Mother, Widow, and Nun (d. ca. 665)

Her life

+ Sadalberga was born into a noble family in Toul, France; her brother is Saint Bodo.

+ A childhood disease claimed Sadalberga’s sight, but her vision was restored through the prayers of Saint Eustace of Luxeuil.

+ As a young woman, she married Saint Blandinus of Laon and the couple had five children, two of whom are also honored as saints.

+ After their children were grown, Sadalberga and Blandinus separated so that each could enter religious life. Sadalberga became a nun in a monastery in Poulangey.

+ Near the end of her life, Sadalberga helped establish a new community near Laon, where she served as abbess.

+ Saint Sadalberga died sometime around the year 665 and was honored as a saint immediately after her death.

+ Saint Bodo, the brother of Saint Sadalberga, became bishop of Toul and founded a number of monasteries. Both Bodo and Sadalberga are honored as saints of the Benedictine Order, although it is likely that the monasteries they were associated with only adopted the Rule of St. Benedict in the centuries after the deaths of these saints.

For prayer and reflection

“I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.”—Romans 12:1-2

Spiritual bonus

On this day, we also remember a group of martyrs honored as “Saint Maurice and the Theban Legion.” While traveling to Gaul to suppress an uprising there, the Christian soldiers were ordered to offer sacrifices to the Roman gods for the success of their mission. Refusing to obey, the Christian soldiers were massacred by their fellow soldiers in 286. Devotion to Saint Maurice and his soldier-companions dates back to the fourth century and their supposed relics are enshrined in various places in Europe. Saint Maurice is honored as the patron saint of the Swiss Guard and the United States Army Infantry, as well as being celebrated as one of the patrons of Austria and Sardinia.

Prayer

Lord God,
you kept Saint Sadalberga faithful to Christ's pattern of poverty and humility.
May her prayers help us to live in fidelity to our calling
and bring us to the perfection you have shown us in your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal: Common of Holy Men and Women—For a Holy Woman)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.

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