Saint Beatrice (Beatrix) is a Portuguese saint on the Roman Catholic Calendar of saints known mainly for founding the Order of the Immaculate Conception, a contemplative order of Catholic nuns (her Feast Day is September 1). Beatrice was born into nobility in the 15th century and became a lady-in-waiting to Isabella, Queen Consort of Spain. Beatrice’s great beauty stirred up enough jealousy in the Queen that she had the young girl locked up in a tiny prison cell. It was during this confinement that Beatrice had a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary and was divinely instructed to found a new order in Mary’s name. Beatrice escaped the Queen’s imprisonment and took refuge in a monastery of nuns in Toledo, Spain where she lived a pious and contemplative life for the next several decades. At the age of 60, Beatrice would eventually take possession of the monastery for the new order known as the Immaculate Conception of Mary (ironically with the Queen’s support).
