COLETTE, SAINT

born Jan. 13, 1381, Corbie, Fr. died March 6, 1447, Ghent; canonized 1807; feast day March 6 abbess, reformer of the Poor Clares and founder of the Colettine Poor Clares. The daughter of a carpenter at the monastery of Corbie, she was orphaned at 17 and entered the third order of St. Francis, living in a hermitage given her by the abbot of Corbie. In a vision, St. Francis directed Colette to restore the Poor Clares to the original severity of their rule, which she undertook to do, in 1406, after visiting Antipope Benedict XIII and receiving his support. Despite initial opposition, her reform spread through Savoy, Burgundy, France, Flanders, and Spain, increasing notably after her death.