SAINT FEAST DAY FOR EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR

  ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JULY Saints celebrated on the 8th of July WELCOME! SAINT LANDRADA, ABBESS OF BILSEN Landrada and Amalia (Amalberga)  Saint Landrada (July 8), virgin and abbess of Bilsen ( Belisia, Belsena ) in the region of Liège, was born around the year 620. She descended from the noble family of the Frankish stewards of the palace ( Majores domus ); according to some, she was even the granddaughter ( neptis ) of  Pepin of Landen , and the daughter of  Saint Begga [Bega] and Ansegesil [Auslgisus], thus a sister of Pepin of Heristall, a claim which the  Bollandist * Pinius  (p. 620, nos. 4, 5 ) disputes.  From her early youth, she strove for virginal chastity, for which she steadfastly and eloquently refused the marriage desired by her illustrious parents. She enclosed herself in the confines of a cell, where she led a very austere life. Even during a spell of a severe feverish illness Landrada spurned a soft bed. Moreover, she shone ...

  ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JULY Saints celebrated on the 10th of July WELCOME! SAINT AMALIA, VIRGIN Saint Amalia (Amalberga) of Temse On July 10, we commemorate  Saint Amalia (Amalberga) [of Temse]. The holy virgin Amalia, who is quite distinct from  Saint Amalberga , has caused scholars much trouble because her biography is highly inaccurate in many respects, especially regarding the time in which she lived. Moreover, it contains a number of statements which essentially refer to her  namesake  - a different person altogether - the holy widow  Amalberga .  The essential facts of our Amalia's (Amalberga's) life are as follows: She descended from a noble family (perhaps from the line of Frankish princes) and was born on her father's estate at Rodin in Flanders. She was endowed with rare virtues of mind and body, so that she was an object of general esteem and admiration from an early age. Charles Martel courted her hand so earnestly that he is said to h...

  ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JULY Saints celebrated on the 10th of July WELCOME! SAINT AMALBERGA OF MAUBEUGE, WIDOW Saint Amalberga of Maubeuge   The name Amalberga is derived from the Old High German =  the Immaculate One, guardian of virtue . (According to  Wachter , it contains  mal  = blemish;  Amala  = without blemish, and  bergen  = to protect, preserve, defend).  Saint Amalberga was a widow and nun venerated at Lobbe Abbey in the Netherlands. Of aristocratic stock, she was the closest relative, if not the sister, of  Pepin the Elder of Landen. The  Bollandists * write that Amalberga was married against her will to Witgar, Duke of Lorraine, and that she bore him three children: Saint Ablebert ( Emebert ) - who later became Bishop of Cambrai and Arras -, Saint Reineldis , and Saint Gudila ( Gudula ).  Other hagiographers mention five children of hers, adding two daughters,  Saint Pharaild and Saint Erme...

  ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST Saints celebrated on the 13th of August WELCOME! SAINT ZWENTIBOLD, KING AND CONFESSOR Saint Zwentibold, from the Chronicon Universale, a 12th-century manuscript On August 13 we commemorate Saint Zwentibold ( Zwenteboldus ). This holy king and confessor, also called Swatopluk and Zuentibold, was the son of Arnulf, King of Germany and Lorraine, and Ellimar [Vinburge].  In 896, he was appointed King of Lorraine by his father at the assembly of princes in Worms, or rather, in Tribur. He ruled his kingdom with the utmost conscientiousness and won the love of his subjects. He had the churches and monasteries (some of which had been burned down and others defiled by the fury of the Normans), cleaned and rebuilt, and populated them with pious communities. His favourite religious institute was the Abbey of Susteren, which held many holy relics. In fact, he is considered its second founder.  In this convent, Amalberga, the abbess, shone brightly wi...

  ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY Saints celebrated on the 17th of May WELCOME! LAURENCE, ABBOT OF VILLERS  Laurence (Laurentius) , remembered on May 17, was a monk at Clairvaux Abbey to start with. A student of  Saint Bernard , Laurence afterwards became the first abbot of the  Cistercian  monastery of  Villers  / Villiers  (Villaria) in Brabant. The establishment flourished under Laurence's leadership: the initially small monastery, through the holiness of its monks and the generosity of the faithful, became one of the most distinguished in Belgium.  Laurence loved holy poverty to the highest degree and bore all its hardships with admirable patience. He had the oratory and the huts for the brothers built from tree branches; his sustenance consisted of vegetables and water, and his clothing barely covered his limbs. After his term had ended, he continued to serve God in utter humility, and concluded his holy life, glorified by miracles, in 1154...

  WELCOME! RAIMUND REMBOLD, ABBOT OF BLAUBEUREN Raimund was a Benedictine from  Weingarten Abbey (pictured) Raymundus [Raimund Rembold], remembered on July 5, was a Benedictine from Weingarten Monastery [South Germany]. Descended from the Augsburg patrician Rembold family, and a man of outstanding piety and admirable wisdom, he was appointed and elected abbot of Blaubeuren.  Amidst the greatest hostility from the heretics, he led the monastery with great courage and commendable prudence for over 50 years and, to the great joy of all his subordinates, celebrated the jubilee of his priesthood and abbotship. Worn down by age and ailments, he eventually fell asleep in the Lord, full of merit, at the age of 89, on July 5, 1684.  (Information from  Stadler 's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints,  Volume  5, Augsburg, 1882, pp. 50-51) Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.g...