later point was not accepted by the prelates who refused to give their approval unless the Order was a closed one, and Francis had to agree to this. The authorities at Rome could not bring themselves to admit the respectability of nuns who were unenclosed. So this new Order was established at Annecy in 1610 with Jane as Mother Superior and around 12 other nuns and in just over 30 years, despite the fact that it was enclosed, it expanded to 86 houses. Francis and Jane were the principal reasons for this popularity, Francis by reason of his teaching and writing and Jane because of her dedication. In 1619 a house was established in Paris where Jane met Vincent de Paul who described her as "one of the holiest souls I have ever met"
Although Jane devoted herself to her religious work, she did concern herself with her family. Two of her daughters were already married when she became a nun, but her son was only 15. In due course he married and his daughter later became Madame de Sevign. In 1628 there was a severe outbreak of plague and Jane opened her convent at Annecy to tend the sick. She also influenced the local magnates to devote funds to help the sick and bereaved. In 1641 she was in Paris as the guest of Anne of Austria but died later that year, aged 69, and was buried at Annecy. She was beatified in 1751 and canonized in 1767.