Saint Beatrice da Silva Meneses

Beatrice was the daughter of the Count of Viana and sister of Saint Amedeus of Portugal. She was raised in the household of Princess Isabel, and accompanied her to Castile when she married John II of Castile. Beatrice spent much of her life as a courtier, but tired of it. She retired to a Cistercian convent in the city of Toledo, and dedicated the rest of her life to God. Around 1484, Beatrice left the Cistercians and founded the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Conceptionists). With the help of Queen Isabel, who funded the start of the new order, Beatrice established a house near the city of Toledo in the castle of Galliana, served as its abbess, and spent the final six years of her life working with the women who joined the order. Her feast day is August 17.