At Toledo in Castile in Spain, Saint Beatrice da Silva Meneses, virgin, who, at first a noblewoman attending Queen Isabella in the royal court, afterward, preferring to lead a more perfect life, withdrew for many years among the nuns of the Order of Saint Dominic, and at last founded a new Order under the title of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Lifespan: 1424–1492
Beatified: 28 July 1926 by Pope Pius XI
Canonized: 3 October 1976 by Pope Paul VI, Vatican Basilica
Memoria liturgica: 17 August
She abandoned the restlessness of the court, fleeing from it, to receive the law of salutary conduct, after the fulfillment of which she might enter into the land promised to the Saints.
Beatrice da Silva Meneses was born in Ceuta, a North African city facing the Mediterranean, at that time under the dominion of the Portuguese Crown. The happy event took place in 1426, most probably, though some biographies give the year 1424.
Her father, Dom Ruy Gomes da Silva, had in his youth fought in the conquest of the city of Ceuta in 1415, and with such great courage that the Commander of the city, the nobleman Dom Pedro de Meneses, rewarded him by giving him his daughter Isabella in marriage. Dom Pedro was, through various alliances, connected to the royal houses of Spain and Portugal.
Their children grew up in an atmosphere of love and under the prudent formation offered by the deeply Christian souls of their parents, above all their mother. Beatrice’s brother is indeed Blessed Amadeus da Silva, who embraced the Order of Saint Francis in Italy and gave rise to a branch of the Order of Friars Minor Reformed.
In 1433, Beatrice’s father was appointed Governor of the town of Campo Maior, in Portugal, where he moved with the whole family. It was in Portugal, therefore, that the future saint spent the years of her childhood and youth, cultivating the exalted qualities of her privileged soul and preparing herself for future trials. The experience of physical and moral suffering, as a proof of love, is a frequent feature along the path of those to whom the Lord wishes to give the crown of life, promised to those who love Him (cf. James 1:12).
In 1447, at about twenty years of age, Beatrice accompanied the Infanta Isabella of Portugal as a lady-in-waiting, on the occasion of her marriage to John II of Castile. The Castilian court, which at that time was situated in Tordesillas, was characterized by intrigue and courtly rivalry, amid which the young noblewoman felt profoundly ill at ease. Her beauty and virtue attracted the Castilian nobles, who vied for her friendship and affection. This aroused the jealousy of Isabella, who mistreated her, going so far as to confine her for three days in a locked chest, giving her nothing to eat or drink and placing her life in danger.
During her confinement, Beatrice called upon Our Lady, who appeared to her clothed in white and blue, inviting her to found a religious order to uphold the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, whose members would wear a habit similar to her own. In return for that grace, the young woman chose to make a vow of perpetual virginity in the monastery of Saint Dominic, where for thirty years she devoted herself exclusively to God.
After these thirty years of dedication to God, she resolved to found a new monastery and the Order of the Immaculate Conception, in honor of the Mystery of the Immaculate Conception and for the propagation of its cult.
To this end she obtained the support of Queen Isabella, known as “the Catholic,” daughter of John II and Isabella of Portugal. The queen gave her the Palace of Galiana in Toledo, together with the adjoining church of Santa Fe; and so Beatrice, in 1484, moved to the new residence with twelve companions, thereby bringing a new monastic family into being. This foundation was approved by Pope Innocent VIII on 30 April 1489 by the bull Inter Universa.
The date of her death is uncertain: some sources hold that she died on 17 August 1490, without having professed her vows. Others maintain that she died in 1492, having made her profession together with the first members of the community. Her founding project was carried forward by her disciples and by the Friars Minor.