Biography of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal

Parish History

Saint Jane Frances de Chantal is one of the largest parishes in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.  The greatest part of our original boundary was water; our territory, comprised most of the peninsula beginning in the area of Solley Road and the headwaters of the Magothy River and extended to Gibson Island.  Anne Arundel has become one of the fastest growing counties in the United States.

             Ours, like most parishes, had a humble beginning.  Around 1924 Catholics of this area attended Mass in a basement hall located in the vicinity of the southwest corner of the intersection of Ritchie Highway and Old Annapolis Road.  The late Monsignor Leonard J. Ripple, Pastor of Saint Rose of Lima Church in Brooklyn, arranged that a mission church be established for the beach area.  In the summer of 1925 Mass was offered on the lawn of a lot on Riviera Drive near Church Road.  The priest lived in Brooklyn and traveled to the area for weekend masses.

             The priests of Saint Rose of Lima Parish were to serve this area faithfully for twenty years.  In 1945 Monsignor Ripple had a World War II surplus barracks building erected which was to serve as a parish hall.

             By this time the population of the area had grown; there was new construction, and many, who were strictly summer parishioners before, became year-round residents.  The Parish was too large to remain a mission.  On November 22, 1946, the first resident pastor was appointed by Archbishop Francis P. Keough in the person of Father Raymond P. Kelly, an Irish priest from Fall River, Massachusetts who arrived here from Saint Peter’s in Hancock, Maryland.  The only parish building was the chapel on Riviera Drive.  Soon after his arrival, he bought a house on Riviera Drive to be used for a convent, and immediately set out in 1948 to build a school to be staffed by the School Sisters of Notre Dame, who had been Sunday school since 1947.  The parish school, begun with 105 pupils in three grades in the barracks building in 1948, now has an enrollment of over 600 students.  Our faculty grew from three sisters in 1948 to nine sisters and eleven lay teacher in 1968.  Currently, our faculty numbers 60 teachers and staff.

             Father Kelly was to serve here until his retirement in June, 1967.  Father Kelly was to see the parish successfully grow and develop.  Statistics can be very boring, but there are some interesting points that indicate the great growth of this parish:

             1946 - 722 Families; 1951 - 2,108 Families; 1956 - 4,986 Families;

                1961 - 6,733 Families; 1966 - 7,840 Families.

            Here is a short chronology of our parish’s building program.  In 1948 the school was started.  1952 saw a new convent and the former convent became the rectory, the priest having previously lived in a house on Carroll Road.  In 1954 and 1958 additions were made to the school.  In 1954 the parish hall was also finished and was used for Sunday Masses in order to accommodate the constantly growing congregation.

             A new rectory was built in 1960 and the following year the completion of our present church.  In 1966 remodeling and new construction saw our school expanded to twenty-two classrooms.

             In 1967, our beloved first pastor Monsignor Raymond P. Kelly, retired and Father Thomas Fannon became our second pastor but he only stayed with us for a short time before being transferred. 

             In 1968 the population growth and traffic had increased to such an extent that two Masses were offered at the Lake Shore School on Mountain Road.

             Saint Jane Frances de Chantal has experienced the phenomenal growth of the Baltimore suburbs in the 1950's and 1960's.  The entire area is seeing more and more new construction, and the influx of residents each day promises to continue.  Great credit is due to the priests and sisters who have labored here and to the parishioners whose interest and unselfish efforts have done so much to nurture our parish through its formative and quickly growing years.

             Father Charles F. Muth arrived in 1970.  During his stay we saw the renovation and rededication of the church.  To the left of the center aisle, the beautiful stained glass windows in the church depict scenes of the life of Mary and the life of Christ on the other side.  The Spiritual and Corporal works of mercy are shown in the lower panels of the windows.  The wall behind the Altar repeats a symbol particular to Saint Jane Frances de Chantal.  It is a painted Cross, embodying the IHS, her hallmark – the Cross with a symbol of Christ.  The Cross is gold leaf, with a circle or halo of fire, a special symbol of Saint Francis de Sales, who was her spiritual director.  Her other symbol is a heart bearing the name of Jesus. 

             The Chapel was added to provide a more intimate place to pray.  Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament takes place in the Chapel.  The Muth Room was added to create a place for the parish committees to meet.  All of this took place in 1986, the fortieth anniversary of the parish.  Monsignor Muth, after 21 years of service to our parish, retired in 1991.

             Father Dennis Tinder arrived in 1991, after having served as pastor of Saint Joseph’s parish in Fullerton.  Father Tinder’s leadership abilities earned him the title Monsignor.  His vision of the parish is still active today.  During his stay he immediately did some much needed remodeling of the rectory.  Under Father Tinder we saw the establishment of the Knights of Columbus council named after our first pastor, Monsignor Raymond P. Kelly.  Through his great love for education and the children of the parish he arranged for the creation of the Saint Jane Frances de Chantal School endowment fund.  In Fall of 1995, Monsignor Tinder hosted the arrival and departure of Pope John Paul II when he visited the Archdiocese of Baltimore.  After serving the Pasadena community for ten years, Monsignor Tinder moved on in 2001 to be Pastor at Immaculate Conception Parish Towson.

             Father Kevin Schenning came to Saint Jane Frances de Chantal from Saint Joan of Arc, Aberdeen in June, 2001 to become our fifth Pastor.  Father Schenning’s vision moved the parish to realize that more lay parishioners’ involvement was needed to plan for the future.  In three short years Father Schenning motivated the parishioners to embrace their responsibilities for the parish’s life.  In January 2004 Father Schenning left to become pastor of Saint Joseph’s Parish, Fullerton.

             During this time without a Pastor, Father Brian Rafferty was appointed as a temporary Administrator.  The Parish was shepherded very well by our Associate, Father Gregory Ferri and Mary Beth Barnes, our Pastoral Associate/Director of Religious Education.

            In August 2004, Father John Cunningham became our sixth pastor.  He arrived in Pasadena from Saint Thomas More Parish, Baltimore.  A native of New York City, he immediately established himself at Saint Jane Frances de Chantal.  Father Cunningham’s vision of establishing Saint Jane Frances de Chantal as a Tithing Parish was very well received.  Under his dedicated leadership the celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the parish was implemented. 

             Saint Jane Frances de Chantal is truly a blessed parish and has given its share of vocations to the priesthood and religious life.  Many other priests and deacons have made their mark on the lives of the people of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal Parish.  We must thank the stupendous contribution of the School Sisters of Notre Dame who have shared their faith and love of God to the people of the parish.  Ordained, Professed and Lay all have contributed to Saint Jane Frances de Chantal Parish.  To quote from Monsignor Muth’s comments from the Thirty-fifth Anniversary homily: 

             “For all that has been, Thanks.

             For all that will be, Yes!”

	St. Jane Frances de Chantal Memorial: August 18 (In the rest of the world, St. Jane Frances is remembered on December 12. In the USA, Jane Frances de Chantal's feast day was moved to August 18 in order to celebrate the patron of the Americas, Our Lady of Guadalupe, on December 12.) Born at Dijon, France, 28 January, 1572; Died at the Visitation Convent Moulins, 13 December, 1641
Her father was president of the Parliament of Burgundy, and leader of the royalist party during the League that brought about the triumph of the cause of Henry IV. In 1592 she married Baron de Chantal, and lived in the feudal castle of Bourbilly. She restored order in the household, which was on the brink of ruin, and brought back prosperity. During her husband's absence at the court, or with the army, when reproached for her extremely sober manner of dressing, her reply was: "The eyes which I must please are a hundred miles from here". She found more than once that God blessed with miracles the care she gave the suffering members of Christ. St. Francis de Sales's eulogy of her characterizes her life at Bourbilly and everywhere else: "In Madame de Chantal I have found the perfect woman, whom Solomon had difficulty in finding in Jerusalem". Baron de Chantal was accidentally killed while hunting in 1601. Left a widow at twenty-eight, with four children, the broken-hearted baroness took a vow of chastity. In all her prayers she asked God to send her a guide and God, in a vision, showed her the spiritual director He held in reserve for her. In order to safeguard her children's property, she was obliged to go and live at Monthelon in the home of her father-in-law, who was ruled over by an arrogant and wicked servant. This was real servitude, which she bore patiently and gently for seven years. At last her virtue triumphed over the ill will of the old man and house keeper. During Lent, 1604, she visited her father at Dijon, where St. Francis de Sales was preaching at the Sainte Chapelle. She recognized in him the mysterious director who had been shown her, and placed herself under his guidance. Then began an admirable correspondence between the two saints. Unfortunately, the greater number of letters are no longer in existence, as she destroyed them after the death of the holy bishop. When she had assured the future security of children, and when she had provided the education of Celse-Bénigne, her fourteen year old son, whom she left to her father and her brother, the Archbishop of Bourges, she started for Annecy, where God was calling her to found the Congregation of the Visitation. She took her two remaining daughters with her, the elder having recently married the Baron of Thorens, a brother of St. Francis de Sales. Celse-Bénigne, impetous like those of her race, barred his mother's way by lying across the threshold. Mme de Chandal stopped, overcome: " Can the tears of a child shake her resolution? " said a holy and learned priest, the tutor of Celse-Benigne. "Oh! no", replied the saint, "but after all I am a mother!" And she stepped over child's body. The Congregation of the Visitation was canonically established at Annecy on Trinity Sunday, 6 June, 1610. Its aim was to receive, with a view to their spiritual advancement, young girls and even widows who had not the desire or strength to subject themselves to the austere ascetical practices in force in all the religious orders at that time. St. Francis de Sales was especially desirous of seeing the realization of his cherished method of attaining perfection, which consisted in always keeping one's will united to the Divine will, in taking so to speak one's soul, heart, and longings into one's hands and giving them into God's keeping, and in seeking always to do what is pleasing to Him. "I do always the things that please him" (John, viii, 29). The two holy founders saw their undertaking prosper. At the time of the death of St. Francis de Sales in 1622, the order already counted thirteen houses; there were eight-six when St. Jane Frances died; and 164 when she was canonized. The remainder of the saint's life was spent under the protection of the cloister in the practice of the most admirable virtues. If a gentle kindness, vivified and strengthened by a complete spirit of renunciation, predominates in St. Francis de Sales, it is firmness and great vigor which prevails in St. Jane Frances; she did not like to see her daughters giving way to human weakness. Her trials were continuous and borne bravely, and yet she was exceedingly sensitive. Celse-Bénigne was an incorrigible duelists. She prayed so fervently that he was given the grace to die a Christian death on the battle-field, during the campaign against the Isle of Ré (1627). He left a daughter who became the famous Marquise de Sévigné. To family troubles God added interior crosses which, particularly during the last nine years of her life, kept her in agony of soul from which she was not freed until three months before her death. Her reputation for sanctity was widespread. Queens, princes, and princesses flocked to the reception-room of the Visitation. Wherever she went to establish foundations, the people gave her ovations. "These people", she would say confused, "do not know me; they are mistaken". Her body is venerated with that of St. Francis de Sales in the church of the Visitation at Annecy. She was beatified in 1751, canonized in 1767, and 21 August was appointed as her feast day. The life of the saint was written in the seventeenth century, with inimitable charm, by her secretary, Mother de Chaugy. Monsignor Bougaud, who died Bishop of Laval, published in 1863 a "Histoire de Sainte Chantal" which had a great and well-deserved success. The words of the saint comprise instructions on the religious life, various minor works, among which is the admirable "Deposition for the Process of Beatification of St. Francis de Sales", and a great many letters. The Saint's qualities are seen in her precise and vigorous style, void of imagery but betraying a repressed emotion, and bursting forth spontaneously from the heart, anticipating in its method the beautiful French of the seventeenth century. The book which may be called her masterpiece, "Réponses sur les Régles, Constitutions et Coutumes", a truly practical and complete code of the religious life, is not in circulation.

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Last modified: 05/02/08.