If you enjoy this daily blog of lesser-known saints, see my book, which contains short biographies of saints for every day of the year.
Blessed Beatrice (d. 1226) was born in a castle in d’Este, Italy. But despite the wealth and power of her noble family, her childhood was full of losses: her mother died when she was a baby, her father died when she was six years old, and her older brother died of poisoning when she was only ten, leaving her in the care of a stepmother and an aunt.
From the time her father died, Beatrice would only wear simple clothing, and when her family began planning a suitable marriage for her, she begged to enter religious life instead. Her older brother refused to consider this, so she secretly left the castle one night and entered a Benedictine abbey. She was only fourteen years old. Until her death at the age of twenty, she lived a holy life as a Benedictine nun, living only for her Lord.
Blessed Beatrice, pray that my grief will only lead me closer to Christ.
