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Fr. Jean-Pierre Medaille, SJ | Foundresses | Mother St. John | St. John Francis Regis, SJ | Le Puy
A Life Story of Jeanne Fontbonne – Mother St. John (1759-1843)
By Ann Keevan, CSJ
Early Years 1759 – 1778
Jeanne Fontbonne, daughter of Benoite Theilliere and Michel Fontbonne, was born in Bas-en-Basset, Upper Loire, France on March 31, 1759. She was baptized on the same day in the local parish church. Jeanne was one of eight children, three of whom died in infancy.
Jeanne received her early education at the local school where she was taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph. Her paternal aunt, Sister St. Francis, was the Superior.
It is traditionally recounted that at the young age often Jeanne made a vow of virginity. This may have coincided with her First Communion which took place on January 12, 1770.
On the eve of this First Communion Jeanne told her sister Marie: “I wish that when I receive Jesus I would die so I would never have to leave Him.”
Among her family and friends Jeanne was known for radiating joy, being a leader among her peers and blossoming into a beautiful young girl.
After local schooling, Jeanne and her older sister Marie were sent to complete their education in Le Puy at a boarding school run by the Sisters of St. Joseph.
Growing up Jeanne Fontbonne had an indescribable charm, was gifted with good sense and had a dominant character.
Vocation 1778
In 1778, when Jeanne Fontbonne was nineteen years old, both she and her sister Marie felt called to enter the Sisters of St. Joseph in Bas-en-Basset where their aunt, Sister St. Francis was Superior.
Jeanne assumed the responsibility of announcing their intention to their parents. She approached the subject by first revealing Marie’s desire to follow in the footsteps of Sister St. Francis. Her parents, being truly Christian, resigned themselves to it.
However, when Jeanne continued to beg the same permission for herself, the news fell like a thunderbolt. Breaking down and sobbing her parents cried: “We are getting old and counted on you to be the support of our declining years. You are our only hope. If you leave us, you will hasten our death.”
The family employed every means to shake her resolution and Jeanne’s tenderly sensitive heart suffered most acutely as she struggled against her parents’ affection by_which they tried to hold her.
Finally faith won the day and the Fontbonne parents blessed both of their girls in their chosen vocation.
Early Religious Life 1778 – 1785
On July 1, 1778, Jeanne and her sister Marie left Bas-en- Basset with Sister St. Francis to go to Monistrol to establish a school there and to begin their religious formation in the community. As Jeanne and her sister entered the Sisters of St. Joseph their spiritual fervor took on new dimensions and they were carefully guided by their aunt Sister St. Francis, newly named Superior of the Monistrol community. Sister St. Francis was deeply skilled in the traditional French spiritual life which taught that gold must be refined and purified.
Jeanne must have suffered greatly in her early religious life as she was treated with outward coldness and severity by this woman whom she loved both as a relative and as a religious Superior. But Jeanne’s affection for her aunt and Superior was not lessened by this apparent harshness during her religious formation. Until the end of her life she had the most profound love and esteem for Sister St. Francis.
Records giving the precise dates of Jeanne’s investiture and profession of vows are not available to date. It is thought that they were burned during the French Revolution. We do know that Bishop de Gallard presided at the ceremonies and that Jeanne was given the name Sister St. John.
Sister St. John performed the most menial tasks with a humility, exactitude and joy that edified the whole community. She obeyed the Sisters without distinction. Her discretion, good sense, exemplary fidelity to the least rules and practices, coupled with her gentleness and amiability made Sister St. John a welcomed addition to the community.
Her solid virtue, clear and frank judgment, a well- balanced mind, which was decisive and practical, as well as sensitive and thoughtful, won the admiration of the Sisters.
Troubled Times 1785 – 1792
In 1785 Sister St. Francis returned to Bas- en-Basset and Sister St. John was elected Superior of the community in Monistrol. Gifted·with an exquisite tenderness, a kind heart and an exemplary openness, Mother St. John had no difficulty in having a spirit of love of God and of neighbor reign in the community. Everybody seemed to have a frank, cordial and easy manner, revealing confidence, esteem and reciprocal affection.
It is thought that it is probably about this time that Bishop de Gallard renovated and enlarged the hospital in Monistrol. One of the rooms in the renovated hospital was to be set aside as a gathering place for pious people who came to work under the direction of the Sisters.
Tradition tells us that after blessing the cornerstone of the restored hospital, Bishop de Gallard turned to Mother St. John and asked her to bless the stone also. Credence is given to this colorful bit of history by the fact that even today the cornerstone is reverently safeguarded by the Sisters of St. Joseph in Monistrol.
The political climate of this era in France left much to be desired. Matters progressed adversely for the Church until in 1_790 Father Ollier, pastor in Monistrol, took the Constitutional oath imposed on the clergy by the revolutionary government. The oath separated the Church in France from papal authority. It was no longer the Pope who appointed bishops but the French government.
Consequently, the Sisters of the Monistrol community no longer attended Mass or devotions when the apostate Father Ollier presided.
Hostility toward the Church became increasingly overt and the Republic was declared. By 1792 religious could not wear a habit, live together in community, nor teach in schools.
Mother St. John encouraged the Sisters of the Monistrol community to abandon their convent and disperse. Most of them sought refuge in their families.
Taking advantage of a literal interpretation of the law, Mother St. John and her sister Marie, now Sister St. Teresa, another religious and a lay sister, Sister Martha, remained in Monistrol “for the service of the poor and care of the sick”. As required by law, they wore secular dress.
The Sisters still.did not go to Church, although they probably attended Mass celebrated now and then in private homes by priests faithful to Rome.
In October Father Ollier (the Constitutional priest) offered Mass in celebration of the new republic and insisted that the Sisters be present. They refused and were dragged to the parish church by force.
Shortly after this incident, Mother St. John, Sister St. Teresa and Sister Martha were compelled to leave Monistrol. They went to Bas-en-Basset to the Fontbonne family home.
Imprisonment 1793 – 1794
Within the confines of the Fontbonne family home Mother St. John, Sister St. Teresa and Sister Martha, whom they had brought to Bas-en-Basset with them, resumed the practice of their Rule.
Pursued priests often sought shelter in the Fontbonne home for short periods of time. The Sisters were given custody of consecrated hosts which they distributed during their visits to the sick and the dying of the area.
In 1793 at the age of34 Mother St. John, along with Sister St. Teresa and Sister Martha, was taken from the Fontbonne home during a routine house search and imprisoned at Montfranc (St. Didier) about 10 miles away. They were later joined by their aunt, Sister St. Francis, who was also taken by the soldiers.
In prison Mother St. John’s calmness and serenity confounded her jailers.
Title page from Mother St. Jobn’s pocket journal which she kept while in prison. She inscribed, in the form of a Litany of the Saints, the names of prisoners who were guillotined.
Martyrdom
On June 17, 1794 Sister Jeanne Marie Aubert and Sister Marie Anne Gamier, both Sisters of St. Joseph, were guillotined in Le Puy. A few days later, the inevitable and nebulous news line that seems to exist in all prisons, informed Mother St. John and her companions that the two Sisters had been martyred. However great the glory of martyrdom, it does not ease the pain of loss of loved ones.
But Mother St. John’s ardent faith came to the aid of her sorrow, giving courage to her and to those around her. Together they prepared with confidence and love for whatever might come. No religious help reached the Sisters in prison. Faith alone sustained their courage.
One morning two new captives joined the little group. One of them was Sister Alexis Payrard of the village of St. Hilaire, a novice of the Sisters of St. Joseph there, although she had been living with her family when she was taken prisoner. Sister Alexis had consecrated hosts hidden in the pockets of her dress.
The stark prison cell was transformed by a discrete, prolonged adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Later Mother St. John distributed co=union toher companions.
The prisoners of Montfranc awaited martyrdom and were preparing themselves for this great event through the experience of privation and suffering.
Mother St. John was neither frightened nor saddened at the thought of martyrdom and her example influenced her companions calling forth supernatural courage. The greatest suffering for the Sisters at this time was the deprivation of Mass, the Sacraments and religious assistance.
One day their jailer brutally told Mother St. John: “Citizen, it’s your turn tomorrow.”
The Sisters all waited the night in prayer and the next day, July 27, 1794, when their prison cell door opened, Mother St. John was ready for death.
But God seemed to have other plans. To the absolute amazement of all in that little prison cell, when the jailer arrived the next morning, the prisoners learned that Robespierre’s government had fallen and instead of being chained and led to execution, Mother St. John was told she was free.
Tradition tells us that Mother St. John cried: “Sisters we were not worthy of the grace to die for our holy religion.”
It is said that during the remainder of her life Mother St. John regretted having lost the palm of martyrdom which had escaped her grasp right at the moment she believed she was about to hold it.
The Interim Years 1795 – 1807
In February of 1795 a decree was issued by 1he French government which allowed all religions to exercise private ministry. A little later many churches were restored.
Sister St. Francis took advantage of 1he times to restore her community of Sisters of St. Joseph in Bas-en-Basset. Her half sister, Sister Visitation, joined her, but Mother St. John and Sister St. Teresa remained in 1he Fontbonne family home.
Mother St. John attempted to reorganize her community of Monistrol and regain possession of their property. The new proprietor, however, refused to give it back at any price and so 1he Sisters had to give up the hope of restoring 1he community and its works in Monistrol for the time being.
Mother St. John and Sister St. Teresa continued to live with their family in Bas-en-Basset teaching religion to the children, visiting the sick and assisting the dying, even though the re- established community of Sisters of St. Joseph of Bas-en- Basset, with Sister St. Francis as Superior, was just a short distance away.
In 1802 Sister Francis, the much-cherished aunt, died in the local community. Still, the beloved nieces, Mother St. John and Sister St. Teresa, remained at home with their parents while Sister Visitation continued her life in the local community of Sisters of St. Joseph in Bas-en-Basset.
Mother St. John must have carefully nurtured her relationship with God as she went about doing many beautiful and good works during those interim years before she would be called to St. Etienne to embark on her great mission of restoration of the Sisters of St. Joseph.
Refounding 1807 – 1816
When Cardinal Fesch (Napoleon Bonapart’s uncle) called Father Cholleton from St. Etienne to Lyon to become Vicar General of the diocese, Father Cholleton left behind a small group of a dozen women lodged in a relatively large house known as “Maison Pascal” on the comer of Rue de la Bourse in the city of St. Etienne.
Father Cholleton was acting as spiritual director for these women who hoped to publicly live some form of dedicated religious life in community as soon as the civil laws of the country would allow it.
Father Cholleton stressed contemplation, assisted by mortification and austerity, retreat and silence as an integral part of their daily lives. These Sisters, known to the neighbors as “the Black Daughters”, because of the color of their dress, regularly assisted the poor, the sick and the dying.
Under the spiritual direction of Father Cholleton, virtue, as well as mortification, was practiced in the “Maison Pascal”. These women were accustomed to supplying their own needs and often those of others, too.
The “Black Daughters” slept little, worked much and prayed even more. They got up at dawn and went to bed late at night. They lived and prayed together. These women were so commonly seen visiting the sick and being present with the dying that they were called by some people the “Sisters of a Good Death.”
The Cardinal was desperately seeking ways to respond to the great post Revolution needs of France. It is said that Cardinal Fesch recalled the good done by the Sisters of St. Joseph before the days of the French Revolution. The Cardinal even asked Father Cholleton if the “Black Daughters” might not assume the heritage of the Sisters of St. Joseph.
The Cardinal saw the “Black Daughters” as forming a well- organized group. Their zeal seemed to prepare them to undertake whatever of God’s work appeared to be most urgent.
Why then should not the “Black Daughters” be encouraged to respond to the pressing social needs of the times?. The religious training they had already received would be compatible and even well adapted to such future undertakings.
At this time Father Hubert, a Capuchin Franciscan and renowned preacher, was giving the Lenten sermons at the Cathedral in Lyon.
Neither Cardinal Fesch nor his Vicar General, Father Cholleton, were aware of Mother St. John Fontbonne’s existence, but Father Hubert had been her spiritual director during the early days of the Revolution when Mother St. John was Superior in Monistrol and he served in a local parish. It was Father Hubert who saw her as an answer to the Cardinal’s prayer.
Cardinal Fesch immediately sent a messenger to Mother St. John at the Fontbonne home in Bas-en-Basset to propose this great mission to her. She would begin this refoundation with Father Cholleton’s group of a dozen women already living together in community in the city of St. Etienne.
We may never be able to adequately determine the effect produced in the Fontbonne household by this totally unexpected message from Cardinal Fesch.
Fifteen years had passed since the French Revolution and the overall political climate had driven Mother St. John back to her family home.
Although some women had regrouped under the direction of Sister St. Francis and lived in common according to the Constitutions of the Sisters of St. Joseph right there in Bas- en-Basset, Mother St. John and her sister Marie, Sister St. Teresa, remained at home.
By this time their father was 81 and their mother 76 years old. While Mother St. John was awed and probably somewhat troubled by the magnitude and difficulties of what the Cardinal proposed, her parents must have been plainly frightened at the threat of the loss of their daughter who was a support for them in their old age.
After much hesitation and even tearful intervention by the parents, their faith seemed to strengthen them to acknowledge God’s plan in this extraordinary event.
It was decided that Sister St. Teresa would remain in Bas- en-Basset with the aging mother and father to be their support and Mother St. John would go to St. Etienne to respond to Cardinal Fesch’s request.
On August 14, 1807, Mother St. John Fontbonne arrived at “Maison Pascal”. She was not acquainted with the twelve women she would direct, nor did they know her. Mother St. John knew none of the women’s talents, nor possible shortcomings, nor what resources they might have that would be suitable to meet the needs before them. She was alone, they were twelve.
Who would these twelve women be in the course of time? Mother St. John had lived all of her adult life under the Constitutions of the Sisters of St. Joseph as founded by Father Medaille, even during the fifteen years after the Revolution when she lived in the enclosure of her parents’ home.
In response to what she believed to be a sign from God, Mother St. John was now leaving behind the apostolate she knew and loved in Bas-en-Basset to come to the city of St. Etienne to use all of her energy and her strength, to draw upon her courage and to set her heart in the direction of the future with a group of a dozen women who were strangers to her.
These women, in turn, because Cardinal Fesch requested it, were willing to accept Mother St. John as their director, fully aware that she had been instructed to guide them in living according to the Constitutions of the Sisters of St. Joseph.
The 12 women had been formed by Father Cholleton in the ways of mortification and austerity, now they would submit to a rule of apostolic life with which they were unacquainted and they could place themselves under the guidance of a woman who had not yet given them proof of devotion nor ability.
The “Black Daughters” accepted that Mother St. John would be their guide now and she would direct them in living according to the Constitutions of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Father Medaille.
After about a year, on July 14, 1808, these women constituted a new group as Sisters of St. Joseph and they were formally invested with a religious habit that publicly proclaimed their identity as such.
Then within months seven other women, apparently under the leadership of two sisters, Charlotte and Marie Beneyton, asked to join the Sisters under the guidance of Mother St. John.
This second group lived together on Micareme Street in St. Etienne and they had a strong apostolic involvement.
Bringing together 12 women formed in a school of austerity to live in community with seven women actively addressing the social needs of the post Revolution days and forming one religious group must have exercised all of Mother St. John’s human and spiritual gifts.
An almost continuous stream of new members came to the door from then on. Requests for the Sisters’ help came from all directions almost as quickly.
A renewal of religious vigor was felt throughout France and communities of Sisters of St. Joseph were established or reorganized in many different places.
As the number of Sisters grew and the group became more extended geographically, the need for a strong center with a Superior General was felt and Lyon seemed a natural and fitting location. During the past few years Mother St. John had already sent Sisters there to open local communities. She now purchased property in the old Chartreux area of the Croix Rousse side of Lyon. Mother St. John moved to the city of Lyon in 1816 and established a new center- a motherhouse – for the Sisters of St. Joseph.
A typical letter of obedience signed by Mother St. John. “Given in Lyons on the 2ft” day of October 1819.”
Settling In 1816 – 1835
The period from 1816 to 1835 saw the setting in place or restoration of over 100 communities of Sisters of St. Joseph. This was a new springtime when the Congregation burst forth with new life.
Mother St. John Fontbonne was keenly attentive to the signs and needs of the times. Like the founders of the 17th century, she guided the Sisters in seizing every opportunity to serve God and the dear neighbor. Communities were started for ministry to the sick, the elderly, the youth and hospitals, schools and orphanages were founded.
Mother St. John followed all of these works with a persistent nurturance. She often personally visited the many communities she established or adopted and encouraged them in their community living and in their ministry.
The Sisters had a deep respect and devotion for Mother St. John. Her experience brought confidence to the various community members and in her simplicity she seemed all the greater the nearer one approached her.
Mother St. John sought more than outward conformity from each Sister of St. Joseph. She demanded a religious spirit born of intimate union with God in a loving and compassionate service of the dear neighbor. Her fidelity to educating by example gave great weight to anything she said.
In March of 1812 Mother St. John’s mother died at the family home in Bas-en-Basset and her husband, Michel Fontbonne, followed her six years later in August of 1818.
Sister St. Teresa (Marie Fontbonne) had remained at home to care for both parents when Mother St. John responded to the Cardinal’s call for help in St. Etienne and later in Lyon.
In 1819 Sister St. Teresa is listed among a group of about 20 Sisters of St. Joseph who moved from St. Etienne to the Motherhouse in Lyons. There she remained until her death on December 13, 1825. ·
Just about the time of the death of Mother St. John’s mother, Cardinal Fesch had fallen out of his nephew’s favor due to his opposition to Napoleon’s conduct in regard to the Pope. The Cardinal went to join the Queen Mother in Aix-les-Bains in Savoy.
Here Cardinal Fesch was able to touch first hand some of the great needs of the people of the area. He became acutely aware of the neglect of young girls who were left to roam the streets with out instruction or supervision and who were exposed to all the dangers prevalent in the health resorts of the day.
Cardinal Fesch decided to send Sisters of St. Joseph to Aix- les-Bains to provide these girls with instruction.
On March 2, 1812, three Sisters of St. Joseph arrived in Chambery. However, Cardinal Fesch had not informed the Archbishop, nor the pastor in Aix-les-Bains, nor the local mayor that the Sisters would be coming.
After much confusion and a certain measure of persuasion, the Sisters took up residence and began work in the “Little Hospital” which was the former Castle of Aix almost demolished by the Revolution.
This was not the only time the Sisters of St. Joseph arrived in a locality at the request of some influential person without proper local authorities having been informed, but it certainly is the most famous incident.
Sisters Marie Joseph of the Prisons
One day in 1819, Jeanne Juliand sought out Mother St. John in Lyons. Jeanne and others with her had been struggling to continue the work of Charlotte Dupin in the prisons.
Jeanne and a companion, Elizabeth Duplex, came to Mother St. John asking that they be permitted to place under the care of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Lyon all the prisoners of the city whom they had taken under their protection.
Both women were accepted in the novitiate and after their religious profession they returned once again to the care of their beloved prisoners. Other members of their group, established during the French Revolution by Charlotte Dupin, in turn went to Mother St. John for religious formation.
In the personnel registers of the Sisters of St. Joseph over the years the religious profession of these women and many others who followed them is dutifully recorded and witnessed alongside and on the same day, yet separately from the Sisters of St. Joseph.
In 1841 these Sisters who gave so much of themselves to comfort prisoners assumed their own identity as a religious congregation under the name Sisters Marie Joseph.
America 1836
In 1834 Bishop Rosati, the first Bishop of St. Louis, Missouri, USA wrote to the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Lyon requesting both funding and personnel.
At about the same time a faithful reader of the Annals of the Propagation of the Faith, the Countess of Rochejaquelin, dreamed of sending Sisters of St Joseph to the missions along the Mississippi river in the USA.
The Countess obtained from Mother St. John the promise of six Sisters for America, if Bishop Rosati wanted them. The Countess agreed to defray the expenses of the first foundation.
Mother St. John made an appeal to the Congregation at large that each Sister pray, consult and weigh the matter well of personally going to America. Numerous responses were received. Among them were two of her nieces, Sisters Febronia and Delphine Fontbonne, daughters of Mother St. John’s only brother, Claude. The priest chosen for the mission by the diocese of Lyon was Father James Fontbonne, Mother St. John’s nephew.
The small valiant group left Lyon on January 4, 1836 and took 49 days to cross the Atlantic Ocean. On March 6, 1836 Bishop Rosati met them in New Orleans, Louisiana. They traveled by boat up the Mississippi River and on March 25, 1836 they arrived in St. Louis, Missouri.
Bishop Rosati decided three Sisters would remain there to learn English then they would proceed to Carondelet where they would establish a house. The three other Sisters would move on to Cahokia, situated in lowlands three miles beyond.
The Sisters of both missions, like their neighbors, suffered material hardship of poverty, fever and flood, but they were not forgotten by the Sisters in Lyon and Mother St. John, nor by the Countess.
In the beginning of 1837 two more Sisters, one of them a novice, left Lyon for America. Adept in the manual alphabet, these Sisters were destined for the education of the deaf- route. Storms at sea and fever in the Caribbean delayed their arrival in New Orleans, Louisiana until September.
In October of 1837 the community of Carondelet accepted their first postulant. This community through its own novitiate began to expand while supporting and developing its ministries.
We can well wonder how Mother St. John’s spiritual and physical energy allowed her to accomplish all she did. Now her life was waning, intensive ministry other than prayer was about to let up.
Mother St. John never ceased being young in spirit. Until her death, and even then, a ready smile formed easily on her lips. We have seen that kindly smile in her portrait painted at this time in her life, a likeness that revealed the serenity of her soul and the goodness and compassion that filled it.
In 1838 as Mother St. John approached her eighties the Archbishop of Lyons thought of giving her a successor. General elections were held in the Congregation and Mother St. John was reelected unanimously.
A year later the Archbishop told Mother St. John to resign.
New elections were held and Mother Marie of the Sacred Heart de Tezenas de Montcel was elected as the new General Superior of the Sisters of St. Joseph.
Mother St. John wrote to the Sisters in America: “Every day I thank God for giving me time to think solely of my salvation. What saddens me is that I do not profit enough by it.”
A few years later she told her Sisters in America: “I am enjoying all my faculties as well now as if I were but fifty, although I am eighty-three. I rise with the community; I assist at all the exercises; I write, read, sew and knit without using spectacles. Help me to bless God for the time and strength He is giving me to prepare for eternity.”
Through most of the year 1843 Mother St. John’s health declined rapidly until in the autumn of that year when her condition weakened even more and she languished for several months, practically unable to leave her room.
In November Mother Marie of the Sacred Heart wrote to the communities:
“Our Reverend Mother St. John Fontbonne is no more. After sixty-three and a half years of religious profession, God called her to Himself on the morning of November 22, 1843, aged 84 years and 8 months. Her last moments were as beautiful as her life had been. She died the death of the just, full of years and merits… Let us remember in our prayers the soul of our beloved Mother and may the ardor of your prayers in her behalf correspond to the benefits we have received from her, and to the rich heritage of religious traditions she has bequeathed to us.”
Mother St. John Fontbonne entered eternal life on November 22, 1843. This “Life Story” commemorates the 180th anniversary of her death.
Mother St. John and the Maxims Evidenced in Her Life
Maxim 24 – Be utterly given to God by a holy self-surrender, utterly for God by an love pure and completely unselfish, utterly in God by a continuing effort to be more conscious of his presence, utterly according to God by a will, a life and everything conformed to him.
Maxim 84 – Never go ahead of grace by an imprudent eagerness, but quietly await its movements and, when it comes to you, go along with it with great gentleness, humility, fidelity, and courage.
Maxim 93 – For the three faculties of your soul desire this perfection:
For the memory, to forget things and self in order to remember little else but God;
For the intellect, to see God in all things: his glory, his will, his contentment solely;
For the will, the one freedom to go to God, to love him, to embrace all the dictates of his Providence with all the love of your heart.
Maxim 95 – Develop fully in yourself indifference and resignation to the will of God;
Abandonment of self once and for all to the comforting bosom of Providence;
A loving acquiescence to all the orders of his good pleasure, whatever may be the circumstances of your life;
A tender affection for the very pure will of God;
An ardent desire to be entirely according to his heart.
All these expressions describe for you, in a variety of ways, the perfect conformity of your will to God’s which constitutes your entire perfection.
Maxim 97 – When you meet contradictions, strengthen yourself against human fears, continuing to hope when everything seems to throw you into hopelessness regarding the success of your undertakings.
Maxim 98 – …when burdened with great crosses, do not let your heart yearn for death. Let it be enough for you to be crucified with Jesus Christ, as much as. and in the way that it is pleasing to God; and, regarding every circumstance of your life and death, let him decide.