5 NOVEMBER

. . . .in the Carmelite calendar is the feast of Blessed Frances D’ Amboise. From the note in the Carmelite Breviary: “Frances was born in 1427, probably in Thouars in France. She was the wife of Peter II, Duke of Britanny. After his death, and under the direction of Blessed John Soreth, the prior general, she took the habit of the Order in the monastery she had previously founded in Bondon. Afterwards she transferred to another foundation in Nantes, also erected by her, where she held the office of prioress and nourished the sisters with wise teaching. She is considered the foundress of the Carmelite nuns in France. She died in 1485.” There is more here.

In the previous calendar, this day was held in honor of all the saints whose sacred relics are kept in the churches of the Carmelite Order. “Multae tribulationes justorum, et de his omnibus liberavit eos Dominus: Dominus custodit omnia ossa eorum: unum ex his non conteretur.”
-from the Introit of the feast.

In some of the old calendars this was also the feast of Ss. Zachary and Elizabeth, the parents of St. John the Baptist. Their stories can be found in the first chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel.