Jean was baptized the same day in St. Stephen's Church. Two small children who came to the door begging were her godparents. Joseph and to Michael the Archangel.
In , at the age of 12, Jeanne was permitted to make her first Communion. In her teens she lived an active social life, loving parties, dancing, fun and laughter.
In , her father wanted her to marry, but Jeanne felt that God was calling her to religious life, but she was not clear. At one time, she thought she had a Carmelite vocation, and she later considered joining the Ursulines.
It also appears from her writings that she pondered becoming a member of the Visitation and Franciscan orders.
On July 2, , at age twenty-nine, guided by her spiritual directors, Jeanne began the work of founding the Order of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament with two companions in Roanne, but soon moved to Lyon. Monseigneur de Miron, the Archbishop of Lyon, died unexpectedly after having occupied the archepiscopal See for only two years.
