In 2026, the Sisters of Charity of Saint Jeanne-Antide Thouret will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the death of their beloved Foundress, a woman of faith, courage, and boundless charity. Born in Sancey-le-Long, France, in 1765, Jeanne-Antide lived through turbulent times — the French Revolution, exile, poverty, and misunderstanding — yet remained unwavering in her trust in Divine Providence. Her life was entirely rooted in love: love for Christ, love for the poor, and love for the Church.

To prepare for this Jubilee, the Congregation has begun a journey of reflection and renewal, a spiritual pilgrimage that revisits the life, spirituality, and mission of Mother Thouret. Through a series of short videos, Sisters, lay collaborators and the Vincentian Family from around the world are invited to rediscover the richness of her charism, alive today on the existential peripheries of more than thirty-two countries. There, amid the struggles of the poor, the young, families, those who seek God, justice, peace, and care for creation, the heart of Jeanne-Antide continues to beat.

The first video, presented by Sister Stella Maris, is titled “Close to Her Heart. 1826: The Last Years of the Life of Saint Jeanne-Antide.” It invites us to draw near to the Foundress in her final years — not merely to learn about her death, but to listen to the living pulse of her heart. As the beloved disciple rested on the heart of Christ, so too are we invited to rest on the heart of Jeanne-Antide, to perceive in its rhythm the faithful echo of God’s love. This reflection leads us into the depths of her humanity and sanctity, illuminating the interior journey of a woman who lived and died for the glory of God alone.

In her talk, Sister Stella Maris begins by addressing her “beloved brothers and sisters, friends.” She situates the reflection within the context of the Bicentennial of the “Passage” — the Easter — of Saint Jeanne-Antide. Her purpose is not to recount historical facts alone, but to draw close to the Foundress’s heart, to listen to its beat, and to discern what animated her during her final years.

A Contemplative Approach to the Final Years

Sr. Stella invites us to contemplate the human and spiritual processes that shaped those closing moments of Jeanne-Antide’s life. She compares the gesture to Saint John resting on Jesus’ chest at the Last Supper — a gesture of intimacy, trust, and deep communion. In that same spirit, she proposes that we rest our spiritual ear upon the heart of Jeanne-Antide, seeking to hear its rhythm and discover what it still wishes to reveal today to her daughters and sons.

Quoting Pope Francis’s encyclical Dilectus est nobis on the human and divine love of the Heart of Jesus, Sr. Stella recalls the Pope’s warning about the “liquid world” in which we live — a world that has lost its center, its interior unity, and its heart. Many people today live fragmented lives, consumed by noise, speed, and technology, forgetting the slow and transformative processes that require silence and interiority. “The heart is missing,” says Sr. Stella, echoing the Pope. She suggests that by recovering the language of the heart, we can better understand Jeanne-Antide’s final years — years lived from that sacred center where God dwells.

Listening to Jeanne-Antide’s Heartbeat

To know her last years is to rediscover the essence of her being: generosity, purity of intention, courage, and zeal for the glory of God. Sr. Stella turns to the testimony written in Besançon on August 24, 1826 — the day of Jeanne-Antide’s death. That document describes her as a woman of “great purity of attention and unflinching magnanimity.” Nothing could stop her when she recognized God’s will in a project. She possessed a great heart — generous, tender, and compassionate — willing to cross the seas or go to the ends of the earth if she believed it would glorify God.

Her famous motto, “Always forward,” expressed this inner drive. It was not mere activism but a total abandonment to God’s will, sustained by docility to the Spirit and consumed by love. For Jeanne-Antide, to serve Christ in the poor was the natural fruit of her union with Him. She embraced large projects not out of ambition, but because her heart, filled with divine charity, could not be confined to small horizons.

A Heart Forgiving and Free

Sister Stella recalls Jeanne-Antide’s tenderness and capacity to forgive. She was generous in her love for God and neighbor — even for her enemies. She taught her Sisters to respond to adversity with faith and hope, reminding them that “God sees everything and will know how to reward and help us.” Her heart, centered on God’s glory rather than personal benefit, remained peaceful even in trial.

This peace is beautifully reflected in her Prayer of 1821, written entirely by her own hand and carried close to her heart until her death. It is a prayer of total trust, humility, and abandonment to God — reminiscent of the Psalms, but founded on the merits of Christ Crucified. In it, Jeanne-Antide pleads:

“O my God, sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, the only great, holy, and almighty One, rise up, make Your mercy shine forth. Place Yourself between me and my enemies. It is in You alone, my God and my Lord, that I have placed all my confidence and perfect hope. Who hopes in You will never be confounded.”

The prayer reveals a woman who forgave her persecutors, accepted suffering for the glory of God, and entrusted everything to Divine Providence.

Trial, Peace, and Glory

Returning from Paris to Naples after efforts to reconcile divisions within her Congregation, Jeanne-Antide faced what seemed, in human eyes, a failure. Her appeals were ignored; her Institute appeared divided. Yet she placed all in God’s hands, writing that she had long since entrusted the matter to His mercy, confident that His holy will would be done and that everything would return to His glory.

Sister Stella interprets this attitude as a sign of profound interior freedom — the peace of a soul wholly abandoned to God. Jeanne-Antide’s greatness lies not only in her historical achievements but in the moral and spiritual stature of a woman who never ceased to trust, even when wounded. She “kept walking,” says Sister Stella — misunderstood, opposed, yet always blessing, always serving, always moving forward.

Her Final Days

Drawing on the testimony of Sister Febronia, Sister Stella recounts the last weeks of the Foundress’s life. In her final illness, marked by weakness and an internal inflammation, Jeanne-Antide could receive Communion only on Sundays. Yet she remained calm, serene, and faithful. On July 16, 1826, the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, she clothed four novices for the last time — among them her niece, Sister Ferronia Thouret.

On August 15 she received Holy Communion with her sisters; and on the evening of August 24, 1826, surrounded by her community, she received the sacraments, followed the prayers softly, and peacefully gave her soul to God at 10:10 p.m.

Her Sisters remembered her as a woman of clear mind and practical spirit, gifted for organization and governance, truthful and just, with a heart generous, compassionate, and persevering. She believed that God was powerful and merciful, that every heart was in His hands, and that the Institute was His work. She hoped for everything in Him, trusting that the Holy Spirit would guide her and her daughters in fulfilling God’s will.

Her final legacy was simple yet immense: “Everything for the glory of God. God alone.” This, Sister Stella concludes, was the very soul of Jeanne-Antide’s life and mission — the heart from which her daughters still draw light and courage today.

Full Transcript in English

(The following is the complete English translation of the video’s script by Sister Stella Maris)

Dearest brothers and sisters, friends,

In the context of the Bicentennial of the Easter of our Mother, we wish to draw near to her, to listen to the beating of her heart, just as Saint John, the beloved disciple, rested his head upon the heart of the Lord Jesus.

It is daring to immerse ourselves in her final years and try to discover the feelings that lived within the heart of our Mother and Foundress. I invite you, therefore, to contemplate the human and spiritual processes of those years and to unite them with her letters and the testimonies that reveal the essence of Saint Jeanne-Antide.

Let us engage our inner being and our capacity for empathy with her. This is only a small reflection, one that perhaps in the future a sister or lay person might enrich, expand, or make more precise and scholarly.

On this path, we may allow ourselves to be enlightened by Pope Francis’s encyclical Dilectus est nobis, on the human and divine love of the Heart of Jesus. In paragraph nine, he writes:

“In this liquid world, it is necessary to speak once again of the heart, and to point to that place where every person, whatever their condition, finds unity — the source, the root of all strength, conviction, passion, and decision.”

But we live, he continues, in a consumer society — impatient, distracted, dominated by noise and technology, lacking the silence required for interiority. Humanity risks losing its center, its unity, its heart.

If we recover the meaning of the heart, we can approach Saint Jeanne-Antide, rest our head upon her heart, and ask her:

“Dearest Mother, what do you wish to reveal to us from your final days in Naples? What message do you wish to share today with your daughters and sons? With what rhythm does your heart beat?”

The testimony from Besançon, dated August 24, 1826, tells us:

“The revered one, through whom God laid the foundations of this community founded on October 15, 1799, died on this day. She governed it directly until 1810, and for several years more from Naples through her sisters Christine Menegé and Marianna Bon. She possessed great purity of attention and an unflinching magnanimity. Nothing stopped her when she recognized God’s will. She had a great heart, generous and tireless in doing good. She said she would cross the seas or go to the ends of the earth if God willed it, for His glory.”

From this testimony we learn her interior drive — the unrelenting woman whose “always forward” inspired generations. Her strength came from complete abandonment to God’s will, docility to His Spirit, and an ardent love that consumed her.

She possessed a great mind and heart, capable of embracing vast projects and serving Christ in the poor with an effective and tender charity. She was generous, compassionate, and forgiving, even toward her enemies.

When she once had to leave her home for Paris to follow her vocation, she told the priest at the Carmelite convent she was ready for anything — even to go to the ends of the earth. Her whole life proved these words true.

To a sister troubled by harsh words from others, she said:

“We all suffer for the holy name of God, for His love, to prevent sin and for the salvation of our neighbor. God sees everything and knows everything. He will know how to help and reward us. That must be enough for us. Let us take courage and trust in God.”

Her faith and devotion guided her through every trial. Only God was her motive, her growing love.

Her 1821 Prayer expresses her total confidence and abandonment:

“O my God, sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, the only great, holy, and almighty One, rise up, show forth Your ancient mercies. Stand between me and my enemies. It is in You alone, my God and my Lord, that I have placed all my trust and hope. Look not on my unworthiness, but on the infinite merits, sufferings, and death of Jesus Christ Crucified. Have mercy on me; lead me by Your Holy Spirit. I forgive my enemies for love of You, and I am ready to suffer all You will, for Your greater glory and my sanctification. Amen.”

Returning to Naples after failed attempts at reconciliation in Paris, she wrote:

“We have done, according to the advice of the Holy See, all that seemed proper for the union of minds. It has not yet been achieved. We leave it, then, to God’s mercy, in whose hands we have long since placed this matter. May His holy will be done and all return to His glory.”

Peace and serenity were the fruits of her total surrender. She continued to walk, always doing good, to those who supported her and to those who opposed her alike — a woman of historical greatness and even greater moral stature.

Sister Febronia tells us that in her final months, Jeanne-Antide, though ill, remained calm and patient. On July 16, 1826, she clothed four novices — among them her niece. On August 24, at 10:10 p.m., surrounded by her sisters, she gently surrendered her soul to God.

Her Sisters remembered her as a clear-minded, practical woman, gifted in leadership, truthful, just, magnanimous, and compassionate. She believed that God’s Spirit guided all things and that her Institute was His work. Her heart beat for one purpose only: Everything for the glory of God. God alone.

This, dear brothers and sisters, is the heart of our Mother. After contemplating her life, may we too look within our own hearts and ask: What do I believe? What do I feel? Where is my hope? In what must I be renewed and strengthened? Whom am I called to love and serve more?