Saint Notburga of Rottenburg

In the midst of these good works, the pious virgin did not forget to work for her own salvation, following the ways of the Lord with ever-increasing fidelity, through her humility, the mastery she exercised over herself, and the fervor of her devotion.

As the highest degree of piety is deprived of its most beautiful luster when it is not accompanied by trials and sufferings, she saw herself called to traverse this path of purification as well. She lost her good masters, who passed on to a better life. Henry died before his wife. When Jutta followed him, Nothburge had been in their service for six years. Jutta, knowing the harsh and haughty character of her daughter-in-law Ottilie, who had marri ed her Ottilie Stepdaughter of Jutta, she persecuted Nothburge before repenting. son Henry, had nothing more pressing on her deathbed than to recommend to her, in the manner most likely to move her, the care she should take of the poor and needy, and the esteem she should hold for Nothburge, who was the providence of her house. Ottilie promised her dying mother-in-law everything she had asked of her with such good intentions; but soon everyone could be convinced that it was not without a particular premonition that Nothburge felt such deep sorrow at the death of the Count and his pious wife. Ottilie, having become mistress of the castle, strictly forbade Nothburge from speaking with beggars, and she was no longer permitted to give the needy the fruits of her savings. They were even ordered not to approach the castle anymore. But as it was impossible for Nothburge to entirely stifle in her heart the feelings she nurtured for the unfortunate, Ottilie conceived such great resentment against her that she eventually inspired her husband, who had been absent for some time, with prejudices against Nothburge's charity. One day he was crossing the fields on horseback on his way to the castle when he met the charitable virgin at the bottom of the outer staircase, burdened with a load she was carrying in her apron. He approached her with fury and asked her what she had there. She confessed to him, trembling, that it was a portion of her food that she had set aside. Tradition says that she was forced to open her apron for him. When, upon looking into it, he believed he saw only small wood shavings, he took her statement for a poor mockery and resolved immediately to drive her away. His wife, to whom he recounted the event, confirmed his suspicion, and Nothburge found herself forced to leave the castle at once. The pious and innocent virgin remained silent and did not utter a word of justification against the insults with which she was dismissed. She left weeping and headed toward a neighboring valley called Eben or Ebene, located in the Innthal. There she took service as a maid for a farmer. Her miserable dwelling was adjac ent Eben Place of the saint's exile in the Inn valley. to a small church dedicated to Saint Rupert saint Rupert Saint to whom the church where Nothburga prayed and was buried is dedicated. , above which the Harterberg mountain raises its peak into the clouds.

Nothburge became attached to this solitary dwelling and to the field work with which she was tasked. She became even more attached to the chapel, where she poured out her soul before the Lord as often as she could slip away, and she never forgot to include in her prayers her former masters at the castle of Rottenbourg, whom she could see from where she was. However, she had not been there long when she learned that Countess Ottilie was suffering from a very serious illness. She was permitted to come to the castle, and she received from the Countess, whose state of suffering had inspired more humility in her, permission to approach her bed. Ottilie was deeply moved by the interest Nothburge took in her ailments. She confessed to the one she had unjustly persecuted that she was a better Christian than her former mistress, whom she had come to see, with such kindness, on her bed of pain. Nothburge immediately sought to turn the conversation and lead it toward patience, toward a lively trust in divine mercy, as well as toward a sincere repentance for her sins. Ottilie died while giving visible testimonies of repentance and Christian sentiments, after having strongly recommended to her grieving husband the support of the needy, and having ordered several pious foundations.

Saint Nothburge, having returned to her rural service, continued her fervent exercises of devotion, immersing herself more and more in the contemplation of God and His good pleasure. Her piety did not escape the notice of the other inhabitants of the region; for all her words and actions visibly betrayed all that was edifying and pure in her conduct. One day, says her biographer, she was in the fields on a Saturday afternoon with her master, who was busy cutting wheat; when the bell announced the solemnity of the following day, she ceased working. However, her master desired that the harvest of this plot of land be finished that very day. The pious servant asked to be allowed to observe properly, as had been stipulated in their agreement, the rest on the eves of Sundays and feast days. But the peasant insisting that she continue to work, she cried out, raising her eyes to heaven and holding the scythe in her hand: "If the agreement I have made regarding this rest is just and praiseworthy, let this scythe bear witness to it." She withdrew her hand, and the scythe remained suspended in the air. The peasant, seized with astonishment and terror, asked the young girl for forgiveness and promised never again to force anyone to work after the ringing of the bell.

While the holy servant lived in this silent valley, Henry of Rottenburg had to endure all sorts of calamities. A bloody war having arisen between Albert, Archduke of Austria, on one side, and Otto, Duke of Bavaria, and Conrad, Prince of Salzburg, on the other, Henry of Rottenburg, along with several other knights, took the side of the Archduke. His brother Sigefroi took the side of the Duke of Bavaria; this is why Henry's goods were not spared, and his lands of Rottenburg, Tratzberg, Rettenberg, and Friedsberg were entirely devastated. Henry found himself almost reduced to beggary by his brother. The inhabitants of the country attributed all these misfortunes to the ill-treatment that he and his wife Ottilie, who had just died, had inflicted upon Nothburge and upon the poor in her person. Henry, convinced, while reflecting seriously on his current position, that these evils were but a punishment for his hardness and injustice, resolved to have this Saint return to his castle without delay, and with her the blessing of heaven and happiness. He therefore mounted his horse the next day and went to the peasant's hut. He found the maiden working in the fields. Arriving near her, he threw himself at her feet, begged her, with deep emotion, to return with him to the castle and to forgive him for what had happened. He pledged to make every effort henceforth to conform to the wish that his father and mother had expressed on their deathbed, and to treat her as his sister and his best friend. He informed her at the same time that he was about to offer his hand to the noble lady Margaret of Hoheneck. Nothburge, touched by his words, hastened to hel p Henry rise, and conf Marguerite de Hoheneck Second wife of Count Henry, protectress of the poor. essed to him, with tears in her eyes, that she had always been attached to him and his house; she therefore also consented to accompany him to the castle. All those who lived there and all the poor of the surrounding area, joyful at the return of the holy girl, had flocked to the castle. They were not disappointed in their expectations. Margaret, Henry's new wife, was as tender a mother to the poor as Nothburge. Prosperity and the blessing of heaven visibly returned to this house. Margaret gave several children to her husband. When, in 1305, Duke Meinhard died, and the following year his son Henry was elected King of Bohemia, the office of Burgrave of Tyrol, as well as the position of Master of the King's Court and Provincial Seneschal on the Etsch, were conferred upon Henry of Rottenburg.

Nothburge, still a servant and faithful in the service of God, then enjoyed several years of happiness. She devoted herself more and more to the Lord, who gave her several testimonies of His grace and mercy. Finally, she fell ill. Henry was not a little alarmed when he learned that the pious servant was afflicted with a serious illness. He hastened to her side with his wife Margaret, with his sons Henry, Gebhard, and Nicholas, and his daughters Elizabeth and Jutta. She gave the most touching exhortations to her master's children, who were so dear to her, and gave them her blessing. Provided with the holy sacraments of the dying, she expired in 1313, on the day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, at the age of forty-eight. Henry had her body taken to its final resting place in a cart drawn by oxen, under the direction of a priest from the convent of Mount Saint George, which was not far away. Tradition says that the cart crossed the Inn, and that this river parted its waters to give these animals a safe passage. They passed through the village of Innbach, climbed, skirting the Kasbach, to the church of Saint Rupert, where they brought the cart inside. The body of the Saint was buried next to the altar. Henry also had a chapel erected near the village of Innbach, where the cart had stopped. It still exists, having been restored several times. Many miracles occurred at her tomb. Above her burial place, which is marked by a white marble slab, stands a beautiful church today. The Holy See has permitted her to be honored as a Saint with public worship in the Church. Her body, very richly adorned, stands on the high altar.

She is frequently painted with a bunch of keys hanging from her belt, as a way of indicating a housekeeper. — She is also represented surrounded by children, because she took charitable care of her master's numerous family. Sometimes she is seen with a sickle in her hand or suspended in the air, to recall the event of which we have spoken in her life.

Taken from Reiss and Weis, volume XX, page 177. The life of Nothburge was written in German by Hippolyte Quarinoclus and printed in 1646. The critical notes relating to this life and the miracles performed through her intercession can be found in the Bolla Bellandistes A society of Jesuit scholars who publish the Acta Sanctorum. ndists, volume IV of September, where one can see a long series of engravings retracing, among other things, the main episodes of the Saint's life.