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JEANNE MARIE CHAVOIN  -  MOTHER SAINT JOSEPH

FOUNDRESS OF THE MARIST SISTERS

 

On the 30th June we Marist Sisters celebrate the life and death of our Foundress, Jeanne Marie Chavoin, in Jarnosse,

France, in 1858, at the age of 71.

There is no need to tell her story again. It is familiar to all of us. We all love her very much!   I have often pondered on the reasons for this genuine and deep affection for our Foundress that I have sensed in all the Marist Sisters I have ever known. We don’t love her just because she is our Foundress but because of who she is. I would like to reflect on just two of the many characteristics which we love in her.  

I believe that one of the reasons we love her is because she was a very “real” person. She was transparent and direct. There was no manipulation or pretence.    “We don’t want any great ladies amongst us” she once said! She had no hesitation in correcting the sisters and telling them their faults but they always knew that she cared about them and that the correction was made for their good. Her letters show her real affection for her sisters even when she reminds them of their limitations.  She did not hide her deep sense of loss when Marie Jotillon, her closest friend and collaborator, died a premature death, or her grief at the death of so many young sisters in the early days in Cerdon and Belley.  In the dark years when Father Colin rejected her vision and hurt her so much she continued to state her truth simply and humbly, not always perceiving the effect her words might have on Father Colin.   Before she died she wrote to him for the last time, a prophetic message, once again stating clearly and directly her conviction that is was he whom Mary had chosen to give the Sisters their Rule of life. She must have known that she was risking yet another rejection. This time however, Father Colin did accede to her request.

We love her too because of her deep faith. We remember her unshakable conviction that God would guide her to the congregation where he wanted her, the long years of waiting, and then her total certainty that God had spoken when she heard about the Marist project. There followed another six years of uncertainty during which she just kept on trusting, though often in the dark. As the Congregation grew Jeanne Marie was often short of money but she always believed that Divine Providence would come to her aid, and she was never disappointed.  We know about the faith which helped her cling to her own vision for the Congregation when she could see it going in a direction which saddened her deeply.  Finally we see her enormous faith as she set out to make a new foundation in Jarnosse at the age of 69.

Jeanne Marie, dear Mother Foundress, you remind us of Mary, your Mother and Model and first and perpetual Superior. Pray for us, your Marist Sisters, that we too may be simple, loving and faith filled as you were.    

 

 

 

 

Sister Gemma Wilson

Regional Leader

 

 


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