The Order of the Visitation: History of a Salesian Foundation

Very quickly, the Order of the Visitation experienced remarkable growth. From the very first months, numerous women flocked to join the small community in Annecy, to such an extent that the "Gallery House"The original house, the cradle of the order, quickly became too small. In October 1611, less than a year and a half after its founding, Jeanne de Chantal moved the community to a larger house within the city walls. The work attracted vocations from all walks of life, including noblewomen drawn to this balanced life of prayer and gentleness.

The foundations of new monasteries then followed one another at a rapid pace. In 1615, the first Visitation outside Annecy was established in Lyon, marking the order's arrival on French soil. Francis de Sales himself traveled to Lyon to support this expansion. However, he had to contend with the norms of the post-Tridentine Church, which required... fenced strict rules for contemplative nuns. Indeed, until then, the Visitation had functioned as a congregation of "oblates" without solemn vows, which allowed for a certain flexibility and even some occasional charitable outings. For example, in Annecy, as early as 1612, it was permitted for two sisters to visit the sick in the town once a month, in order to concretely demonstrate charity and maintain a connection with the outside world. But this openness, however innovative, had to be abandoned to ensure the future of the institute. In Lyon, the cardinal archbishop insisted that the Visitation nuns respect the rule of complete enclosure, in accordance with the directives of the Council of Trent. Francis de Sales, anxious to have his order approved by the Church, adapted without denying its original spirit. Between 1615 and 1618, he drafted new Constitutions officially establishing the Visitation as a cloistered monastic order. In 1618, Pope Paul V granted the Visitation the status of a religious order, which adopted the Rule of Saint Augustine as its basis for life. A few years later, in 1625, Pope Urban VIII definitively confirmed the order with a solemn bull.

These adjustments in no way hindered the growth of the Visitation—quite the contrary. Freed from legal uncertainties, the young congregation was able to spread wherever the wind led it. During his lifetime, Saint Francis de Sales saw his order expand to numerous cities. Even before 1622, Visitation monasteries were opening in Moulins, Grenoble, Bourges, Paris, Tours or, Clermont In December 1622, when Francis de Sales died suddenly in Lyon (while visiting the Bellecour monastery), the order already numbered thirteen active houses. Jeanne de Chantal, now alone at the head of the institute, redoubled her efforts to continue the work begun. For nearly twenty years, the saintly foundress tirelessly traveled the roads of France – an exceptional feat for a woman of her time – in order to establish new visitationShe traveled through the provinces, established monasteries, encouraged novices, and maintained a rich correspondence with the fledgling communities. The result was impressive: by the time of Saint Jeanne de Chantal's death on December 13, 1641, there were already... 87 monasteries of the Visitation, scattered across the country and beyond. In barely thirty years, Francis de Sales' intuition materialized into a veritable network of convents radiating the Salesian spirit.

The Visitation Order even attracted the attention of the French court: in Paris, the prestigious Visitation convent of Chaillot was founded in 1651 and would see high-ranking figures enter its ranks. However, the order's history was not without its trials. In the 18th century, the Revolution suppressed all Visitation houses in France—there were then more than 120. Fortunately, the order survived abroad (Italy, Poland, Switzerland, etc.), and was revived in France in the 19th century with the restoration of several monasteries.