BASILICA STONE
I am the child of the Holy Church, join me!
St Jeanne-Antide was born in Sancey on 27 November 1765 and was christened in the same village church. She first kept the flocks and then had to take on her responsibilities when her mother died. In 1782, she asked the Holy Virgin to take the place of her beloved mother.
In the village or at the presbytary, she taught children catechism: her vocation as a teacher was born. In 1787, she left Sancey for Langres and then Paris to be a nun in the Congregation of Charity of St Vincent de Paul. But the French Revolution disrupted her life. She refused the Civil Constitution of the Clergy and had to come back to Besançon and Sancey where she took care of the children who had no school, the sick who had no doctors and the priests who had to hide in woods and caves.
After two years in exile in Germany and Switzerland, she finally founded a free school in Besançon and a « soup kitchen » for the poor in 1799. She also started opening new schools. From 1802, she not only opened new schools but was also in charge of the sick people who stayed home, the running of Bellevaux jail and the military department in the « the Visitation » hospital. She received the encouragements of the Archbishop Lecoz and the Prefect Jean Debry. In 1807, the community officially got the name of « Sisters of Charity of Besançon».
In 1810 the mother of Napoleon 1st asked her to go to Naples with six sisters and Jeanne-Antide continued to give education and health care to those who needed. In 1819, the Pope Pius VII approved the Rules of the “Sisters of Charity under the protection of St Vincent de Paul”.
St Jeanne-Antide Thouret died on 24 August 1826 in Naples. She was beatified on 23 May 1926 and canonized on 14 January 1934 by the Pope Pius XI.
TOUR N°1 : 2.6km
PEDESTRIAN TOUR : JEANNE-ANTIDE GIVES GOSPEL, CLASSES AND NURSES
Follow Jeanne-Antide when she was a child, keeping the flocks and discover the village church where her vocation was born, the presbytery where she taught catechism and basic French lessons, and the secondary school named after her.
TOUR N°2 : 10km
HIKING TOUR : JEANNE-ANTIDE TO THE NON JURING PRIESTS’ AID
Walk along the paths, woods and streams, discover the caves where Jeanne-Antide supports the non-juring priests and organizes secret masses.
TOUR N°3 : 36km
RIDE AND DRIVE TOUR : JEANNE-ANTIDE FACING THE REVOLUTION
Follow Jeanne-Antide back from exile. Accused of emigration, she hides in La Grange, is tried and finally proclaimed innocent in Vaucluse and travels up and down the region to teach and nurse before going back to Besançon.