| 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 have once seized her by the hand and, using force, dislocated her arm from the shoulder joint. However, Amalia decisively rejected this request, as she was determined to follow Jesus Christ alone, whereupon (according to some, on the advice of Bishop Willibrord) she entered the monastery of Münster-Bilsen (Belisia), which was then under the direction of Saint Landrada.
In 772, after shining here for many years with the light of her piety and even with the gift of miracles, Amalia went to her eternal reward. Her body was buried in Tempst [Temse], also known as Temsch (Tamisia, Tenseca), which was one of the estates she had inherited. Later, her mortal remains were transferred to Ghent (Gandavum) on the Blandinenberg. The Calvinists destroyed her relics along with those of other saints.
The Bollandists* have an image of our saint in which she is depicted as follows: holding a palm branch in one hand and an open book in the other, she stands in the garb of a nun above a man who has a crown on his head and a scepter in his hand. To her right and left is a fish, and in the background, to her left, a fountain can be seen, and to her right, some wild geese. The open book signifies her tireless love of prayer, and the palm branch the triumph over her virginal purity. The depiction of her standing over a male figure wearing royal insignia apparently refers to her rejection of marriage to Charles Martel. The fish appear because, according to legend, her coffin, containing her holy body, floated away on a boat without a rudder, surrounded by fish. The fountain in the background is said to have sprung up in a completely dry place at her prayer. According to other authors, the saint once scooped water in a sieve, carried it to a dry spot, and thereby created a new spring, which is why some of her images also show a sieve hanging from a rope at the fountain. As for the wild geese, legend related that through the intercession of Saint Amalia that the area where she lived was forever freed from the great damage these numerous birds frequently caused in the local fields. Her name is inserted in the Roman Martyrology* on July 10. This name became very common in Germany through Emperor Joseph I's wife and daughter Amalia.
(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 1, Augsburg, 1858, pp. 158-59)
*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 Amalia 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
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