On January 28, 1572, in Dijon, France, St. Jane Frances de Chantal was born. She came from a noble family because her father presided over the Burgundian parliament. She married the Baron de Chantal when she was twenty years old. Up until her husband's death at the age of 28 from a hunting accident, Jane had four children and devoted herself to raising them.

She adopted a vow of perpetual chastity during the seven years she was compelled to live at her father-in-law's home—a struggle she had to endure with patience because of his bad attitude towards her.

Jane prayed to God asking him to guide her. He revealed to her in a vision the spiritual advisor He had reserved for her. She went to see her father in 1604, during Lent, in the Sainte Chapelle in Dijon, where St. Francis de Sales was giving a sermon. She put herself under his direction, seeing in him the enigmatic director that she had been shown. The two saints then started their well-known communication, which resulted in several letters offering spiritual guidance. Some of these letters are still accessible today, but the majority were destroyed by her when St. Francis passed away.

In 1610, she traveled to Annecy because she felt compelled by God to establish an order for girls and women who were called to live a life of Christian perfection but were not willing to adhere to the strict austerities of the religious orders of the day.

Thus, on June 6, 1610, Trinity Sunday, the Congregation of the Visitation was canonically constituted in Annecy. The Visitation nuns followed St. Francis's path to spiritual perfection, which included always seeking to do what pleases God, keeping one's will united to that of the Divine, and taking one's soul, heart, and longings into one's hands and giving them to God. When she passed away 31 years later, the Visitation nuns had 86 convents.

Strong and tenacious in her faith, St. Jane Frances de Chantal disapproved of her daughters succumbing to human frailties and advocated a lifelong struggle against the desires and routines that prevent one from doing what God commands.

Despite her constant and courageous battles, she was incredibly sensitive. She suffered from interior crosses that kept her in a state of soul pain that she was not released from until three months before her death, especially throughout the last nine years of her life.

Her reputation for sanctity was well-known, and many people would flock to see her.

On December 13, 1641, she died at the Moulins Visitation Convent. Her body is revered in the church of the Visitation in Annecy along with that of St. Francis de Sales. She was canonized in 1767.

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