Louise of Savoy (nun)

Blessed Louise of Savoy, O.S.C.
Princess, widow and nun
Born	28 December 1461 Duchy of Savoy
Died	24 July 1503 Orbe, Old Swiss Confederacy
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Beatified	1839 by Pope Gregory XVI
Feast	24 July

The Blessed Louise of Savoy, O.S.C., (28 December 1461 – 24 July 1503) was a member of the French royal family, who gave up a life of privilege and comfort to become a Poor Clare nun. She has been beatified by the Roman Catholic Church.

Louise was born on 28 December 1461, the Feast of the Holy Innocents, to the Blessed Amadeus IX, Duke of Savoy, and his wife, Yolande of Valois, the sister of King Louis XI of France. Through her mother, Louise was a collateral descendant of the great Franciscan saint, Elizabeth of Hungary. She was born the fifth of their ten children. Her father was a very pious ruler who gave much attention to works of charity in his duchy. He suffered from epilepsy, which, added to his retiring nature, led him to leave the mechanisms of government in the hands of his wife. He himself was beatified in 1677.

Louise showed an inclination to the spiritual life at a very young age. While still a child, she was found to be fasting on only bread and water on the Vigil of any major feast day of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Despite the active court life around her, she was drawn to prayer and solitude. Yet she was marked by a spirit of obedience, and when her mother insisted that she dress well in keeping with her station, she would obey. She would wear a hairshirt under her lovely garments, though.

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