Saint Challenge Response #3: St. Colette

We continue with the Guest Reflections, this time from my own Mother.  Thanks Mom!

St. Colette of Corbie (Nicolette)

“As God Pleases. As God Wills”

Feast Day is March 6

Patron saint: women seeking to conceive, expectant mothers and sick children.

Born in 1381 to parents who struggled to have children.  But upon incessant prayers of her mother, Nicolette was a child of grace.

As Mother’s Day was last weekend, I feel compelled to bring to light the story of St. Colette.  She is an example of strong faith and the use of prayer as her means of communication to bring God’s will to those in need.  And God used her to bring miracles and the spread his love to others.

Orphaned at seventeen, she distributed her inheritance to the poor. She became a Franciscan tertiary, and lived at Corby as a solitary.  During this time she endured suffering and visions.  She struggled to decipher the voice of darkness from the will the God.  But the will of God prevailed and she obeyed what was asked; to re-introduce the strict observance of the rule of St Clare to the convents.  She prayed constantly knowing the task was huge. God continued to provide by sending her the help she needed to do his will.  St Colette reformed the Order of Poor Clare's and founded a branch of the Order that is still known as the Colettines.

Some of the miracles credited to St. Colette include:

1. The life and health of a mother and infant that were both dying during a difficult labor.

2. Reviving the life of a still born by her strong faith and prayers.

Interesting fact: The first monastery of the Order of St. Clare in North America was established by 5 nuns in Cleveland Ohio in 1877. In Germany, the late 19th-century saw a major wave of suppressions of monastic institutions under the government.  Among them was the Colettine monastery in Düsseldorf, whose members had been expelled from their home.

As I continue to read more and more on St. Colette’s life the main theme is her constant faith, obedience and prayers.  So I contemplate the many times I, especially as a mother, have doubt toward possibilities.  Did St. Colette ever have doubt?

By the grace of God, I am blessed to have two healthy grown children.  But back in the day I 

experienced and endured two difficult pregnancies.  St. Colette, even though never having children of her own, knew the blessings God bestowed on her mother and the value of her own life.  She recognized the value of every human and especially that of the life of the unborn.

There are so many different facets of St. Colette’s story that can be contemplated and to meditate on.  You can go to CatholicCulture.org to read and pray the Chaplet of St. Colette.  In the middle of the Chaplet are the words “As God pleases As God wills” to be prayed ten times. Few, but very powerful words.