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Faith-sharing groups presented their reflections on the life and spirituality of Mother de Matel through music,song, acrostic, choral reading, and poetry fanning the flames of our love for our dear Foundress, Mother Jeanne Chezard de Matel.

JEANNE CHEZARD DE MATEL
Reflections by
Sisters Clementine Henke, Rosemary Leopold and Stephana Marbach
Victoria, Texas
- Community Days June 2008

Every Wednesday evening at seven
Rain or shine, busy or free
The Selma dining room table
Is the gathering place for us Three.

Seated in anticipated awe and inspiration
With spiritual life homework we’ve done
We study Jeanne Chezard de Matel’s original draft
Of her Autobiography, Complete Works, #1.

Her father was a man of courage and honor
And highly regarded by King Louis XIII
Her mother who bore the main responsibility of the children’s education
Was a woman truly generous, loving and esteemed.

Jeanne’s parents Jean and Jeanne conceived four children
However, they suffered much sadness and duress
Because one was suffocated by the wet nurse
Two were not called to full term and one was born lifeless.

On November 6, 1596, in Roanne, France
The Matel home was filled with joy, gratitude and love
When Jeanne was born, the fifth child and first to live
What a wondrous gift from Heaven above.

Jeanne was baptized on the day of her birth
At the parish church of St. Stephen in Roanne
Her godparents were beggars, a boy of eight and a girl of six
Providentially named Jean and Jeanne.

At nine months this precocious child requested
“Mama, make sure I speak well”.
At age ten after a sermon on virginity, Jeanne asked
“What must I do to remain a virgin”, pray tell.

She was told that to remain a virgin she could not marry
And thus Jeanne resolved to follow the Lamb always and everywhere.
Among the many pious inclinations of her childhood
Were the rosary, fasting and memorizing vocal prayer.

Jeanne received her First Communion at age twelve
At age fourteen she received Communion weekly.
From early on she was devoted to the saints and angels
And loved Mary, “Our Lady of the Palace of Jesus”, deeply.

From ages seventeen to eighteen
Jeanne yielded to the vanities of this earth
However, in the spring of 1615
She experienced a spiritual rebirth.

In her eighteenth year Jeanne received a favor from God
The understanding of Latin and Scripture and so much more
And thus was born in our dear Jeanne de Matel
Scripture within her spirituality’s core.

“My daughter, I wish to speak to you through Scripture,”
Our loving God said to Jeanne in prayer
“Through it you will know my will.”
And thus she entrusted God with every care.

As we studied how Jeanne could pray
For long periods without distraction or rest
We humbly and prayerfully asked for her intercession
As we daily continue our spiritual quest.

For you see, our dear Sisters, Alas!
As we earnestly, lovingly and perseveringly pray
We remember Jeanne’s loving and piercing darts and arrows
And wonder if ours got lost on life’s way.

In addition to Jeanne’s understanding of Scripture
She was gifted with gifts greater that simple meditation.
She experienced a vivid presence of God and suspension of the senses
Including raptures, visions, locutions and infused contemplation.

As our study of Jeanne continues, we pray,
That we, following her example, become as soft wax
Allowing ourselves to be shaped by God’s loving hands
Renewing ourselves daily while never growing lax.

For as deer yearn for running water
So our souls yearn for God in this earthly place
And as Daughters of God, the Church and Jeanne de Matel
We await the day when we will see God face to face

And
Together praise the Incarnate Word!

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Proclaiming the Word in Africa