Saint of the day: Colette

St. Colette was born on January 13, 1381. He father was a carpenter, living in Corby Abbey in Picardy, France. After he died when she was 17, she gave away her inheritance to the poor.

Colette became a Franciscan tertiary, living as a solitary at Corby, where she was known for her holiness and spiritual wisdom. In 1406, she left her cell after a dream directed her to reform the Poor Clares. She received the Poor Clares habit from Peter de Luna, when the French recognized him as Pope, under the name Benedict XIII. She accepted orders to reform the Order, and was appointed as Superior of all the convents she reformed.

Colette faced great opposition, but persisted in her work. She founded 17 convents under the reformed rule, and adopted several of the older convents with the reformed rule as well.

Colette was known for her sanctity, ecstasies, and visions of the Passion. She prophesied her own death in her convent at Ghent, Belgium. A branch of the Poor Clares is still known as the Collettines.

St. Colette was canonized in 1807.