Maria Luisa Giuseppa Vanot, also known as Maria Natalia di San Ludovico, was a French Ursuline nun born in Valenciennes in 1728. She lived during a period of intense political upheaval and became a martyr during the French Revolution. In 1794, she was executed by guillotine in Compiègne alongside four of her fellow religious sisters. She was later beatified by Pope Benedict XV in 1920 as part of a group of eleven martyrs from Valenciennes.
Life and death
Born in Valenciennes in June 1728, Maria Luisa dedicated her life to religious service as a member of the Ursuline order. Her life ended during the revolutionary violence in France. In October 1794, she faced execution in Compiègne, where she died by the guillotine together with four other sisters from her community.
Veneration
She is commemorated as a blessed, having been recognized by the Catholic Church in 1920. Her liturgical feast day is observed on October 17. In religious art, she is often depicted wearing the habit of the Ursuline order, frequently holding a palm branch or an axe to symbolize her martyrdom.