JEANNE DE LESTONNAC, Saint. - Niece of the famous essayist Michel de Montaigne, and foundress of the Company of the Daughters of Mary Our Lady, b. at Bordeaux in 1556, d. there on 2 Feb. 1640. As a girl, she had to endure the overbearing influence of her mother, an ardent Calvinist, but she never yielded to heresy; in 1573 she was married to the baron of Landiras, Gaston de Montferrand, by whom she had seven children.

Left a widow in 1597 and having provided for the settling of her family, she entered in 1603 the Convent of the Feuillantines of Toulouse; but her health did not hold up under the rigor of the Rule; she therefore returned, after ten months, to her home and there led a retired life wholly devoted to good works; until in 1606, seconding the design of two Jesuits, F. Raymond and especially J. de Bordes, she founded a new Congregation, on the model of the Society of Jesus, for the education of girls, above all to withdraw them from the baneful influences of the prevailing Calvinism.

The institution received the approval of Paul V (7 Apr. 1607) and began to prosper in a marvelous way; but this also cost G., elected superior from the very beginning, bitter disappointments and sorrows: the initial structure of the foundation was changed, and she was removed from her office through the envious intrigues of her sisters; but G. bore everything with serene peace and trust in God. She was beatified by Leo XIII on 23 Sept. 1900 and canonized by Pius XII on 15 May 1949. Feast on 2 Feb.

Bibliography6 works

BIBL.: Dom de Sainte Marie, Abrégé de la vie de Mme Jeanne de L., s. n. t. (1645); J. de Buissonier, Histoire de l'Ordre des Religieuses de Notre Dame, I, Poitiers 1697; P. Mercier, La vén. J. de L., Paris 1891; V. Sardi, La b. G. de L., baronessa di Montferrant-Landiras, fondatrice dell'Ordine delle Figlie di Nostra Signora (1556-1640), Rome 1900; L. Entraygues, La b. J. de L., Périgueux 1940; C. Testore, Ste G. de L. di Montferrant-Landiras, Rome 1949.

Celestino Testore

@incollection{ec6_giovanna_de_lestonnac_santa, author = {Testore, Celestino}, title = {Giovanna de Lestonnac, santa}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VI}, pages = {491--492}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/giovanna-de-lestonnac-santa} }

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Jeanne de Lestonnac, Saint

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