Françoise d'Amboise's promise in Rochefort-en-Terre
And also
The tops
Do you notice this nice statue of Françoise of Amboise (16th c)?
She was duke of Brittany Pierre II’s widow. She refused to re-marry and became a nun in the Carmel in Vannes.
Do you remember her? We met her in Guingamp castle. She came in Rochefort-en-Terre to withdraw in the Carmelites convent.
Hey, her grand dad, Jean III de Rieux, was lord of Rochefort and lived here! You know what?
She came in this Notre-Dame-de-la-Tronchaye church and made a vow, publicly: to never marry again... We read in the book Vie de la bienheureuse Françoise d'Amboise (Forest, 1865):
«One day, Françoise, who lived in Rochefort castle, came in the parish church. She confessed. Her chaplain, Jean Houx, said the Mass. When the Holy Communion arrived, she knelt near the altar.
Here, while the priest was holding the host in his hands, she said: Now I make a wish to Virgin Mary and Jesus: I will keep my chastity. I will live as a nun in a perpetual continence.»
The legend even says just after her words, a big thunder shook the church. People thought Rochefort’s angels were happy because of Françoise’s vow! Everyone ran away, except Françoise and the priest...