Saint Caesaria the Elder Abbess | |
---|---|
Born | unknown |
Residence | Arles, France |
Died | c. 530 |
Venerated in | Catholic Church |
Feast | January 12 |
Caesaria the Elder [1] or Caesaria II (died c. 530 [2] ) was a saint and abbess. Little is known about her, but there were some "glowing" [3] references to her in the writings of Venantius Fortunatus; according to Gregory of Tours, her life was "blessed and holy". [3] She was born in a Gallo-Roman family and was trained at John Cassian's foundation in Marseilles. [4] [3]
Caesaria was the first abbess of convent of Saint-Jean, which was founded by her brother, Caesarius of Arles. [2] [4] The exact location of the convent is unknown, but it was probably built outside the walls of Arles in southern France, and remained there until the French Revolution in 1789. [5] [6] Her brother addressed his Regula ad Virgines ("Rule for Virgins") to Caesaria, and described how she taught and supervised the copying of the Bible at the convent. [2] The nuns at St. Jean Convent spent their time in prayer, caring for the poor by washing and mending their clothes, doing menial work such as needlework, weaving, and transcribing books. [3] They "lived in permanent enclosure", [3] were not allowed meat except during illnesses, and did not bathe during Lent. [3] Caesarius' contemporaries viewed the convent as "an ark of salvation for women in those stormy times"; [7] the pope approved of and supported the work done there. By the time of Caesarius' death in 542, 200 nuns lived there. [2] [7]
Caesaria might have died in about 525; she was buried in a basilica next to the tomb reserved for Caesarius. According to hagiographer Alban Butler, the date of Caesaria's death is uncertain. [3] Her niece, Caesaria the Younger, succeeded her as abbess. [8] Caesaria's feast day is January 12. [3]
Scholastica was an Italian Christian hermit and the sister of Benedict of Nursia. She is traditionally regarded as the foundress of the Benedictine nuns.
Radegund was a Thuringian princess and Frankish queen, who founded the Abbey of the Holy Cross at Poitiers. She is the patroness saint of several churches in France and England and of Jesus College, Cambridge.
Caesarius of Arles, sometimes called "of Chalon" from his birthplace Chalon-sur-Saône, was the foremost ecclesiastic of his generation in Merovingian Gaul. Caesarius is considered to be of the last generation of church leaders of Gaul who worked to integrate large-scale ascetic elements into the Western Christian tradition. William E. Klingshirn's study of Caesarius depicts Caesarius as having the reputation of a "popular preacher of great fervour and enduring influence". Among those who exercised the greatest influence on Caesarius were Augustine of Hippo, Julianus Pomerius, and John Cassian.
A double monastery is a monastery combining separate communities of monks and of nuns, joined in one institution to share one church and other facilities. The practice is believed to have started in the East at the dawn of monasticism. It is considered more common in the monasticism of Eastern Christianity, where it is traceable to the 4th century. In the West the establishment of double monasteries became popular after Columbanus and sprang up in Gaul and in Anglo-Saxon England. Double monasteries were forbidden by the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, though it took many years for the decree to be enforced. Double monasteries were revived again after the 12th century in a significantly different way when a number of religious houses were established on this pattern among Benedictines and possibly the Dominicans. The 14th-century Bridgittines were purposely founded using this form of community.
Columba of Spain was a virgin and nun who was born in Córdoba, Spain, and martyred around 853 by the Muslim rulers in Spain, during a persecution of Christians. She is a part of the Martyrs of Córdoba and venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. Her feast day is September 17. Her cult was probably a combination of two virgin martyrs, Colomba of Spain and Columba of Sens, a third century French martyr.
Saint Cyprian of Toulon was bishop of Toulon during the 6th century.
Sadalberga was the daughter of Gundoin, Duke of Alsace and his wife Saretrude. Sadalberga founded the Abbey of St John at Laon. She is the subject of a short hagiography, the Vita Sadalbergae.
Erentrude was a saint and abbess, born during the end of the 7th century, probably in present-day Germany or Austria. She was born into a Franconian-Merovingian royal house, and was the niece of Rupert of Salzburg. She left her home country to assist Rupert in establishing religious communities in Salzburg; in about 700, he built a convent, Nonnberg Abbey, and installed her as its first abbess. She and the nuns at Nonnberg served the poor, needy, and ill, striking a balance between living as cloistered nuns and engaging in charitable works. Erentrude died on 30 June 718. Her fame for healing miracles and intercession grew after her death, and many legends have arisen throughout the centuries since her death. In 2006, Erentrude's image appeared on the Austrian Nonnberg Abbey commemorative coin. Her feast day is celebrated on 30 June.
Opportuna of Montreuil was a Frankish Benedictine nun and abbess. A Vita et miracula Sanctae Opportunae was written within a century of her death by Adalhelm, bishop of Séez, who believed he owed his life and his see to Opportuna.
Aurelianus was Archbishop of Arles from 546 to 551. His predecessors were Auxanius and Caesarius of Arles. His father Sacerdos was an Archbishop of Lyon. His cousin Nicetius succeeded his father as Archbishop of Lyon. He died on 16 June 551 in Lyon and is buried in the Church of Saint-Nizier. The text of his epitaph is preserved.
Glodesind (572−608) was a saint, nun, abbess, and founder of a convent in Metz, France, during the time of King Childebert II (575−596) of Austrasia. She was a member of the Carolingian nobility. When she was 11 or 12 years old, she married a young nobleman, who was arrested by the French government shortly after their wedding and executed a year later. Instead of remarrying as her family wanted, she fled to Metz and took refuge at the Church of St. Stephen. Her family gave up forcing her to marry, and she became a nun and later, the abbess of a convent that was built by her parents. She was abbess for six years until her death in 608 at the age of 30. Her feast day is 8 July.
Eustadiola (594–684) was a saint, widow, and abbess. She was born to wealthy and politically powerful parents in Bourges, France. She married due to pressure from her family, but became a widow at a young age, which gave her the financial and social independence to live what Sainted Women of the Dark Ages centuries later called a "semiretired religious life". She gave away her wealth to the poor, founded churches, monasteries, and convents, and used her wealth and influence to expand and decorate the buildings. Eustadiola was abbess of the convent she founded in Bourges, and lived as an ascetic for 70 years. Many miracles and healings were attributed to her. Her feast day is celebrated on 8 June.
Saint Thecla of Kitzingen was a Benedictine nun and abbess. Born in England, she went to Germany to assist Saint Boniface in his missionary labors.
Baudonivia was a nun and hagiographer at the convent of Holy Cross of Poitiers. Very little is known about her. She wrote a biography of Radegund, Queen, founder of Holy Cross, and saint. Scholars have noticed a marked difference in perspective between an earlier life of Radegund composed by Venantius Fortunatus, written from a close friend's perspective, and Baudonivia's, written from the perspective of a nun of Radegund's own convent.
The Abbey of the Holy Cross was a French Benedictine monastery of nuns founded in the 6th century. Destroyed during the French Revolution, a new monastery with the same name was built in a nearby location during the 19th century for a community of Canonesses of St. Augustine of the Mercy of Jesus.
St. Agnes of Poitiers is a French saint and abbess, who was "recognized for her holiness and intelligence" and called "model of the conventual life". She served as abbess of Holy Cross convent in Poitiers, France until her death in 586.
Hunegund of France was a 7th-century French saint and nun and founder of a convent in Homblières in Northern France. She was betrothed to a French nobleman, but while visiting Rome before their marriage, she chose to become a nun instead. Hunegund built a church on the grounds of a convent in Homblières; eventually her fiancé donated everything that he would have given to her if they had married to the convent, "became her most devoted friend and servant", and took care of her and the convent's financial needs. Hunegund became abbess of the convent and was considered its founder. She died in 690; her feast day is celebrated on 25 August by the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Church and on 1 November by the Catholic Church in France. Hunegund's body and relics were translated to the church she founded in 946; she performed miracles and appeared in visions that solidified her cult and veneration. In the mid- and late 10th century, two hagiographic texts about the life and miracles of Hunegund were written and published to connect the community to Hunegund's relics and cult. Her body and relics were translated again, during the Hundred Years War in the late 14th century.
Saint-Césaire Convent, at first called Saint-Jean monastery, was a nunnery in the city of Arles in the south-eastern corner of the rampart. It was founded in 512 AD. Its name was later changed to Abbaye Saint-Césaire in honor of its first abbess, Caesaria of Arles, and it remained until the French Revolution. Later what remained of the buildings were used as a hospice.
Rusticula, also called Marcia, was the abbess of Saint-Jean d'Arles from 575 until her death.
Caesaria the Younger or Caesaria II was the abbess of Saint-Jean d'Arles from around 525 until her death.