St. Jane Valois
Feast Day: February 04
Born:1464 :: Died:1505
St. Jane was a princess and the daughter of King Louis XI of France and Charlotte of Savoy. Since the king wanted a son, he was very disappointed when Jane was born deformed. He did not even want his little daughter to live at the palace. When the princess was just five years old, she was sent to live with other people.
Although she was not wanted by her own father, Jane was good and gentle with everyone. She was convinced that Jesus and Mary loved her. Jane also believed that the Lord would use her to do good in his name. And she was right.
When she grew up, Jane decided that she did not want to marry. She had given herself to Jesus and his Blessed Mother. But her father forced her to marry the duke of Orleans for political reasons. Jane accepted God's will and was a devoted wife for twenty-two years.
After the duke became king, however, he sent Jane to live by herself in a far-off town-ship. The queen did not let herself become resentful. Instead, she exclaimed: "God be praised! He has permitted this that I may serve him better than I have up until now."
Jane lived a prayerful life. She practiced penances and acts of kindness. She gave all her money to the poor. She even started an order of sisters called the Sisters of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She spent the rest of her life joyfully for Jesus and his Mother. St. Jane died in 1505.
Reflection: Let us pray for the gift of seeing hardships as opportunities to strengthen our faith in Christ, and may we respond to every hardship by giving it an eternal value.
What does it mean to say that Jesus is "the only-begotten Son of God"?
When Jesus calls himself "God's only-begotten Son" (or "only Son", Jn 3:16) and Peter and others bear witness to this, the expression means that of all human beings only Jesus is more than a man and has a unique relationship to God, his Father.
In many passages of the New Testament (Jn 1:14, 18; 1 Jn 4:9; Heb 1:2, and so on) Jesus is called "Son". At his baptism and his Transfiguration, the voice from heaven calls Jesus "my beloved Son". Jesus discloses to his disciples his unique relationship to his heavenly Father: "All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him" (Mt 11:27). The fact that Jesus Christ really is God's Son comes to light at the Resurrection. (YOUCAT question 74)
Dig Deeper: CCC section (441-445) and other references here.