Berlinda of Meerbeke

Updated on Oct 01, 2024

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Feast February 3 Name Berlinda Meerbeke		Role Saint Died 702 AD, Meerbeke, Belgium

Venerated in Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church Attributes depicted as a Flemish nun with a cow and either a pruning hook or branch; sometimes portrayed with Saints Nona and Celsa Patronage protectress of trees and invoked against cattle diseases

Saint Berlinda (Latin: Berlindis, Berlenda, Berelenda, other variants; also known as Bellaude; died 702 AD) was a Benedictine nun of noble descent. Her feast day is 3 February. According to legend she was a niece of Saint Amandus, and was disinherited by her father, Count Odelard, after he became sick with leprosy and believed that she would not take proper care of him.

Berlinda of Meerbeke httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

Berlinda fled to a convent at Moorsel, near Aalst, and became a nun. After her father died, she became a hermit at Meerbeke, where her father had been buried. Her tradition states that she spent her life helping the poor and suffering.

Literature

Van Droogenbroeck, F. J., 'Paltsgraaf Wigerik van Lotharingen, inspiratiebron voor de legendarische graaf Witger in de Vita Gudilae', Eigen Schoon en De Brabander 93 (2010) 113-136.

Van Droogenbroeck, F. J., 'Hugo van Lobbes (1033-1053), auteur van de Vita Amalbergae viduae, Vita S. Reinildis en Vita S. Berlendis', Eigen Schoon en De Brabander 94 (2011) 367-402.

References

Berlinda of Meerbeke Wikipedia

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