Today, we celebrate the memorial of Saint Colette, The patroness of women seeking to conceive, expectant mothers and sick children.
Colette was the daughter of a carpenter who lived at Corby Abbey in France. Born on the 13th of January and later christened Nicolette, nicknamed Colette. She was orphaned at the age of seventeen. She gave her inheritance to the poor and became a Franciscan tertiary, living at Corby in solitude.
She left her home in 1406 in response to a vision telling her to reform the Poor Clares.
She received the Poor Clares habit from Pope Benedict XIII, with orders to reform the Order and being appointed Superior to all convents that she had reformed.
Despite great opposition, she endured in her efforts. Founding seventeen convents with the new rules and reformed several older convents.
She was well known for her sanctity, passion, and visions, having foretold her own death at Ghent.
She was canonized by Pope Pius VII in 1807
Source: catholic.org