Today February 4

Today is the feast of St. Joan of Valois, also
known as St. Joan of France, St. Jane of France, or
St. Jane of Valois (1464 - 1505). She could be the
president of the First Wives' Club. Born to be a
queen, she was ignored by her parents and rejected
(when it was safe to do so) by her husband. Both
Louis XI, her father, and Louis XII, her husband,
disliked her because she wasn't pretty: she was short
and humpbacked. But she had a sweet and religious
nature, and she was true. She loved her husband,
though he was nakedly ambitious; she even saved his
life when her brother, Charles VIII, threatened to
kill him for rebellion. When her husband finally
gained the throne, he threw her over for the
well-connected and beautiful Anne of Brittany. He
even obtained an annulment from Pope Alexander VI on
the grounds that he had been forced to marry her by
Louis XI (although he sure didn't LOOK like he was
being forced at the time!) And classy Joan, rather
than being resentful, rather than being hurt and
bitter, (though no one would have blamed her) didn't
fight it, but left her rightful place and retired to
the country, where she devoted herself to prayer and
charity. This act of meekness might have gone
unrecognized had not young women gravitated toward
her, whom she gathered into a group she called the
Annonciades in honor of the Annunciation, a
contemplative group, that naturally continued to honor
and work for the recognition of her sanctity. She was
finally canonized in 1950.

But I think St. Joan, who did so much for
her husband, has a sympathetic heart for all those
first wives who put their husbands through medical
school only to have them divorce them in favor of a
pretty young nurse (or a female doctor). She also is
an example for them -- that revenge is not the only
way. She converted her sorrow into a work that
brought much joy ( both in France and later in
England). She must have been hurt, but she forgave
him. I think she believed the ultimate truth of the
statement: "Unforgiveness is drinking poison hoping
the other person dies." Amen. St. Joan of Valois,
pray for us.