Anne de Xainctonge

Anne de Xainctonge (21 November 1567 – 8 June 1621^[1]) was a French religious sister who founded of the Society of the Sisters of Saint Ursula of the Blessed Virgin. She was declared venerable by the Roman Catholic Church in 1991.

She was born in Dijon, the eldest child of Jean de Xainctonge, a politician, and his wife, Lady Marguerite Collard, both members of the nobility. Her father saw to it that she had a good education. Her upbringing was also very practical. She and her step-sister Nicole were entrusted with the care of the poultry-yard, cellar, and fruit-rooms.^[2]

At the age of seventeen, de Xainctonge made her appearance in high society with all the pomp of her position. She is described as vivacious and witty. When an acceptable suitor presented himself, she declined the proposal and her parents reluctantly let her have her way. The catechism lesson of a Jesuit, gave her the idea to assist with the instruction. She gathered those students having most difficulty and helped prepare them for the regular class.^[2] She also visited hospitals to care for and instruct the sick.^[3]

Near her house was a Jesuit school for boys which inspired her with the idea of educating girls.^[1] An uncloistered order of women, operating a free school for girls, was a new idea at that time, and de Xainctonge met with a great deal of resistance. In 1596 she left Dijon for Dole, a university town, at that time in Franche-Comté and under Spanish influence. There she found other young women interested in teaching women and girls. Rome had recently reasserted the cloister as the only approved form of religious life for women. Nonetheless, on 16 June 1606, Anne opened the first convent of what would later become the Society of the Sisters of Saint Ursula of the Blessed Virgin,^[4] in a house that had previously been a restaurant.^[5] In lieu of a religious habit, she and her companions adopted the simple black dress of the Spanish widows everywhere visible in the region of Dole, so as to render them inconspicuous in the streets on the rare occasions they had to leave the house.^[5]

انتشرت الجمعية بسرعة في شرق فرنسا وسويسرا. ^{[ 1 ]} بالإضافة إلى المدرسة الأصلية، أسست دي زينكتونج سبع مدارس أخرى خلال حياتها. وفي عام 1619، أُنشئت جماعة في بورينتروي بسويسرا. كتب إليها فرانسيس دي سال معربًا عن رغبته في أن تُنشئ مؤسسة في أبرشيته، لكنها توفيت في دول عن عمر يناهز 53 عامًا، قبل أن يتحقق ذلك. ^{[ 2 ]}

بسبب عملها، رُشِّحت آن دي زينكتونج للتطويب بعد وفاتها بفترة وجيزة، إلا أن الثورة الفرنسية وحروب أخرى في تلك الفترة أدت إلى تدمير العديد من الوثائق. ^{[ 1 ]} وتضيف بعض المصادر أن دي زينكتونج نفسها طلبت حرق كتاباتها الشخصية بعد وفاتها. ولذلك، لم تبدأ عملية تقييم كتاباتها الروحية إلا في 18 يوليو 1998. ^{[ 6 ]} وقد فُتِحَت قضيتها رسميًا في 24 نوفمبر 1900، ^{[ 6 ]} وفي 14 مايو 1991، أعلن البابا يوحنا بولس الثاني فضائل آن دي زينكتونج البطولية. ^{[ 7 ]}