When the letter arrived Jeanne-Marie probably read it several times. She had prayed for a sign from God and here at last was what she had been waiting for - an invitation to be part of a new group within the Church. Perhaps what appealed to her was the idea that this group would follow Jesus in Mary's way. Perhaps she could see that this would mean doing good without drawing attention to herself, being holy in a hidden way.
Anyway whatever Fr Pierre Colin wrote, Jeanne-Marie Chavoin wasted no time in responding. Within a few days she set out for Cerdon to visit him and to meet his brother, Jean-Claude, for the first time. It would have taken some days to travel there by horse-drawn coach as Cerdon was in a different part of France from Coutouvre. She would have had lots of time to notice how she was feeling - most likely a mixture of excitement and nervousness.
No one knows what took place at that first meeting of JeanneMarie and Jean-Claude Colin in September of 1817. She was then 31 years old, four years older than he. She was out-going, used to mixing with men and women of all ages. He was shy, particularly of women. Yet somehow Jean-Claude managed to share with her enough of his Marist dream for Jeanne-Marie to be certain this was what she had been waiting for. On her way back to Coutouvre her heart must have been filled with gratitude to God for at last making clear what he wanted ...
On Jeanne-Marie's return, of course she went straight to the Jotillon home - to tell Marie everything that had happened. The two young women then talked with their families for a long time about what they wanted to do.
Both families gave them their blessing. Some time in October the villagers gathered for their departure. Marie's aging parents were joined by possibly four of her sisters and two brothers and their families. Madame Chavoin was there with Jeanne-Marie's sister, Claudine, Claudine's husband, Jacques, and their three children. Theodore Chavoin, Jeanne-Marie's father, had died some years before. Probably Benoit Alex, the ex-priest, would have been there as he lived to an old age and remained in the Chavoin home to the end.
As the coach set out the two companions knew that at last they were doing what God wanted of them - they were leaving their home and family to begin the Society of Mary.
When the letter arrived Jeanne-Marie probably read it several times. She had prayed for a sign from God and here at last was what she had been waiting for - an invitation to be part of a new group within the Church. Perhaps what appealed to her was the idea that this group would follow Jesus in Mary's way. Perhaps she could see that this would mean doing good without drawing attention to herself, being holy in a hidden way.
