(d.1286) Jane was exposed to Carmelite spirituality when a monastery was founded in her city of Toulouse, France around 1240. When Saint Simon Stock, the sixth Prior General of the Carmelite Order, came through Toulouse in 1265, Jane asked to be affiliated with the order. Simon consented, making her the first Third Order Carmelite, known today as the The Lay Carmelite Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She took a vow of chastity and lived by the Carmelite Rule. She worked with the sick and the poor and encouraged others to consider a vocation to the Carmelites.
In the life of Blessed Jane of Toulouse, we see a public relations policy of attraction rather than promotion, similar to Tradition 11 from the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. Jane recognized the fruits of Carmelite spirituality and desired that for herself. Do the ways you live out your Catholic faith and recovery attract others?
“The sword of the Spirit, too, which is the word of God, is to dwell abundantly in your mouth and in your hearts; and whatever things you have to do, let them be done in the word of the Lord” (The Carmelite Rule by Saint Albert Avogadro).
Reflection by Brad Farmer