Dec. 16, 2011 Friday: St. Adelaide
St. Adelaide was born in 931. At the age of sixteen, this Burgundian princess was married to King Lothair. Three years later, her husband died. The ruler who is believed to have poisoned him tried to get Adelaide to marry his son. She absolutely refused. In anger, he treated her with great cruelty. He even locked her up in a castle on a lake.
Adelaide was freed when King Otto the Great of Germany conquered this ruler. Although she was twenty years younger than he, Otto married the lovely Adelaide on Christmas Day. When he took his new queen back home, the German people loved her at once. She was as gentle and gracious as she was pretty. God sent five children to the royal couple. They lived happily for twenty-two years. When Otto died, Adelaide’s oldest son became the ruler. This son, Otto II, was good, but too quick to act without thinking. He allowed his wife to turn him against his own mother, and Adelaide was forced to leave the palace. But she had not been gone long when Otto realized how much he had relied on her valuable advice. The abbot of Cluny, St. Majolus, helped the mother and son to reconcile. Adelaide met her son in Italy and the king begged her forgiveness. She in turn prayed for her son, sending offerings to the great shrine of St. Martin of Tours.
In her old age, St. Adelaide was called on to rule the country while her grandson was still a child. She started many monasteries and convents and was an example of Christian faith for the Slavic people. All her life, this saintly woman had followed the advice of holy people. She had always been willing to forgive those who had hurt her. St. Addle of Cluny called her a “marvel of beauty and grace.” She died on December 16, 999, and was proclaimed a saint by Pope Urban II in 1097.
St. Adelaide was beautiful not just because of her physical features. She was a beautiful person because she was deeply Christian and a woman who lived her Catholic values. We can strive to be Christians true to our values, just as she was.
Adelaide was freed when King Otto the Great of Germany conquered this ruler. Although she was twenty years younger than he, Otto married the lovely Adelaide on Christmas Day. When he took his new queen back home, the German people loved her at once. She was as gentle and gracious as she was pretty. God sent five children to the royal couple. They lived happily for twenty-two years. When Otto died, Adelaide’s oldest son became the ruler. This son, Otto II, was good, but too quick to act without thinking. He allowed his wife to turn him against his own mother, and Adelaide was forced to leave the palace. But she had not been gone long when Otto realized how much he had relied on her valuable advice. The abbot of Cluny, St. Majolus, helped the mother and son to reconcile. Adelaide met her son in Italy and the king begged her forgiveness. She in turn prayed for her son, sending offerings to the great shrine of St. Martin of Tours.
In her old age, St. Adelaide was called on to rule the country while her grandson was still a child. She started many monasteries and convents and was an example of Christian faith for the Slavic people. All her life, this saintly woman had followed the advice of holy people. She had always been willing to forgive those who had hurt her. St. Addle of Cluny called her a “marvel of beauty and grace.” She died on December 16, 999, and was proclaimed a saint by Pope Urban II in 1097.
St. Adelaide was beautiful not just because of her physical features. She was a beautiful person because she was deeply Christian and a woman who lived her Catholic values. We can strive to be Christians true to our values, just as she was.
