Blessed Joan of Toulouse

The saint of the day is Blessed Joan of Toulouse.

Blessed Joan of Toulouse lived in the town of Toulouse during the thirteenth century. A Carmelite monastery had been founded in the town in 1240 and this exposed Joan to the Carmelite lifestyle and spirituality. In 1265 when St. Simon Stock, a thirteenth century reformer of the Carmelites, was passing through Toulouse, Joan met him and requested to be affiliated with the Carmelites. Simon agreed and Blessed Joan became the first Third Order Carmelite.

Joan vowed herself to perpetual chastity. Joan applied herself completely to the Carmelite Rule. In addition to many daily holy practices and pennances, Joan reached out to the community and worked to help the sick and poor. One of Joan's primary missions was encouraging the boys of the town to help her serve the poor and help them discern whether or not they were called to be Carmelites.  Blessed Joan is considered to be a founder of the Carmelite tertiary order and is considered to be the first member of this order. Joan died near the end of the thirteenth century. Her cult was approved in 1895.
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