A noble virgin of the 7th century, Glossinde refused marriage and took refuge in the Church of Saint-Étienne in Metz, where she miraculously received a veil from the hands of an angel. After training in Trier, she founded a monastery in Metz for one hundred nuns, which she led with wisdom until her death at the age of thirty.
Guided reading
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SAINT GLOSSINDE OR GLOSSINNE, VIRGIN,
FOUNDRESS AND ABBESS OF THE FIRST MONASTERY OF METZ
Refusal of marriage and the miracle of the veil
Glossinde refuses a second marriage imposed by her parents and takes refuge in the church of Saint-Étienne in Metz, where she miraculously receives a veil from the hands of an angel.
... to God, finished breaking all the young virgin's ties to the world. She took advantage of this sad incident to persuade her parents that God did not destine her for marriage; but she was not listened to, and they presented her with a new suitor whom she constantly refused. Convinced by the futility of the means she had opposed to this new engagement that it would be impossible for her to elude it, she fled to Metz and took refuge in the church of Saint-Étienne, which was one of the most sacred asylums in the country. She placed herself between the altar and the confession of the holy Martyr, which contained a vial of his blood and several other precious relics. Her parents soon followed her there and forgot neither threats nor caresses to draw her from this venerated sanctuary. Respect for the right of asylum not allowing any violence to be used, they tried to force her to leave through hunger and the deprivation of all basic necessities. They kept watch day and night at the doors of the church. But the young virgin, unshakable in her resolution, remained six whole days without leaving and without taking any food, occupied solely with prayer, which she made her nourishment. On the seventh day, which was a Sunday, a man with an angelic face was seen to appear, followed by two young men of marvelous beauty. In the sight of the numerous attendees who filled the church, he approached Glossinde, who was em bracing t Glossinde Virgin and founder of a monastery in Metz in the 7th century. he altar, and covered her head with a sacred veil that he held in his hands. He then disappeared with those who accompanied him. Glossinde's parents, defeated by her perseverance and by these signs from heaven, asked her for forgiveness for so much opposition and allowed her to follow the heavenly attraction that urged her to consecrate the purity of her soul to God. Glossinde retired to Trier, to her p Trèves Birthplace of the saint. aternal aunt Rothild Rothilde Paternal aunt of Glossinde and a model of religious life. e, a virgin of great virtue, who had been at the head of a community of girls for many years. The examples of this virtuous woman, even more powerful than her advice, soon enabled her to serve as a model and guide to others. She returned to Metz, where she began to gather a community of girls who desired to follow, under her guidance, the evangelical counsels they were already practicing in their families. She asked her parents for a piece of land they owned in the city, near the Serpenoise gate, which was very suitable for the plan she had of retiring with her companions. She had a monastery built there (604), and soon found herself at the head of one hundred nuns. She governed them for six years with admirable wisdom, giving them the example of profound humility, inviolable purity of morals, perfect disinterestedness, and exact fidelity to all the duties of the spiritual life.
Formation in Trier and foundation in Metz
After being educated by her aunt Rothilde in Trier, Glossinde returned to Metz to found a monastery of one hundred nuns near the Serpenoise gate.
The Abbey of Saint-Glossinde (S. Glodesendis), of th e Order of Saint Bene Ordre de Saint-Benoît Religious order occupying the monastery of Honnecourt. dict, was originally called Saint-Pierre of Metz. It suffered greatly from the siege of this c ity by Charle Charles-Quint Emperor involved in the wars leading to the destruction of the convent. s V, and its enclosure had to be restricted. In 1739, Marguerite-Éléonore de Hottmann undertook the almost total repair of the abbey: in 1752, she laid the first stone of the current church, built on the site of the old one and today the chapel of the bishopric. This graceful monument suffered much from the vandalism of the Revolutions.
History of the abbey and its buildings
The Benedictine abbey, initially dedicated to Saint Peter, suffered the assaults of time and wars before being rebuilt in the 18th century.
God did not delay in filling the measure of graces with which He had favored our Saint; and to reward her for the pious use she made of them, He called her to Himself at the age of thirty, around the year 608.
Death and representations
The saint died at the age of thirty around 608; she is traditionally represented receiving the angelic veil.
She is represented receiving the veil from the hand of angels, while she stood by the altar to escape her family who wanted to marry her off.
Posthumous visions and translations
Twenty-five years after her death, Glossinde ordered in a dream the construction of a church. Her relics, found incorrupt, were transferred under the patronage of Sigebert II and then of Bishop Drogon.
Saint Glossinde was first buried in the church of the Apostles, as it has since been known by the name of Saint-Arnould, just as she had requested. She had been resting there for twenty-five years when she appeared in a dream to one of the nuns of her monastery: the Saint, standing on the city wall, held in her hand a stone which she threw into the countryside; she ordered the nun to observe the place where this stone would fall, and to build there a church in honor of the blessed Virgin Mary. At the same time, she indicated the spot on the rampart where a communication door would be opened between this church and the monastery.
As the abbey was under the immediate protection of the King of Austrasia, the nuns dared not undertake anything without having obtained authorization f rom Sigebert Sigiabert II King of France mentioned for historical context. II, who resided at the palace of Metz. The pious monarch welcomed their request favorably. He permitted them to have a cemetery around the new church, and to transfer the body of Saint Glossinde there. It was placed in a new tomb, on the right side of the altar, and it was then seen with admiration that it was as well preserved as the very day it had been interred. The body of Saint Glossinde remained in this state until the time of Louis the Pious. The miracles that God performed there prompted Drogo Drogon Bishop of Metz who oversaw the exhumation and translation in 830. n, then Bishop of Metz, to exhume it. He transferred it, in 830, from the church of Notre-Dame to the one that the Saint had herself built, and exposed it to public veneration in a reliquary placed behind the high altar.
This church, which bore the name of Saint Sulpice, Bishop of Bourges, subsequently took that of Sainte-Glossinde. John, Abbot of Saint-Arnould, historian of her life, reports that one saw something like an oil with a pleasant odor flow from her tomb and spread over its entire surface; one could even collect it and use it for pious purposes.
Preservation during the Revolution
The nuns saved the relics and the sacred veil during the French Revolution, allowing for their return to the chapel of the bishopric of Metz.
The Benedictine nuns of Sainte-Glossinde had the good fortune to preserve, at the time of the Revolution, the sacred relics of their holy foundress from the profanation of the impious, and, upon the restoration of worship, they returned them to the diocesan bishop, who had them exposed once again to the veneration of the faithful, in the ancient church of Sainte-Glossinde, which is today the chapel of the bishopric, where they are enclosed in a beautiful reliquary. The veil of Sain t Glossinde was long pres voile de sainte Glossinde Veil brought by an angel, symbol of her consecration. erved there, as well as the custom of carrying, in memory of the miracle of the veil, her relics from her monastery to the church of Saint-Étienne, where they were placed with great solemnity beside those of the holy deacon, martyr.
We have completed the account of Fr. Giry with the Acta Sanctorum and local notes.
Annexes & related entities
Structured data for exploration: events, miracles, quotes, places, attributes, patronages, and important entities cited in the text.
Key Events
- Refusal of marriage and flight to the Church of Saint-Étienne in Metz
- Six-day fast in the sanctuary under the care of her parents
- Miraculous reception of a sacred veil from an angel on the seventh day
- Retreat in Trier with her aunt Rothilde
- Foundation of the Saint-Pierre monastery in Metz (604)
- Governed one hundred nuns for six years
Miracles
- Apparition of a man with an angelic face who gave her a sacred veil
- Incorruptibility of the body observed 25 years after her death
- Apparition in a dream to request the construction of a church
- Fragrant oil flowing from her tomb