Jeanne Fontbonne
| Jeanne Fontbonne | |
|---|---|
| Personal life | |
| Born | March 31, 1759 Bas-en-Basset, Forez, Kingdom of France |
| Died | November 22, 1843 (aged 84) Lyon, France |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Order | Sisters of Saint Joseph |
Jeanne Fontbonne, CSJ (31 March 1759 – 22 November 1843), more commonly known by her name in religion St. John Fontbonne, was a French religious sister. She founded the Sisters of St. Joseph of Lyon in 1808 and served as its first superior general.
Life
Born in Bas-en-Basset, Forez (now in Haute-Loire), on 31 March 1759, Jeanne Fontbonne was the youngest child of Michel and Jeanne Theillère Fontbonne. In 1778 she entered a house of the Sisters of St. Joseph, which had just been established at Monistrol (Haute-Loire) by Bishop de Gallard of Le Puy. The following year she received the religious habit. At the age of 26 she was chosen by the community to be their Superior and remained there until the French Revolution. She and her sisters established a hospital^
At the outbreak of the French Revolution she and her community followed Bishop de Gallard in refusing to sign the Oath of Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Forced to disperse her community, she remained until she was forced to leave, and the convent taken possession of by the Commune. She returned to her father's home, and was soon imprisoned for 11 months at Saint-Didier and only the fall of Robespierre on the day before that appointed for the execution saved her from the guillotine. Unable to regain possession of her convent at Monistrol, she and her sister, who had been her companion in prison, returned again to their father's house, where she and a few companions continued their charitable works among the poor.[1]
In 1807, Fontbonne was called to Saint-Étienne to assume responsibility for Les Filles Noire, a group of 12 young women and members of dispersed congregations. At the request of Cardinal Joseph Fesch, Archbishop of Lyon, and under Fontbonne's formation, these women became the first Sisters of St. Joseph of Lyon. She restored the asylum at Monistrol and eventually managed to repurchase and reopen the former convent. On 10 April 1812, the congregation received government authorization. In 1816, Fontbonne was appointed Superior General of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Lyon. She went to Lyon to find and purchase property to build a motherhouse and novitiate on rue des Chartreux.
Before the Revolution, small groups of Sisters lived close to the people, wearing ordinary dress, they visited the homes of people who were sick and poor and helped all in need. The government required a different model, centralized into diocesan congregations focused on education. By 1830, the Sisters were wearing an official habit for the first time.[1]
During her years of leadership, she established and reorganized pre-revolutionary communities to become satellites of the Motherhouse. By the end of her leadership, she was responsible for establishing a number of new congregations in France and Italy as well as over 240 communities of the Lyon congregation. In 1836 at the request of Bishop Rosati of the Diocese of St. Louis in Missouri, she sent six sisters to America. She kept in constant correspondence with them. This began the expansion of numerous congregations of the Sisters of St. Joseph in the United States and Canada.
She died on 22 November 1843 in Lyon.
Legacy
The Sisters of St. Joseph commemorate Fontbonne on November 22.[2] Fontbonne College, now Fontbonne University, in Saint Louis is named in her honor.
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Jeanne Fontbonne — In religion Mother St. John, second foundress and superior-general of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Lyons, born 3 March, 1759, at Bassen-Basset, Valey, France; died 22 November, 1843 Lyons.
In 1778 she entered a house of the Sisters of St. Joseph which had just been established at Monistrol (Haute-Loire) by Bishop de Gallard of Le Puy. The following year she received the habit and soon gave evidence of unusual administrative powers, particularly through her work in the schools. On her election, six years later, as superior of the community, Mother St. John, as she was now called, co-operated with the saintly founder in all his pious undertakings, aided in the establishment of a hospital, and accomplished much good among the young girls of the town. At the outbreak of the Revolution she and her community followed Bishop de Gallard in refusing to sign the Oath of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, notwithstanding the example of the Curé of Monistrol, who went so far as to abet the government officials in their persecution of the sisters. Forced to disperse her community, the superior remained at her post till she was dragged forth by the mob and the convent taken possession of in the name of the Commune, after which she returned to her father's home. Not long afterwards she was torn from this refuge, to be thrown into the prison of Saint-Didier, and only the fall of Robespierre on the day before that appointed for the execution saved her from the guillotine.
Unable to regain possession of her convent at Monistrol, she and her sister, who had been her companion in prison, returned to their father's house. Twelve years later (1807), Mother St. John was called to Saint-Etienne as head of a small community of young girls and members of dispersed congregations, who at the suggestion of Cardinal Fesch, Archbishop of Lyons, were now established as a house of the Sisters of St. Joseph. She restored the asylum at Monistrol, repurchased and reopened the former convent, and on 10 April, 1812, the congregation received Government authorization. In 1816 Mother St. John was appointed superior general of the Sisters of St. Joseph, and summoned to Lyons to found a general mother-house and novitiate, which she accomplished after many difficult years of labour. During the remainder of her life she was busied in perfecting the affiliation of the scattered houses of the congregation, which had been formally decreed in 1828. She also established over two hundred new communities. An object of her special solicitude was the little band which she sent to the United States in 1836 and with which she kept in constant correspondence, making every sacrifice to provide them with the necessities of life. Towards this end of her life, Mother St. John was relieved of the arduous duties of superior, and spent the last few years in preparation for the end.
RIVAXY, Life of Rev. Mother St. John Fontbonne, tr. (New York, 1887).
References
Bibliography
- Additional sources
- Rivaux, Life of Rev. Mother St. John Fontbonne, tr. (New York, 1887).