SAINT OF THE DAY (September 1)
Beatriz de Menezes da Silva, born in 1425, was a Portuguese noblewoman who became the foundress of the monastic Order of the Immaculate Conception, also known as the Conceptionists.
She was one of the eleven children of Rui Gomes da Silva, the governor of Campo Maior inPortugal, and of Isabel de Menezes, an illegitimate daughter of Dom Pedro de Menezes, 1st Count of Vila Real and 2nd Count of Viana do Alentejo, in whose army her father was serving at the time of her birth.
One of her brothers was Amadeus of Portugal, a noted reformer of the Order of Friars Minor.
She was raised in the household of the future Queen Isabel of Portugal and spent some time in her royal court in Castile following the Queen's marriage to John II.
She soon got tired of the empty life at court and joined a Cistercian convent in Toledo.
She lived at the convent until 1484, when she answered a summons from God to found a religious order.
The Congregation of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary was begun.
With the help of Queen Isabel, she founded a house outside of Toledo where she lived and served as superior until her death on 1 September 1490.
Beatrice was beatified by Pope Pius XI on 28 July 1926 and was canonized by Pope Paul VI on 3 October 1976.
She is the patron saint of prisoners.
