ST ITISBERGA, VIRGIN - 20 JUNE

 

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SAINT ITISBERGA, VIRGIN

Fleur-de-lis, Cathedral
Treasury Aachen

Saint Itisberga, also known as Idaberga, Iduberga, Isberga, Isburga, Ysberga, Gisleberga, Isiberga, Sitisberga, was a virgin in the town of Yberghe in Artois named after her. She is buried in Aire (Aria) on the Lys (Dep. Pas de Calais).

She is said to have been a daughter of King Pepin the Short and his wife Bertha, and therefore was a sister of Charlemagne. She is a different person from Gisela (Gisla, Gisila), Abbess, her sister, with whom she is often confused. According to the Bollandists*, Itisberga died in A.D. 800. In church art, she is depicted with a snake in one hand and a beech tree in the other. According to Migne* (Dict. iconogr. - "Itisberga" and "Isburge"), the snake is sometimes pictured sitting on a bowl (v. 44).

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 3, Augsburg, 1869, p. 85)

*A hagiography source used by the authors 

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Itisberga may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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