ST ODILIA OF ALSACE, VIRGIN AND ABBESS - 13 DECEMBER

  

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN DECEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 13th of December

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

SAINT ODILIA OF ALSACE, VIRGIN AND ABBESS

Saint Odilia is patroness of Alsace. She was born at the end of the seventh century and died about 720.

According to a trustworthy statement, apparently taken from an earlier Life, she was the daughter of the Frankish lord Adalrich (Aticus, Etik) and his wife Bereswinda, who had large estates in Alsace. 

SHE FOUNDED THE CONVENT OF HOHENBURG

She founded the convent of Hohenburg (Odilienberg) in Alsace, to which Charlemagne granted immunity, confirmed March 9, 837 by Louis the Pious who endowed the foundation. 

SHE RECEIVED HER SIGHT AT BAPTISM

A tenth-century "Vita" has been preserved, written at the close of the century. According to this narrative she was born blind, miraculously receiving her sight at baptism. 

AN EIGHTH-CENTURY BIOGRAPHY

A shorter text, probably independent of this, is contained in a manuscript of the early eleventh century. Internal evidences point to an original eighth-century biography. 

A further "Vita", that J. Vignier claimed to have discovered, has been proved to be a forgery by this historian. 

Her feast is celebrated on December 13; her grave is in a chapel near the convent church on the Odilienberg. She is represented with a book on which lie two eyes. 

(From Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913)