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GISELA, QUEEN AND ABBESS - 7 MAY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY

Saints celebrated on the 7th of May

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GISELA, QUEEN AND ABBESS


(Gisela, Regina Abbat.) 

The name Gisela (Gisala, Gisula [Giselle]) is either derived from the Old German word geisel, meaning gift, pledge etc.; according to others, the name stands for the powerful, the strong. Yet others reckon it is a form of the name Elizabeth; in Hungarian it is said to mean victory.

This lady blessed by God was a daughter of Henry II (Heinrich II) of Bavaria and a sister of  Emperor Saint Henry II (Heinrich II). The bishop Saint Wolfgang of Regensburg (Ratisbon) educated them in all knowledge, virtue and fear of God. Gisela was given in marriage to King Stephen of Hungary; the wedding apparently took place at the castle chapel at Scheyern. Stephen was still a heathen at the time, and through Gisela's zealous efforts, she won not only the king, but also the majority of his subjects to Christianity. Not unlike Emperor Henry and his wife Saint Cunigunde, the converted King Stephen and his wife Gisela did everything they could to promote Christianity in the country. 

They were primarily concerned with founding and equipping nurseries of the faith, namely churches and monasteries. In particular, Gisela provided the churches with sacred vessels and costly garments. Gisela built the cathedral church of Veszprim from scratch and endowed it with ample income. She also did a great deal for Belgrade and Altbuda. According to Butler (XX. 450) she had stone masons come from Greece, who were commissioned to carry out these buildings in the most beautiful way. Her son, the blessed Emmeric, whom Bishop Gerhard educated in all virtues, followed very much in his pious parents' footsteps.

In 1045, following the death of her husband, Gisela returned to Germany, she settled at Passau at the Benedictine monastery in Niedernburg, which had been founded in A.D. 738. In 1010, it was completely restored and overhauled by Emperor Saint Henry.

Gisela took a very humble place in this establishment and, without the least airs and graces, underwent all the exercises her religious state required. Later she was elected abbess. She went to her eternal reward on  May 7, 1095. 

Gisela is listed among the "saints" by some hagiographers and among the "blessed" by others. Since the Bollandists*, however, do not give her any specific predicate, we too wanted to refrain from doing so. Until the time of Emperor Joseph II, the Hungarians made pilgrimages to her grave in large numbers every year. Her veneration continues in the Niedernburg monastery, which has been owned by the "Angelic Maidens" (Englische Fräulein) since 1836. She is buried there next to her aunt Helica, the first abbess of Niedernburg (at the Saint Agatha chapel, which is currently being restored) (II. 133. Bat. XX. 449).

Gisela is also remembered on February 1.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 2, Augsburg, 1861, p. 440)

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org























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