St. Jane Antide Thouret

Jane was born in Sancy, France, in 1765 to a poor family. Her mother died when Jane was 16 years old. Jane took on many family responsibilities until she joined the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul in Paris at the age of 22, working among the sick in various hospitals.During the French Revolution, when many religious and priests were killed, she was ordered to return home to a secular life. Jane refused, and tried to escape the authorities, but she was badly beaten.She finally returned to Sancy. There, she cared for the sick and opened a small school for girls until she was forced to flee to Switzerland. She fled to Germany before returning again to Switzerland to found a school and hospital in 1799 and a congregation called the Institute of the Daughters of St. Vincent de Paul. The community expanded into France and Italy.She died 30 years after the founding of her community, in 1828, in Naples, Italy, of natural causes. She was canonized in 1934 by Pope Puis XI.