Mary Jane (born last Monday, for those of you just tuning in) is named after my maternal grandmother, who goes by "M. J." I was casting about for a potential middle name a couple of weeks before her birth, and lit upon the saint whose memorial is celebrated today, Jane Frances de Chantal. (Technically, she was Jeanne-Francoise; eh, doesn’t go so well with our German last name.) So: Mary Jane Frances.
Amy Welborn features the saint’s story in this post.
Jeanne de Chantal is a saint you need to know – married (happily), mother of six children (four who survived infancy), widowed, vowed to chastity, then seeking a way in which she could follow Christ, she met Bishop Francis de Sales, (Bishop of Geneva, but in exile because of those Calvinists) and together, in 1610, they founded the Order of the Visitation.
From the Visitation Monastery in St. Louis, MO:
As a mother and mistress of an estate, Jane had been popular among her employees and servants who recognized her fairness and interest in their welfare. She often cared for the sick and fed the hungry. She put the needs of others before her own, often depriving herself of much needed rest. Managing an estate was taxing and exhausting work, demanding her attention from morning to sundown. Still, the education of her children and their welfare always was her primary concern. In all of this, Jane is a good example to lay women in today’s world who often find themselves forced to handle many tasks at once. If they look to Jane, they will realize it can be done. Holiness is attainable in the busyness of everyday tasks.
According to this she is the patroness of "forgotten people; in-law problems; loss of parents; parents separated from children; widows."
bearing blog 