Wendy Wright describes the spiritual friendship that existed between Francois de Sales and Jeanne de Chantal as "... one in which the powerful dynamics of the interaction between male and female were experienced simultaneously with the most profound love of God."



Chronicling the period of Jeanne's life from the time she was a young widow drawn to the intimate spiritual direction of Francois, through the development of a new congregation for women—the Order of the Visitation—whose focus was the surrender of one's self to the love and will of God, until her death in 1641, this account sheds new light on the lives of both saints and offers a vivid analysis of the nature of spiritual friendship between the sexes.



This book will appeal to both lay and religious in offering a positive view of celibate companionship that is an inspirational model for today.



Wendy Wright received a Ph.D. from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1983. She currently teaches at the Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, MA.