Salesian counsel

Perseverance

"In order to journey steadily, we must apply ourselves to doing well the stretch of road immediately before us on the first day of the journey and not waste time wanting to do the last lap of the way while we still have to make it through the first."

- St. Francis de Sales

Excerpt

From chapter two of The Visitation, "Spirituality"

Francis urged Visitation Sisters to "ask for nothing and refuse nothing." Thus they are to accept whatever happens to them as the "will of God's good plesaure."

He expressed the special spirit of the Visitation as one "of deep humility before God and of great gentleness toward one's neighbor." The sisters are further called to simplicity, seeking "God and God alone, independent of everything else."

... They are called to be Daughters of Prayer, simply attentive to the things of God. Virtues and practices are to be embraced with liberty of spirit, "all through love and nothing through constraint."

Salesian counsel

God's will

"Do not think that God is further away from you when you are in the midst of the busyness to which your vocation calls you then he would be if you were enjoying a tranquil life. No, it is not tranquility which brings him close to our hearts; it is rather the fidelity of our love. It is not the feeling we have of his sweetness, but the consent we give to his holy will."

- St. Francis de Sales

Pilgrimage

In honor of the 400th anniversary of the Visitation order, 33 pilgrimages experienced its origin firsthand on a two-week pilgrimage through France.

Sr. Mary Grace from St. Louis and Sr. Mary Paula from St. Paul guided the pilgrimage through a host of beautiful cities, including Annecy, Caen, Paris, Taize, Troyes, Moulins and Bourbilly.

"It's wonderful that they went back and put flesh and bones on the experiences they've heard about," said Anne Williams, director of Salesian Studies in St. Paul.

Sister Susan Marie, president of the 2nd Federation of Visitation, raved about the experience. "We reconnected with our roots and our founders. We made it a true pilgrimage, absorbing the grace that was there. We found real inspiration and came to understand more clearly our role today."

Excerpt

From chapter two of The Visitation, "Birth Of The Order"

An unexpected delay in obtaining a dwelling place for the venture resulted in the establishment of the convent on Trinity Sunday, June 6, 1610.

That evening, Francis gave Jane and her companions a summary of the Constitutions written in his own hand and blessed the neophytes. They set off toward La Galerie, so named because of a second-story porch or gallery along the side of the house.

Many townsfolk joined them, creating a significant procession through the streets. They were welcomed at the house by Anne-Jacqueline Coste, a simple, devout woman whom Francis had met years before. She would become their "Out-Sister." In the chapel, Jane cried out, "This is the place of our delight and rest."

The founder

St. Francis de Sales
Francis de Sales was a master of the heart. He understood people and how they work. He grasped the depths of love and the width of sorrow. His timeless wisdom is more timely than ever in busy modern life.

As a boy Francis was well-educated, well-connected and naturally smart. His dad envisioned a prestigious law career, securing for his son several important positions and a wealthy heiress to be his bride. But the French boy yearned to serve the church as a priest. Once he was ordained, he quickly developed a following of nobles and peasants alike. They were drawn to his gentle nature and revolutionary message: all Christians, he insisted -- not just priests, monks and nuns -- are called to holiness. He rendered that path accessible to lay people, providing spiritual direction for ordinary lives. It is possible, Francis suggested, to experience the divine and the mundane.

In lieu of Latin, Francis used the vernacular language in his letters. They had a profound impact, and his correspondents grew in number, but he never let a heap of unanswered letters unhinge him. "I have more than 50 letters to answer," Francis noted one day. "If I tried to hurry over it, I would be lost. So I intend neither to hurry nor to worry. This evening I shall answer as many as I can. Tomorrow I shall do the same and so I shall go on until I have finished."

He encouraged others to take a similar approach, to "deal gently and lovingly with your heart, raising it up when it falls and longing ardently for its perfection."

The power and influence Francis experienced as Bishop of Geneva never altered his vision of a diverse communion of saints. Francis broadened religious life, founding the groundbreaking Visitation order with his dear friend Jane. It prohibited the conventional, restrictive monastic practices of sleeping on boards, vigil keeping and lengthy fasts, shifting the focus instead to interiority. In doing so, it created a home for many older and weaker women yearning for religious life.

"Be who you are," he once said, "and be that well."

The foundress

St. Jane de Chantal

Jane Frances Fremyot experienced more sorrow and stress than most lifetimes hold, yet she found impervious peace in her service to God and neighbor.

The young woman's arranged marriage evolved into real love, thanks to an abundance of graciousness and patience. Her husband, a baron, brought Jane great wealth, but she remained humble, dressing like the tenants who waited on her. After fathering four children, Jane's husband was mortally wounded by a cousin in a hunting accident. She found it very hard to forgive him.

The brokenhearted young widow was forced to move into her father-in-law's house in order to protect her children's inheritance. There, she and her children were treated with utter disrespect, enduring what she called "a seven and a half year purgatory." It never compromised her devotion to God. "Happy the soul that loves prayer and perseveres in it despite every difficulty," Jane said.

Finally she encountered a beacon of hope, St. Francis de Sales, who became her spiritual director and kindred spirit. Together, they founded the Visitation order, which welcomed widows like herself. She infused community life with a tenderness that attracted members and an organization that allowed it to thrive.

Over the centuries, Jane's dynamic life and continued acceptance of God's will have inspired many. Wives, mothers, widows and nuns relate to her. She understands their full plates and heavy hearts and knowingly instructs them, "If you cast all anxious thoughts and cares on the Lord, He will take care of you."

What is the Visitation?

The Visitation is a beautiful, often overlooked mystery of the Rosary and anecdote from the Gospel of Luke. It celebrates the joyful embrace of two spirit-filled women: Mary, who just learned she would carry the son of God, and her older cousin, Elizabeth, who was also pregnant, having long been considered barren.

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."

And Mary said: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness. Behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name."

-Luke 1:41-49