Blessed Joanna of Portugal

Blessed Joanna of Portugal was a princess, the daughter of King Afonso V of Portugal. She refused offers of marriage from rulers and spent the second half of her life in the monastery of Dominican nuns at Aveiro. The Church commemorates her on May 12, the anniversary of her death.

She was born on February 6, 1452, in Lisbon, the daughter of Afonso V and Queen Isabel. Until the birth of her brother John, the future King John II, she was regarded as heir to the throne, and even afterward she remained close to the succession. Her marriage was therefore a political matter for the court, and several rulers and princes sought her hand. From her youth, however, Joanna longed to belong to Christ alone.

In 1471 her father and brother set out for North Africa and took Arzila and Tangier. According to tradition, Joanna governed the kingdom in their place, although the royal chronicles state that the Duke of Bragança was regent. When her father returned, she asked him to let her consecrate herself to God. At the end of that year she went to live in the monastery of Cistercian nuns at Odivelas near Lisbon, and in 1472 she moved to the Dominican nuns’ Monastery of Jesus at Aveiro. Her decision met with opposition from the court and from the representatives of the towns, who feared for the succession to the throne.

In 1475 she received the Dominican habit. Soon afterward she fell gravely ill, and her illness together with reasons of state kept her from making religious profession. Pope Innocent XII later called her a nun of the Order of Saint Dominic who had not made profession. Even so, she shared the daily life of the sisters, living in humility and strict penance. At times she had to leave the monastery for a while, but she always returned. She did not forget those in need, and the Roman Martyrology remembers her as a refuge for the poor, orphans, and widows.

She died at Aveiro on May 12, 1490, at the age of 38, and was buried in the Monastery of Jesus. For centuries the faithful have come on pilgrimage to her tomb, especially on the anniversary of her death, to ask for her intercession. The former monastery now houses the Aveiro Museum.

At the request of King Peter II of Portugal, Pope Innocent XII on April 4, 1693, confirmed the veneration paid to her from time immemorial, which is equivalent to beatification. Soon afterward he also allowed her Office to be prayed and Mass to be celebrated in her honor throughout Portugal and in the whole Dominican Order. On January 5, 1965, Paul VI confirmed her as principal patroness of the city and diocese of Aveiro. The Portuguese call her “Santa Joana Princesa,” Saint Joanna the Princess, although she has not been canonized. In 2023 she was among the patrons of World Youth Day in Lisbon.