- What makes the spiritual relationship between de Sales and Chantal across gender possible?
My initial thought is that both de Sales and Chantal knew exactly who they were and what they were called to do for the Kingdom of God. From a relatively early age, de Sales already knew he was going to do something different than inherit the estate and study law as his father had hoped. This was starting to become fairly evident when he chose to attend the Jesuit College instead of the college of Navarre.1
Chantal was raised in an interesting household with her father being politics and providing her the opportunity to attend good schools. He was also loyal to France, which in a way is loyal to the people of France. So to me, it’s not surprising that she always found ways to serve people in her community, whether it was through educating others, or providing soup kitchens and pantries out the back of her house wherever she lived, starting in her 2
With clear paths and resources available to each of them de Sales and Chantal needn’t worry about much except what they felt God calling them to do with their lives. This freedom and focus allows them to find what is in common, which is a devotion to God, prayer, and the spiritual life.
- How do these two complement and challenge each other as spiritual friends and co-leaders of what would become a new, lay-focused spirituality? Include 2 quotes with citations please.
Both de Sales and Chantal were appreciative and devoted to education. As mentioned earlier, they both had good education and shared it with others; deSales through his work as a preacher and administrator, and Chantal through her work as a baroness and founding Mother of the Visitation.
Another way that they were able to complement each other was the desire to go deeper in their spiritual lives. De Sales was able to make that decision with much more freedom, doing so after his education. Chantal however had the consideration of being a widower, having children, and the duties and expectations of a wife. Despite the immense grief she felt after her husband’s death, Chantal was able to ascertain clarity in her life. “Months of intense mourning followed Christophe’s death. In her grief and confusion Jane found herself longing for solitude. She was drawn to the idea that she should now give herself completely to God rather than follow the path of remarriage her relatives assumed she should.”3
I think the best challenge they had for each other was marrying together the entirely devoted spiritual life as a priest with that of an order of people who did not have the place in life to enter into such a calling. Chantal was able to communicate with de Sales her desire to be completely devoted to God and de Sales was able to envision “envisioned a congregation that would require of its members only simple yearly vows, not binding solemn vows or the complete enclosure of a formal religious order. Physical austerities, much in vogue in reforming circles, would not be called for. Instead of severe fasting or bodily penances, the women of this new group would focus on interior mortification.”4