May 23rd - Saint Jane Antide Thouret
Born: 1765
Died: 1828
Nationality: French
Vocation: religious
Attributes: religious habit, book, surrounded by children
Canonization: 1934, Pope Pius XI.
Saint Jane Antide Thouret was born in Sancey, France, in 1765 to a poor family. When her mother died, the 16-year-old Jane took charge of running the household. When she was 22 Jane joined the Vincentian Sisters in Paris, caring for the sick in hospitals.
In 1797 Jane moved to Besançon, France, where she founded a school for young girls. While there she founded a new religious community known as the “Thouret sisters.”
It was around this time that the French Revolution broke out. Priests and religious, who were thought to be associated with the bourgeoisie class of society, were beaten, killed, or banished. Jane herself was ordered to abandon her habit and return to her hometown to live a secular life. She bravely refused and was badly beaten by the authorities.
Jane eventually returned to Sancey, but only to continue the work she had dedicated her life to. She cared for the sick in the town and began another school for girls. The persecution, however, worsened, and Jane was forced to flee to Switzerland. That, however, was not far enough, and she soon had to flee to Germany. Eventually, Jane was able to return to Switzerland, where she once again continued her work, founding a school, a hospital, and another religious community in 1799, this one called the Daughters of St. Vincent de Paul. This community would outlive Jane, and expand into France and Italy.
Her courage and fortitude continued throughout the rest of Jane’s life, and she died 30 years after the founding of her community through natural causes.
Saint Jane Antide Thouret, pray for us.