Saint of the Day Online - St. Joan of Valois

Saint of the Day - Feb 04, 2017

Joan of Valois, 1464 - 1505, was the second daughter of Louis X1,  King of France, and Charlotte of Savoy, She was born on April 23,   1464. At the age of two months, she was betrothed to Louis, Duke of Orleans, and the marriage took place in 1476. There is no doubt that it was invalid, for Louis of Orleans married her in fear of his life if he did not comply with the king's orders to do so. Joan was by no means a prepossessing figure: she was hunchbacked, lame and pock-marked. On her husband's succession to the throne, he obtained a declaration that the marriage was invalid. Joan, therefore, was not to be the queen of France; she was given instead the title of Duchess of Berry. If so it is to be, praised be the Lord, was her remark on this occasion.  And there, really is the basis of her holiness and the spiritual testament that she left in the Order of the Annunciation that she founded; by her choice of name for her nuns, she emphasized the parallel between our Lady's *Be it done to me and her own If so it is to be. All her life she met with opposition and countered it with such gentle words

There is no doubt that it was invalid, for Louis of Orleans married her in fear of his life if he did not comply with the king's orders to do so. Joan was by no means a prepossessing figure: she was hunchbacked, lame and pock-marked. On her husband's succession to the throne, he obtained a declaration that the marriage was invalid. Joan, therefore, was not to be the queen of France; she was given instead the title of Duchess of Berry. If so it is to be, praised be the Lord, was her remark on this occasion.  And there, really is the basis of her holiness and the spiritual testament that she left in the Order of the Annunciation that she founded; by her choice of name for her nuns, she emphasized the parallel between our Lady's *Be it done to me and her own If so it is to be. All her life she met with opposition and countered it with such gentle words.

St. Joan died at the age of 41 on February 4, 1505. St. Joan was canonized in 1950. Her feast day is February 4 the day on which she died.