Blessed Joana of Portugal

Blessed Joana of Portugal, daughter of King Alfonso V, was born on February 6, 1452. At the age of 20, after rejecting several royal suitors and determined to be only the “spouse” of Jesus Christ, she retired to the Convent of Odivelas, from where she moved to the Convent of Jesus in Aveiro. During her life at the convent she practiced penance and assistance to the less favoured. She died at the age of 38, on May 12, 1490, the day on which her liturgical feast is celebrated. She was beatified by Pope Innocent XII in 1693.

Royal crown and crown of thorns

Daughter of D. Alfonso V, King of Portugal, the crown is a sign of her royal identity, but the crown of thorns marks her Christian life, because since childhood she sought to practice detachment from the grandeur of the court and the vanities of the world, and sustained a deep piety and interior life, in sincere devotion to the passion of Christ and in selfless charity in favor of the poor. 

Prayer

God of infinite goodness who, 
amidst the pleasures of the court and the allurements of the world, 
strengthened Blessed Joana of Portugal 
with the virtue of constancy, 
grant that your faithful, especially the young, 
may overcome the seduction of earthly goods 
and always aspire to heavenly goods. 
Through Christ our Lord. 
Amen.   

See here all the Patrons of WYD Lisbon 2023.