Page 31 - Saints of the Month: February

Saints of the Month: February

for a son to succeed him, banished Jane
from his palace, and, it is said, even
attempted her life. At the age of five the
neglected child offered her whole heart to
God, and yearned to do some special service
in honor of His blessed Mother. At the
king’s wish, though against her own
inclination, she was married to the Duke of
Orleans. Towards an indifferent and
unworthy husband her conduct was ever
most patient and dutiful. Her prayers and
tears saved him from a traitor’s death and
shortened the captivity which his rebellion
had merited. Still nothing could win a heart
which was already given to another. When
her husband ascended the throne as Louis
XII., his first act was to repudiate by false
representations one who through twenty-
two years of cruel neglect had been his true
and loyal wife. At the final sentence of
separation, the saintly queen exclaimed,
“God be praised Who has allowed this, that I
may serve Him better . than I have
heretofore done.” Retiring to Bourges, she
there realized her long-formed desire of
founding the Order of the Annunciation, in
honor of the Mother of God.

Under the guidance of St. Francis of Paula,
the director of her childhood, St. Jane was
enabled to overcome the serious obstacles
which even good people raised against the
foundation of her new Order. In 1501 the
rule of the Annunciation was finally

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