Saint Joan of the Cross

17/8/15

Today's Saint:

Saint Joan of the Cross

-Born in France
-Daughter of a very generous mother who was widowed
-Managed the family business after the death of her mother
-Became greedy to earn money
-Done little sins to earn more
-Didn't helped any poor and hungry people around her
-After inspiration from a widow, changed heart and repented
-Started taking care of poor, sick and hungry
-Inspired many other ladies and started new order of nuns
-They helped poor by selling everything
-Died in fame of helping all around that city

The youngest of twelve children, Joan Delanoue was born in 1666 in Saumur, France. Her family had a small but successful business. When her widowed mother died, she left the store to Joan. Selfish and greedy, Joan thought only of making money. She committed many little sins to do it. She had once been devout, but now there was little love in her heart. Her mother had always been generous to beggars. Joan, instead, would buy food just in time for dinner. This way she could tell any beggars who came to the door during the day: “I have nothing to give you.” Joan was not happy living like this. At last, when she was about thirty, the good example of a widow named Frances Souchet helped her change her life. Then she finally saw that her “business” was not to hoard money, but to use it to help others. Joan began taking care of poor families and orphans. Eventually, she closed her shop entirely to devote her time to them. People called her house full of orphans “Providence House.” Later, she persuaded other young women to help her. They became the Sisters of St. Anne of Providence of Saumur. Joan lived a very self-sacrificing life. St. Louis Grignon de Montfort met Joan. He thought at first that her pride was causing her to be so hard on herself. But then he realized that her heart was really full of love of God. He said: “Go on in the way you have begun. God’s Spirit is with you. Follow his voice and fear no more.” Joan died peacefully in 1736 at the age of seventy. The people of Saumur said, “That little shopkeeper did more for the poor of Saumur than all the town councilors put together. What a woman! And what a holy person!” Joan was proclaimed a blessed by Pope Pius XII in 1947, the same year St. Louis Grignon de Montfort was declared a saint.

Many people suffer every day from hunger. We can realize the importance of not wasting food. Even if we are served something that we don’t care for, we can eat it. We can ask Blessed Joan to give us her self-sacrificing spirit.