Gudula of Brabant | |
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![]() From New York Public Library, MA 092, fol. 251, Haarlem Gradual of 1494, depiction of Saint Gudula bearing a lantern which the demon endeavors to extinguish | |
Born | c. 646 Pagus of Brabant |
Died | 680–714 Hamme, Francia |
Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church |
Major shrine | Eibingen St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral |
Feast | 8 January, 19 January in the Diocese of Ghent |
Attributes | depicted as a woman with lantern which the devil tries to blow out |
Patronage | Brussels, single, laywomen |
Saint Gudula was born in the pagus of Brabant (in present-day Belgium). According to her 11th-century biography (Vita Gudilae), written by a monk of the abbey of Hautmont between 1048 and 1051, she was the daughter of a duke of Lotharingia called Witger and Amalberga of Maubeuge. She died between 680 and 714.
Her name is connected to several places:
In Brabant she is usually called Goedele or Goule; (Latin : Gudila, later Gudula, Dutch : Sinte Goedele, French : Sainte Gudule).
The mother of Gudula, Saint Amalberga, embraced the religious life in the abbey of Maubeuge. She received the veil from the hands of St. Aubert, Bishop of Cambrai (d. about 668). Gudula had two sisters, St. Pharaildis and St. Reineldis, and two brothers, Saint Emebertus [1] and Ermelinde.
Gudula was educated in the abbey of Nivelles by her godmother, Gertrude of Nivelles. When Gertrude died, Gudula moved back to her home at Moorsel, spending her time in good works and religious devotion. She was profuse in her alms for the poor, [2] and frequently visited the church of Moorsel, situated about two miles from her parents' house. [1] Nothing particular is recorded of Gudula beyond the singular holiness of her life. [3]
Gudula died and was buried at Hamme (Flemish Brabant). Later her relics were removed to the church of St. Salvator in Moorsel, where the body was interred behind the altar. During the reign of Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine (977–992), the body of the saint was transferred to Saint Gaugericus' chapel in Brussels. [1] Lambert II, Count of Leuven, (d. 1054) founded a chapter in 1047 in honour of Saint Gudula. Bishop Gerardus I of Cambrai (d. 1051) led the translation of her relics to the church of Saint Michael in Brussels. The church later became the famous Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula. [4] Her vita was written by Hubert of Brabant in the eleventh century. [2]
On 6 June 1579, the collegiate church was pillaged and wrecked by the Protestant Geuzen ("Beggars"), and the relics of the saint were disinterred and scattered.
The Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula, usually shortened to the Cathedral of St. Gudula or St. Gudula by locals, is a medieval Roman Catholic cathedral in central Brussels, Belgium. It is dedicated to Saint Michael and Saint Gudula, the patron saints of the City of Brussels, and is considered to be one of the finest examples of Brabantine Gothic architecture.
Saint Pharaildis or Pharailde is an 8th-century Belgian virgin and patron saint of Ghent. Her dates are imprecise, but she lived to a great age and died on January 5 at ninety.
Berlinda was a Benedictine nun of noble descent. Her feast day is 3 February. According to legend she was a niece of 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.
The Palace of Coudenberg was a royal residence situated on the Coudenberg or Koudenberg, a small hill in what is today the Royal Quarter of Brussels, Belgium.
Saint Amalberga of Maubeuge was a Merovingian nun and saint who lived in the 7th century.
Amalberga of Temse was a Lotharingian noblewoman from the Frankish royal house of the Pippinids who is celebrated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. She is especially venerated in Temse, Ghent, Munsterbilzen and other parts of Flanders. She received the veil from Saint Willibrord of Echternach.
Emebert was an early Bishop of Cambrai, in northern France; he is often identified with Bishop Ablebert of Cambrai.
Reineldis was a saint of the 7th century, martyred by the Huns.
Alice of Schaerbeek, was a Cistercian laysister who is venerated as the patron saint of the blind and paralyzed. Her feast day is 15 June.
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Moorsel is a village in the Denderstreek in the province East Flanders in Belgium, a deelgemeente of the city of Aalst. The village belongs to a league of neighbouring villages, which call themselves the Faluintjesgemeenten. Moorsel is the largest of the four villages with approximately 5,175 inhabitants as of 2021.
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The Archdiocese of Mechelen–Brussels is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. It is the primatial see of Belgium and the centre of the ecclesiastical province governed by the Archbishop of Mechelen–Brussels, which covers the whole of Belgium. It was formed in 1559 and the bishop has a seat in two cathedrals, St. Rumbold's Cathedral in Mechelen and the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels. The current archbishop is Luc Terlinden, who was installed in September 2023.
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