Ordinary Time: February 4th
Saturday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Other Commemorations: St. Jane de Valois, Foundress (RM)
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Fourth Week in Ordinary Time, Entrance Antiphon, Ps 106 (105):47:
Save us, O Lord our God! And gather us from the nations, to give thanks to your holy name, and make it our glory to praise you.
Alleluia Verse for Saturday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time, Jn 10:27:
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me.
Communion Antiphon, Cf. Ps 31 (30):17-18:
Let your face shine on your servant. Save me in your merciful love, O Lord, let me never be put to shame, for I call on you.
The Roman Martyrology commemorates St. Jane (or Joan) de Valois (1464-1505), Queen of France, foundress of the Order of the Most Holy Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, renowned for her piety and special participation in the sufferings of the Cross. She was canonized by Pope Pius XII.
Meditation: Encounter with Christ
Live in expectancy. Await the coming of Jesus so that He may enrich us! We are like Simeon who implored the Lord unceasingly to come. When Mary and Joseph reached the temple one morning, carrying the Child Jesus, the saintly old man recognized in them, through interior inspiration, the parents of the Redeemer. They were simply dressed and they had come like all the others to make their purification offering. Taking the Child from their arms, Simeon raised Him to heaven, and he said the "Nunc dimittis..." "Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace...!" Simon shows us the way of preparing for the coming of the Messiah. He lived a God-fearing life, certain that before his death he would see the salvation of Israel. Jesus will come and the priest, elevating the Host, will say: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." And we, raising our eyes to gaze on Him whom we have expected, will respond: "This is the awaited One, the Lord, the rich One, the Master, the Light!" Let us keep ourselves in these dispositions of suppliant expectancy.
—Excerpted from Saint and Thought for Every Day by Rev. James Alberione, SSPSt. Jane de Valois
Born of the blood royal of France, herself a queen, Jane of Valois led a life remarkable for its humiliations even in the annals of the Saints. Her father, Louis XI., who had hoped for a son to succeed him, banished Jane from his palace, and, it is said, even attempted her life. At the age of five, the neglected child offered her whole heart to God and yearned to do some special service in honor of His blessed Mother.

- For more information about St. Jane de Valois read
- Joan was buried in the chapel of the Annonciade monastery in 1505. Her grave was desecrated and her incorrupt body was burned by the Huguenots during their sack of Bourges on May 27, 1562.
- The Order of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is an enclosed religious order of contemplative nuns which currently has 4 monasteries in France, and one each in Belgium, Costa Rica, and Poland.