Bertha of Val d'Or

Last updated
Saint

Bertha of Val d'Or
Berthe d'Avenay 09333.jpg
Virgin and martyr
Born France
Died690
France
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Canonized Pre-Congregation
Feast 1 May

Bertha of Val d'Or (birth unknown, death c. 690), was an abbess, virgin, and martyr. She is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church as a saint. [1] Her husband was Gombert, Lord of Champenois, who was a nobleman and member of the royal family of France, with whom she lived a celibate life. [1] The tradition of Bertha's life is "very late and unreliable". [2] Laurent Majoret wrote a vita that was first published in Toul in 1650 and reissued in Rheims in 1700 and in 1743. [3] [4] [5]

Gombert built a convent for Bertha and her maidens at Avenay, and then retired to a monastery on the coast. [6] [2] After Gombert was killed by "idolaters" [6] and "pagan marauders", [2] she was directed by a vision to move her nuns to Val d'Or, near Avenay, in the Champagne region of northeastern France. [6] It is uncertain if the convent followed the Dominican Rule. [2] There was a drought in the area; according to hagiographer Agnes Dunbar, Peter the Apostle appeared to her and guided her to a garden with a good spring. [6] [2] She created, with her distaff, a stream she called "Libra" because she bought the spring with a pound of silver. The stream flowed in front of her convent and supplied water for both her nuns and for the town; Dunbar reported that "there it flows to this day, an abundant supply of beautiful, clear water, curing many infirmities, and witnessing the truth of the legend of the distaff". [6]

In 690, the relatives of Bertha's husband became angry with her because they were indignant that she distributed her husband's money to the poor [2] and because she "gave to the poor a great deal that they hoped to get for themselves". [6] so they killed her. Dunbar reports that they "were immediately seized by the devil, and tore themselves to pieces, all but one woman named Nuncia, who had some pangs of repentance". [6] Bertha appeared to Nuncia, asking that her husband's body be brought to Val d' Or so that she could be buried with him. Nuncia requested proof that her actions would be forgiven if she granted Bertha's wish; as soon as Nuncia moved Gombert's body to the convent, blood spouted out of her nose and mouth as Bertha had said it would. One hundred years later, Bertha's body was found "fresh and life-like;" [7] when her body and Gombert's were brought to the place where she was killed, "her wounds bled afresh". [7] Bertha's feast day is 1 May. [6] [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc-Antoine Charpentier</span> French composer (1643–1704)

Marc-Antoine Charpentier was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his Te Deum, Marche en rondeau. This theme is still used today as a fanfare during television broadcasts of the Eurovision Network and the European Broadcasting Union.

Amélie Plume is a Swiss writer.

Saint Bertha of Artois or Saint Bertha of Blangy was a Frankish and Anglo-Saxon Abbess of noble blood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angadrisma</span>

Angadrisma was a seventh-century abbess and saint, daughter of Robert I, Bishop of Tours. A cousin to Lambert, Bishop of Lyon, she was educated at Thérouanne by Lambert and Saint Audomare (Omer).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy Yi Zhenmei</span> Chinese Catholic saint (1815–1862)

Lucy Yi Zhenmei was a Sichuanese Roman Catholic saint from Mianyang, Sichuan Province, China. She is the lone woman of the five Guizhou Martyrs, a subset of the much larger Martyr Saints of China. She is referred to as Bienheureuse Lucie Y in old French sources.

Mareuil-sur-Ay is a former commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. Since January 2016, Mareuil-sur-Aÿ is part of the administrative commune Aÿ-Champagne. Its population was 1,113 in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janine Micheau</span> French operatic soprano (1914–1976)

Janine Micheau was a French operatic soprano, one of the leading sopranos of her era in France, particularly associated with lyric soprano and coloratura soprano repertory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne of Saint Bartholomew</span>

Anne of Saint Bartholomew - born Ana García Manzanas - was a Spanish Discalced Carmelite. She was a companion to Saint Teresa of Ávila and led the establishment of new monasteries of in France and the Lowlands. Anne sometimes struggled with her superiors as she set about setting new convents and holding her position as a prioress while later settling in the Spanish Netherlands where she opened a house and remained there until she later died. She was a close friend and aide to Saint Teresa of Ávila and the saint died in her arms in 1582.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berthe de Courrière</span> French artists model (1852–1916)

Berthe de Courrière was a French artists' model and demimondaine. She was the mistress, model, and heir of the sculptor and painter Auguste Clésinger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maubuisson Abbey</span>

Maubuisson Abbey is a Cistercian nunnery at Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône, in the Val-d'Oise department of France. It was founded in A.D. 1236 by Blanche of Castile, Queen of France, who may have been buried there in 1252. The site is now within the north-western suburbs of Paris. The surviving buildings are listed as a monument historique.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dina Bélanger</span> Canadian musician, nun and mystic

Dina Bélanger, also known by her religious name Marie of Saint Cecilia of Rome, was a Canadian professed religious and a member of the Religieuses de Jésus-Marie. Bélanger was a noted musician and learnt the piano from her late childhood while teaching this later in her life. Successive bouts of poor health never hindered her spiritual or musical aspirations though weakened her due to contracting tuberculosis. Her autobiographical account—spanning from 1924 until just a couple of months prior to her death—details her spiritual encounters with Jesus Christ in a series of visions.

Michel Serre (1658–1733) was a Catalan-born French painter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lists of Coptic church buildings</span>

Lists of Coptic church buildings cover church buildings that employ the Alexandrian Rite. They are organized by region or country. Egypt which is where the Coptic religion began is listed in Africa, although Egypt is in Africa and in Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hermance Lesguillon</span> French poet and novelist

Hermance Lesguillon, née Lasdrin was a 19th-century French poet and novelist. She used the synonyms Madame Hermance and Hermance Sandrin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berthe Bady</span> French actress

Berthe Bady (1872–1921) was a French actress of Belgian origin. She was the companion of Lugné-Poe and Henry Bataille. The fortunes she had won as an actress were devoted to her household with Bataille. Berthe died in isolation at Jouy-sur-Eure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catherine of Mayenne</span>

Catherine de Mayenne, or Catherine de Mayenne-Lorraine-Guise, was a French aristocrat who became Duchess of Mantua by marriage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Van Ghell</span>

Anna Van Ghell was a Belgian singer who starred in numerous operettas in Paris. She was called Anna Vanghel or Vanghell in France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vive la Canadienne</span>

Vive la Canadienne was the anthem of French Canadians in Quebec before it was replaced by O Canada. According to Ernest Gagnon, it was based on an old French tune, Par derrièr' chez mon père.

François-Joseph de Choiseul, baron de Beaupré was a French naval officer who was governor of Saint-Domingue (Haiti) in 1707-1710.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trésain</span> 6th century Irish missionary to France, and saint

Saint Trésain was an Irish missionary in France. His feast day is 7 February.

References

  1. 1 2 Walsh, Michael J. (2007). A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press. p. 99. ISBN   978-0-8146-3186-7. OCLC   124159625.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Appleton. 1907. p. 519.
  3. ↑ Majoret, Laurent (1650). La Vie de Ste Berthe, vierge et martyre... à laquelle sont adjoustées les vies de S. Gombert, ... et de S. Tressain , ... Par le R. P. Dom Laurent Majoret, ...
  4. ↑ La Vie de Ste. Berthe, vierge et martyre, fondatrice de l'Abbaye royale d'Avenay ... A laquelle sont ajoûtées les vies de saint Gombert son époux martyr,&de S. Trésain Confesseur ... [By Laurent Majoret.] Le tout révû&corrigé, etc (in French). 1700.[ permanent dead link ]
  5. ↑ Majoret, Laurent (1743). La Vie de Ste. Berthe, Vierge et Martyre, Fondatrice de l'Abbaye Royale d'Avenay, Ordre de S. Benoist. A laquelle sont ajoûtées les Vies de Saint Gombert son Époux, Martyr, & de S. Trésain, Confesseur, & Patron de l'Eglise paroissialle d'Avenay. Le tout revû & corrigé, & mis en meilleure forme par ***. Rheims : François Jeunehomme.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Dunbar, p. 117
  7. 1 2 Dunbar, p. 118

Works cited


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.