SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ MARCH 6TH

MEMORIAL OF SAINT COLETTE OF CORBIE, VIRGIN – FEAST DAY ~ MARCH 6TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Colette of Corbie, Virgin (Patron Saint of women seeking to conceive, expectant mothers, and sick children). Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, Saint Colette and all the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for all those seeking for the fruit of the womb, may God grant them gift of children, for all expectant mothers, we pray for safe delivery and for all children who are sick, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal illnesses, we pray for God’s divine healing and intervention upon them…Amen🙏

“I dedicate myself in health, in illness, in my life, in my death, in all my desires, in all my deeds so that I may never work henceforth except for your glory, for the salvation of souls, and towards the reform for which you have chosen me. From this moment on, dearest Lord, there is nothing which I am not prepared to undertake for love of you.” ~ Saint Colette of Corbie, Virgin

Saint Colette of Corbie, Virgin ~ Pray for us 🙏

SAINT COLETTE OF CORBIE, VIRGIN: St. Colette was a French Abbess, reformer of the Franciscan order of Poor Clares, and unifier of the Church. She is also the founder of the Poor Clare Colettines. St. Colette was a miracle baby, born to parents over sixty years of age, who had been praying for a child to St. Nicholas of Myra. St. Colette was the daughter of a carpenter named De Boellet who served the local Benedictine abbey at Corbie in Picardy, France. She was born on January 13, 1381, christened Nicolette, and called Colette. Nicolette Boellet was named in honor of St. Nicholas and was known by her nickname, Colette. Quiet and hard-working, Colette was a pious child who demonstrated a sensitive and loving nature. When Colette was 17, both of her parents died and she was left in the care of a Benedictine abbot. Orphaned at seventeen, she distributed her inheritance to the poor and initially joined the Beguine and Benedictine orders, but neither one worked out for her. Instead, she became a third order Franciscan. As a Franciscan tertiary, she lived at Corby  as a solitary. At age 21, she renounced the world in order to spend her life alone in penance and prayer as an anchoress – walled into a cell whose only opening was a grilled window into a church. She soon became well known for her holiness and spiritual wisdom, but left her cell in 1406 in response to a dream directing her to reform the Poor Clares. She entered the order of Poor Clares, was appointed superior general and she received the Poor Clares habit from Peter de Luna, whom the French recognized as Pope under the name of Benedict XIII of Avignon (the anti-pope) with orders to reform the Order and appointing her Superior of all convents she reformed.

Despite great opposition from within the Poor Clares, St. Colette persisted in her efforts. She began a successful reform of the Poor Clare convent at Beaume, Switzerland, which spread rapidly through France, Savoy, Germany, and Flanders. She revived the primitive rule and spirit of St. Francis. Her rule prescribed that the nuns go barefooted, observe perpetual fast and abstinence, and practice extreme poverty. She was well-known for her wisdom, sanctity, ecstasies, and visions of the Passion. She was also known for her appreciation and care for animals. St. Colette helped Saint Vincent Ferrer heal the papal schism and she founded seventeen convents with the reformed rule and reformed several older convents. She was reknowned for her sanctity, ecstacies, and visions of the Passion, and prophesied her own death in her convent at Ghent, Belgium. She died on March 6, 1447 at age 66 at the community she had founded in Ghent. She Through her life’s work, St. Colette’s reformation breathed new life into the Poor Clares and created a lasting model of spirituality. St. Colette was  Beatified on January 23, 1740 by Pope Clement XII and Canonized on May 24, 1807 by Pope Pius VII. A branch of the Poor Clares is still known as the Colettines. The Colettine Sisters are found today, outside of France, in Belgium, Germany, Spain, England, and the United States. She the Patron Saint of expectant mothers, of childless couples who long to conceive, and of sick children.

Saint Colette’s Quotes

“If there be a true way that leads to the Everlasting Kingdom, it is most certainly that of suffering, patiently endured.”

“We must faithfully keep what we have promised. If through human weakness we fail, we must always without delay arise again by means of holy penance, and give our attention to leading a good life and to dying a holy death. May the Father of all mercy, the Son by his holy passion, and the Holy Spirit, source of peace, sweetness and love, fill us with their consolation. Amen.”

“My eyes, I have filled with Jesus upon Whom I have fixed them at the Elevation of the Host at Holy Mass and I do not wish to replace Him with any other image.”

Prayer for a Special Intention

O  glorious SAINT COLETTE, I beseech you through the burning love which inflamed your heart for Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament, through the marvelous graces with which He enriched you and the loving compassion you did bear to Him in His bitter sufferings, obtain from Him for me my requests. . . .,which I hope to receive through your powerful intercession. Amen🙏

PRAYER: O Lord Jesus Christ, who have enriched Your spouse, SAINT COLETTE, with heavenly graces, grant, we beseech You, that we may imitate her virtues here on earth, and with her enjoy the eternal happiness of heaven. Amen🙏