Jewels from Jane, July 27

"Mother Saint John [Fontbonne] was neither frightened nor saddened at the thought of leaving this earth, and her example inflamed the Sisters with supernatural courage.

"The greatest suffering of the little family of Saint Joseph was the deprivation of religious assistance. The Sisters had been in prison for several months without any notice as to the term of their imprisonment. One day the jailer said brutally to Mother Saint John: 'Citizeness, it is your turn tomorrow.' 'Thanks be to God!' answered the noble Mother, trembling with joy.

"The jailer had addressed Mother Saint John only, but her daughters thought that their fate would not be different from that of their Mother. All prepared to climb the steps of the guillotine. 'Tomorrow,' said the prisoners among themselves, 'will be the most beautiful day in our lives, we must get our garments ready.' The little community still possessed a small amount of money. The Sisters decided unanimously that it should be spent in the preparing of their modest clothing for the great festival of the morrow. These resolutions taken, they all waited in prayer, picturing the Heaven which was about to open for them.

"We should note, however, that our prisoners could not be guillotined the next day, for no executions had taken place in Saint Didier. 'Tomorrow your turn' meant 'tomorrow the departure for the court without appeal, in Le Puy, and the day after that, the execution.' The law stated that condemned persons had to be put to death within twenty-four hours.

"...Yet, Heaven did not open. Mother Saint John's work was not finished. In order that she might accomplish her task, Divine Providence gave an unexpected turn to events. Those whom Robespierre desired to send to the guillotine, sent him there and, let it be said in passing, the tyrant did not go gracefully. His death did not end the Revolution. There were still many sad days after his death, but the disappearance of this creature of blood permitted people to breathe again. At any rate, many prisoners indirectly owed their freedom to him. Mother Saint John and her companions were among the number. When their dungeon opened on July 27, 1794 all stood ready to go forth to death.

"God willed otherwise. Instead of having chains put on their hands, they were told that they were free. 'At this news which brought so much joy to the others,' Canon Rivaux tells us that Mother Saint John cried out sorrowfully: 'Ah, my Sisters, we are not worthy of the grace to die for our holy religion. Our sins have been an obstacle to this great favor.' The saintly Mother, during the remainder of her life, regretted having lost the palm of martyrdom, which had escaped her at the moment she believed herself about to hold it.

"When in later years, people spoke to her of this heroic epoch of her life and of what she had suffered in prison, she adroitly turned the conversation to speak of those Sisters who had not been spared and of their glorious martyrdom. For her, all suffering was as nothing because she had not received the crown of martyrdom."

Below is a quote from part of the document releasing the sisters from prison. The deed is in the archives of Bas.

"The citizenesses, Jeanne and Marie Fontbonne (ex-Josephines) of the above-mentioned convent of the Sisters of this community, originally of this commune of Bas, have requested the registration of their discharge from the prison of Montfranc."

From Mother Saint John Fontbonne: A Biography adapted from a translation of the original French edition by a Sister of St. Joseph, Brentwood, New York