St. Joan of Valois

St. Joan of Valois, also called Joan of France, was born in 1464, a daughter of King Louis XI of France, and died on 4 February 1505. Physically deformed and unloved by her father, she was married for reasons of state, while still a child, to the Duke of Orléans; when he later became King Louis XII he obtained an annulment of the marriage, and Joan, far from resenting the humiliation, accepted it with extraordinary patience and meekness, saying only that now she might serve God more freely.

Retiring as Duchess of Berry to Bourges, she devoted herself wholly to prayer and to works of charity, and with the help of her Franciscan confessor she founded the Order of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose sisters strive to imitate the virtues of Our Lady. Revered in life for her humility and gentleness, she was canonized in 1950, and her memory is kept on 4 February.