Saint Adelaide

Adelaide, so happy and so worthy of being so, suddenly saw her happiness disturbed. She had just given birth to a princess whom she intended to raise one day according to the same maxims to which she owed her own felicity, when, after a union of three years, her virtue was put to the cruelest test. Berengar II, Marqui s of Ivrea, Bérenger II Usurper of the throne of Italy and persecutor of Adelaide. suddenly descended upon Italy and seized Lombardy almost without a blow. Lothair wished to oppose his enemy; but the Italians, seduced by the promises of Berengar, did not support their king. Lothair, abandoned by his father, who had retired to Constantinople with his treasures, appealed to the Emperor of the East, Constantine VIII, to ask for help. This prince granted Lothair's requests and threatened Berengar with war. It appears that this step became fatal to Lothair, for he died suddenly on November 22, 950, in Turin, in the prime of life. Berengar was suspected of having caused his death. Adelaide lost her husband and her states in one day. A widow at nineteen, without protectors and without resources, she fell from the height of glory into the deepest sorrow. However, not a sigh escaped her lips; calm and resigned, she cried out with the patriarch Job: "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!" Prayer was her only resource in the dangers that surrounded her. Far from rising against the judgments of God, she adored them in silence: she lowered her brow into the dust before the supreme Arbiter of human destinies, and kissed with respect the hand that struck her. She did not cease to repeat with the same patriarch: "If we have received good at the hand of the Lord, shall we not also receive evil?" Like a rock beaten by the storms of the tempest and around which the angry waves roar in vain; so Adelaide, prey to the most poignant sorrows, maintained her tranquility and did not allow herself to be cast down by misfortune.

Full of confidence, she threw herself into the arms of her heavenly Father with her daughter Emma, abandoning herself without reserve to His tenderness. She renounced all her claims to the crown of Italy, desiring only one thing: to keep the city of Pavia that her father had given her as a dowry. But Berengar, who had foreseen this desire of the pious widow, made his solemn entry into Pavia and placed a numerous garrison there. The loss of this city shattered the hopes of Adelaide from top to bottom: she thus saw herself abandoned, and in the most cruel position, having to fear for her safety and for her virtue, and even for her life; for she knew the character of Berengar, and dreaded this ambitious, voluptuous, and brutal man.

Berengar first sought through his flatteries to subdue Adelaide, but he did not succeed: then he had recourse to threats and experienced the same resistance. He had all her jewels taken from her, all the ornaments of her dignity, and even deprived her of all communication with her daughter. Little satisfied with this first attempt at cruelty, he locked her in a fortified castle, situated near Lake Garda, leaving her only one woman to serve her, named Ingonde. Adelaide had to endure the most horrible treatment during this captivity, which lasted several months. Plunged into a dark dungeon, having barely a miserable pallet to rest her delicate limbs, dressed like a beggar, and receiving some fragments of insufficient food more in derision than in commiseration, she was condemned to drink from the chalice of tribulations, having only heaven as a witness to her sufferings. In vain did her executioners exhaust all their rage against her, in vain did they add new humiliations each day to her ever-increasing pains, they did not manage to disturb this soul so candid; they would tire of tormenting her sooner than she would tire of suffering. Adelaide knew that the life of a Christian must resemble that of Jesus Christ, "who suffered for us, leaving us his examples and inviting us to walk in his footsteps."

Offering thus her sufferings to Jesus Christ, the unfortunate victim viewed her pains only through the eyes of faith, endured them with heroic constancy and in a spirit of penance to expiate her faults. Her confidence in God and her courage grew in the midst of persecutions, and as men watered her with gall and bitterness, like the eagle that renews its youth, she took her rapid flight toward heaven and walked from virtue to virtue. Berengar, struck with stupor at the sight of such heroism, exhausted himself in vain efforts to shake her resolution; he spared neither promises nor threats; his wife seconded him in his furies; but all their arrows came to expire powerless at the feet of Adelaide, who saw in these people, led astray by passions, only the instruments of Providence, and in the punishments she suffered, only an opportunity to ensure her salvation. She prayed for her persecutors, and besought the Lord to pour out His blessings upon them and to forgive their blindness. Thus, the God of mercies did not abandon His servant. He filled her with His graces and raised her above herself.

Adelaide managed to escape from her prison and retreated to the fortress of Canossa, which was a fiefdom of the domains of Bishop Adelard of Reggio. Upon arriving at this fortress, the pious widow went to the church, threw herself at the foot of the altar, and offered to God her deep gratitude for the deliverance He had just granted her. She cast a veil of oblivion over the mistreatment she had suffered at the hands of Berengar and Willa, and sought only to appease the Lord's anger through mortifications, alms, and prayers. Fame had published the misfortunes and virtues of Adelaide everywhere. The Italians, frustrated in their hopes, bore the yoke of Berengar only with regret, and secretly solicited the princess to take up the reins of government again. But she had neither treasures nor an army to employ to reconquer her kingdom; she barely enjoyed a phantom of liberty at the castle of Canossa, from which she dared not stray for fear of falling into some trap. She therefore had recourse to the only means that remained to her, that of asking for help from Emperor Otto I. He announced to her that, yieldin g to her Othon Ier Holy Roman Emperor, brother of Bruno of Cologne. desires, he was going to set out with a numerous army to deliver the Italians from the yoke of Berengar, and that the wishes of Pope Agapetus likewise called him to restore peace to this kingdom. Adelaide, whom this news greatly rejoiced, gave herself over to joy. But this happiness was short-lived. Berengar, who had learned of Otto's plan, suddenly came to lay siege to Canossa, hoping to seize the fortress and Adelaide before the arrival of the German emperor, and to hold this princess as a hostage to obtain less harsh conditions. Otto, informed in time of this enterprise, hastened the march of his troops, and while Berengar's soldiers exhausted themselves in vain efforts to take Canossa, Otto rushed upon them and cut them to pieces.

Adelaide, delivered from the pursuits of her cowardly oppressor, thanked her generous liberator and at the same time testified to her deep gratitude to the Lord. She then thought of ways to make her people happy; but this wish was to be realized otherwise. Otto, who had seized the city of Pavia, where he had been recognized as king, had been a widower for six years. As Adelaide was then the legitimate sovereign of the kingdom of Italy, and possessed all the qualities to govern a State well, Otto believed that he would open a wider career for her zeal by placing her on the throne of Germany, and asked for her hand in marriage. Adelaide was singularly troubled by this proposal. She addressed herself with lively confidence to God, to pray that He enlighten her in this grave circumstance, not wishing to oppose His holy will. Pope Agapetus, who knew the sentiments of the pious widow, wrote to her to help her decide on this choice. After Agapit Pope who encouraged the marriage of Adelaide to Otto I. a few days spent in fasting and prayer, she announced that she was ready to yield to the emperor's desires. This news caused the greatest joy. Immediately she was taken to Pavia, where she was received with universal acclamations and with all the honors due to her rank. Otto then ordered the preparations for her marriage ceremony, which was celebrated in Milan, around Christmas, in the year 951.

Adelaide, having reached the heights of greatness once again, remained the same and manifested the highest virtues. Patient in adversity, she showed herself great and generous in prosperity, especially toward her enemies. Providence soon provided her with an occasion too memorable not to report here. Berengar had not yet been able to bend Otto, and saw himself exposed to losing his kingdom and suffering the deepest humiliations. He therefore tried to win the good graces of the emperor, and proposed to employ for this purpose the influence of that same Adelaide whom he had once treated in such a barbaric manner, but whose noble sentiments he knew. His wife Willa and his two daughters had been taken prisoner by Otto; and Adelaide had given secret orders that their captivity be made as sweet as possible. One day Willa asked for an audience with the empress, having a petition to deliver to the emperor. Adelaide immediately granted this favor to the captive. Willa presented herself in the empress's apartments in the posture of a suppliant, covered in shame, her face flooded with tears. She did not dare to raise her eyes to the one she had pursued with her furious hatred, and was about to throw herself at the princess's feet, barely finding the strength to articulate a few words in favor of her two daughters. Adelaide, touched by compassion, rose from her seat, ran to meet her, held out her hand, and reassured her. The sight of so much misfortune drew tears from her; without addressing the slightest reproach to her former persecutor, she announced to her that the past was long forgotten and forgiven, and promised to intercede for her with her husband to ensure her happiness and that of her family.

Otto, surprised and disarmed by such charity, was not insensitive to the pressing solicitations of Adelaide; he immediately summoned Berengar, and told him that he was restoring the kingdom of Italy to him, on the condition, however, that he administer these States only as a fief held from the German crown. This conduct, so noble and disinterested, finished winning all hearts to the pious empress. The peoples of Germany especially were delighted to possess a princess so distinguished by her virtues, and awaited with impatience the moment to see her among them. Otto and his wife finally left Italy in the spring of the year 952, carrying with them the regrets and esteem of all the Italians. Their journey resembled a triumph; they were received everywhere with an enthusiasm difficult to describe. The sweetness, amiability, and tenderness of Adelaide toward the poor became the object of all conversations, and were celebrated as the omen of a happy reign.

Adelaide found in the very palace of her husband a model well capable of strengthening her in goodness. Saint Matilda, mother of Emperor Otto, was then giving the court the example of those virtues so difficult to practice when one considers the obstacles that the great encounter in the fulfillment of their dut ies. Under the Sainte Mathilde Mother of Otto I and a model of virtue for Adelaide. eyes of Matilda, Adelaide advanced even more rapidly on the path of evangelical perfection. She began by establishing perfect order in her palace, exercised great supervision over all the persons attached to her service, showing herself accessible to everyone, sweet and affable toward the rich as well as toward the poor: however, she avoided useless conversations as much as possible, in order to better preserve the interior spirit. As her fortune grew, she increased her alms, and regularly provided a large sum per month for the unfortunate, the widows, and the orphans. She was in the habit of saying that it belonged especially to the rich to be merciful toward the poor to remember their common origin and their equality before God, since Jesus Christ died for emperors as well as for beggars.

This same reserve that she showed in her words, she showed in all her conduct. She banished from her court the luxury in clothing and that pomp that she could have covered with the pretext of propriety. She never wanted to wear precious stones or gold chains, preferring to shine through her virtues rather than through the borrowed brilliance of finery. The money that her husband destined for her toilette, she allocated to adorning churches, paying the debts of the unfortunate, having clothes distributed to the indigent, and procuring for them more comfortable housing and healthier and more abundant food. She wore precious clothes only on the great solemnities of religion and when her husband required it of her. In her private life, she was always dressed very modestly and in the most decent manner. She trembled at the idea of the slightest scandal she might have caused. The crown of thorns with which the brow of Jesus Christ was adorned at the moment of His passion inspired in her constant grave thoughts and caused the prestige of vanity to fall away. She would have blushed to idolize her body, destined to be reduced to dust one day, and thereby neglect the salvation of her immortal soul. To increase these happy dispositions in herself, she prayed often. Her first thought each day was for God. She attended one or more masses regularly, as her occupations permitted, often approached the tribunal of penance, and received the Bread of Angels first every eight days, and later several times a week. The eve of her communions, she observed silence as strictly as possible, communicated with the world only as much as imperative duties commanded her, and avoided all subjects of distraction. On the days when she had the happiness of participating in the holy table, she likewise shut herself in her room, then spent several hours at church, and avoided all useless conversation. The same modesty reigned in her apartments: one saw there neither sumptuous furniture nor superfluous ornaments. Paintings representing Jesus Christ in the various parts of His passion, relics of Saints encased in gold, a few books of piety—these were her treasures, these were the objects of her predilection. She sought God in everything and everywhere, and found Him everywhere. She made even the occasions that could have distracted her serve her spiritual advancement, the servant of Jesus Christ always prevailing over the empress.

The pious practices that Adelaide had imposed upon herself did not prevent her from fulfilling all her duties as a wife and mother; on the contrary, it was in the vivacity of her faith that she drew the strength necessary to discharge them with dignity. She first gave birth to two young princes, Henry and Bruno, who died in early childhood. In 955, a third son was born t o her Othon Holy Roman Emperor. , named Otto like his father, who later succeeded him in the government of his States. As she had learned from her own experience how important it was to inspire children early with the principles of solid piety, she directed all her attention to this point. Otto was barely two months old when the holy empress took him in her arms one day, carried him to the chapel, offered him to the Lord, imploring Him to pour out His graces upon him, and pronouncing with tears in her eyes these words, so beautiful on the lips of a Christian mother, that "she would willingly consent to the death of her son if she knew that he were later to become a victim of sin and the seduction of the world." As the young prince's intelligence developed, Adelaide instilled in him the idea of the duties he would one day have to fulfill as a Christian, a prince, and a father to his people. She would not build the edifice of his education on any foundation other than that of piety and virtue.

The Emperor, who professed the deepest esteem for her, never opposed her and approved of all the measures she took to succeed in this great undertaking. The pious princess's educational plan also found detractors. It was claimed that, under the pretext of watching over his innocence, Adelaide was softening her son's courage; that by constantly constraining his inclinations, she was exposing him to leaving them a freer rein later on, and that such rigorous virtue was suitable for a hermit in a desert, but not for a prince. However, Adelaide did not waver. She knew the abuses of a secular education too well to retreat before chimerical difficulties. She enlisted Saint Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne and brother of Otto I, as well as Abbot Gerbert. Aided by the insights of such men, one of whom enjoyed the highest reputation for learning and the other for the brilliance of his holiness, Adelaide continued the work she had so happily begun. Night and day she caused the incense of her prayers to rise to heaven for this child so dear to her tenderness, and implored the Lord to make him a king after His own heart. She almost never lost sight of him, shutting herself up with him while he devoted himself to his studies, and imposing painful privations upon herself in this regard; but nothing was too much for her maternal love; she thought of the good that would one day result for the peoples from such wise guidance. To the lessons of skilled masters, she added her own reflections, and above all inspired in young Otto the greatest submission to the Catholic Church, often reminding him of its heavenly origin, its triumphs over the errors of paganism, and the immense services it had rendered to the world and was still rendering every day. She often took him with her when she visited the poor, not only to make him attentive to the miseries of his neighbor, but to give birth in his soul to feelings of gratitude toward the Lord, who showered him with so many blessings.

Adelaide seized every opportunity to lead her son toward the good, to inspire in him the fear of God and the hatred of sin: she knew how to forgive his age, without ever legitimizing by soft condescension the outbursts of her child's temper. "One must bend the tree while it is young," she often said, "later it would no longer be time." She never followed the first impulse to inflict punishment on Otto, deferring the task of correcting him until she was calmer; but then she displayed severity, remembering these words of Solomon: "He who spares the rod for his unruly son hates his child; but he who loves him chastises him." Regarding Otto's education as her primary duty, she had recourse to all the means that prudence suggested to her; giving him, but with great reserve, praise when he deserved it, without however ever flattering him, for fear of providing fuel for pride. When she encountered some grave difficulty in this arduous undertaking, she imposed extraordinary penances upon herself, awaiting only from heaven the necessary help to triumph over it. She had organized her household so well that her son found no one to approve of him when he had committed a serious fault; everyone then showed him a severe face, all eyes fled from him and seemed to reproach him for his guilt. It is thus that the pious mother devoted herself for several years, with the most touching solicitude, to the most meritorious work of her son's education, without her zeal faltering for an instant; and if her care was not crowned with all the success she could have expected from it, at least she had no reproaches to make to herself.

Saint Adelaide had experienced very strong contradictions in Italy; Providence permitted that she should not be spared any more in Germany. She had to, as a stepmother, set the example of that generosity which is so rare because it is so difficult to practice. Emperor Otto had had a son named Luidolf from his first wife Editha, for whom Adelaide was obliged to take responsibility. Luidolf had a violent and proud character; his pride and ambition grew with age. His father named him Duke of Swabia and the Rhenish lands. The birth of young Otto, and the fear of one day being deprived of his right to the succession of the empire, wounded so deeply this heart ravaged by passions that the son of Editha revolted against his father with Arnulf, Duke of Bavaria, and Conrad, Duke of Lorraine. In vain had Otto sought to inspire in Luidolf respect and love for Adelaide, by making him aware of the great qualities of this most estimable woman, qualities that Italy and Germany then vied with each other in praising. In vain had the empress herself undertaken to win over this rebellious son by her kindness and her benefits; everything was useless: Luidolf could not resolve to love his stepmother, and did not blush to league against his father in an attempt to dethrone him. But the Emperor was not a man to suffer such an attack; he gathered his army and marched against the ungrateful and rebellious son.

At this terrible news, Adelaide used everything to prevent this war; but the Emperor remained inflexible. She had offered to renounce the throne and to shut herself up in a monastery, hoping by these concessions to remove all difficulties. Seeing finally that all her efforts were useless, she bade farewell to her husband with tears in her eyes, and recommended to him, as she left him, to spare Luidolf. The latter was taken prisoner at Regensburg; but the Emperor, not wishing to decide the fate of the young prince himself, assembled a war council to pronounce upon the punishment he deserved.

No sooner had Adelaide learned what was at stake than she addressed a petition to her husband, imploring him to forgive Luidolf. This grace was not granted to her. Without losing courage, she interested in this affair several men distinguished by their merit, among others Saint Ulrich, Bishop of Augsburg, who went to find Otto with Harbert, Bishop of Chur, and asked him for the pardon of Luidolf. The Emperor received the prelates with kindness, but would hear nothing of it. Adelaide was not content to intercede for him with Otto; she even sent him help in secret. She went further; she threw herself one day at the feet of the Emperor and offered to expiate the punishment of the guilty young prince herself. This generosity touched Otto to tears; he raised his wife, showered her with praise, but did not yield to her pressing solicitations. Adelaide did not let herself be discouraged, and prayed Saint Ulrich to make one last effort to bring about this reconciliation so desired between father and son. She redoubled her prayers and good works, omitted nothing that could be capable of bending the Emperor's anger, and had the happiness of seeing them reconciled some time later. Adelaide regarded this day as one of the most beautiful of her life: she did not cease to thank the Lord for having restored peace in her family. She used the same generosity toward Alassia, who, during the widowhood of her father, Emperor Otto, had fallen into deplorable errors, had fled from the paternal home, and taken refuge in Liguria, where she had hidden herself. Otto, informed of her flight, had given strict orders to arrest her; but she had taken her measures so well that it was impossible to discover the place of her retreat. Some time later, Alassia recognized her wrongs and came to her senses. She would have wished to recover her father's good graces and return to the palace; but she did not dare to address herself directly to Otto, whom she had so cruelly offended. Counting on the kindness of Adelaide, whom she had never seen, but whose virtue everyone proclaimed, she sent a respectful petition to the empress, imploring her to take up her defense with the Emperor, and to obtain for her, through her influence, a return to her family. Adelaide, who had learned in the school of our holy Scriptures that one must not quench the smoking wick nor break the reed that bends under the violence of the wind, went immediately toward her husband's apartments, told him, with a smile on her lips, that she had a very pleasant piece of news to tell him: that a lost sheep was asking to return to the fold and to throw itself like another prodigal into the arms of paternal mercy, to confess its faults and say to him: "My father! I have sinned against heaven and against you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your daughter." Adelaide accompanied this step with so many demonstrations of love, and put so much candor into this request, that she disarmed the Emperor's wrath, obtained the recall of Alassia, and had the consolation of seeing her stepdaughter expiate, in the tears of sincere repentance, faults that were too disastrous. The pious empress carried her generosity further, and engaged Otto to cede to his daughter the Marquisate of Montferrat with all the rights and domains that depended on it.

After the death of Luidolf, Adelaide applied herself with renewed zeal to making her son Otto a prince worthy of one day commanding peoples. Her husband, who knew her wisdom and the breadth of her vision, entrusted her with a portion of the administration and associated her with the labors of the empire. He even named her regent during a new campaign he was obliged to undertake in Italy. Adelaide founded several religious establishments, especially in Magdeburg. In 977, she showed her generosity toward the priory of Saint-Pierre in Colmar, in Alsace, whose revenues she considerably increased, and which she placed under the abbey of Payerne, located in the Vaud region. The monastery of Payerne had been founded by Bertha, her mother. But another monument to her pious munificence toward Alsace was the erection of a noble m onast Seitz Site of the foundation of a monastery and place of the saint's death. ery in Seltz, on the borders of that province and near the Rhine, which she richly endowed and gave in 987 to the Order of Saint Ordre de Saint-Benoît Religious order occupying the monastery of Honnecourt. Benedict. This monastery was dedicated to the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and subsequently acquired such celebrity that the abbot became a prince of the empire.

Adelaide had chosen as her spiritual director Saint Adalbert, who was made the first archbishop of Magdeburg around the year 970. Under such a guide, Adelaide was bound to make rapid progress in perfection. She lived only for God, and increasingly enlivened all her actions with piety. Emperor Otto, obliged to return to Italy, associated his son Otto II with the government of his states. Adelaide was to accompany him. Before leaving, the holy empress called the young prince into her apartments, presented him with the crucifix, and once again explained to him the duties of a monarch toward his people. She reminded him of the terrible responsibility that would weigh upon him if he had the misfortune to act against justice and against the interests of the nations entrusted to his father's scepter. Berengar was defeated in a bloody battle, taken prisoner with his wife and his two daughters, Gisela and Gerberga, and sent into exile in Bamberg. Adelaide carried her generosity so far as to call the two daughters of her former persecutor to the court: there she showered them with kindness and lightened the weight of the affliction that overwhelmed them with a thousand attentions. Furthermore, she applied herself with all her strength to repairing public misfortunes. She made immense gifts to the churches, and did not forget, above all, Monte Cassino, where the fervent disciples of Saint Benedict were then giving the example of the highest virtues. Her faith found vast nourishment at the sight of the monuments that Italy presents with such pride to the admiration of the faithful. Her passage was marked everywhere by the numerous benefits she bestowed.

Emperor Otto II, who had succeeded his father, had recognized the great qualities of Adelaide and had promised himself to follow her advice in all things and to associate her with the cares of the empire. His age, his inexperience, filial love, and the memory of his father made it a duty for him, and he showed himself very docile toward her in the beginning. Adelaide composed her council of devoted, capable, and upright men: she herself often attended the deliberations and gave to affairs that firm and wise impulse which turned entirely to the good of the State. The people applauded and hoped to see the continuation of the reign of Otto I, whose memory still lived in all hearts. But these hopes soon vanished. Some courtiers, jealous of Adelaide's authority, undertook to break the union that reigned between mother and son, and made the young monarch believe that Adelaide was dissipating the goods of the State through her prodigality toward the poor and the churches, and that it was urgent to put an end to such ruinous expenses. At the head of the discontented was Theophanu, the wi fe of the Théophanie Wife of Otto II and rival of Adelaide. young Otto. This woman, whose pride was wounded by the preponderance and credit of Adelaide, persuaded her husband that he was wrong to let himself be governed by his mother; that it was in his interest to hold the reins of affairs himself; that the people would only respect him when he was emperor in fact and not only in name, and that he must finally set limits to Adelaide's authority to show himself worthy of commanding.

Otto lent an ear to the suggestions of his wife, and, jealous of regaining the power that had been depicted to him in such seductive colors, he first showed indifference to his mother, no longer called her to the council, and no longer spoke to her of affairs. Little by little, he forgot both the advice of his dying father and the wise lessons of his worthy mother; and, opening his heart to the slanders that his wife and the courtiers did not cease to repeat against Adelaide, he appeared to tolerate her in his palace only with regret, and overwhelmed her with disgust. Soon everything changed for the holy widow, who was mistreated in every way, without her being able to understand what had caused her misfortune. She was all the more sensitive to this ill-treatment because she loved her son tenderly and feared that he would let himself be led into evil and follow the inclinations of his heart. If she had been the only victim that this storm could reach, she would have willingly submitted to even harsher trials, but the fate of the people touched her too deeply for her not to be moved at the thought of the consequences of such a wandering. She did in this painful circumstance what every Christian mother should do; she addressed herself to Him who holds the hearts of kings in His hands and directs them as He pleases. She sent up fervent prayers to heaven for this ungrateful and fickle son, suffered her woes in patience, and avoided by her conduct providing her enemies with the slightest pretext to molest her.

However, Theophanu, furious to see Adelaide oppose her clamors with nothing but silence and contempt, could no longer contain herself and openly persecuted her mother-in-law. Several faithful servants, touched by the fate of the widow of their former master, sought to lighten the weight of her sorrows with their attentions; but this was a very weak solace for a heart broken by the most violent griefs. Adelaide expressed her gratitude to them and continued to suffer for God. She blamed only herself and attributed the persecutions she endured to her sins. Redoubling her austerities, she hoped thereby to appease the anger of the Lord; but the moment of her triumph had not yet arrived. Seeing that her presence displeased the court and that her son, far from protecting her, joined her adversaries all too often, she decided to withdraw and leave the States of the German Empire. She requested an audience with Otto, who received her with cold politeness, announced her plan to him, and bade him the most touching farewells. The young monarch did not oppose her departure and saw her leave without regret—she who had given him birth and had raised him with such wisdom. But Germany clothed itself in mourning and wept for Adelaide as a mother and as the firmest support of the empire. She went to find her brother Conrad, King of Burgundy, who came to meet her as far as the borders of his kingdom. Adelaide settled at the castle of Orbe, in the Vaud region, where she had the opportunity to see Saint Odilo, Abbot of Cluny. In this retreat, she lived in peace. She never compla saint Odilon Abbot of Cluny and biographer of Saint Adelaide. ined of the ingratitude of her son, upon whom she had lavished so much care; God alone knew her pains. Christian vigilance, fasting, prayer, mortifications, and all kinds of good works were her occupations and provided her with powerful consolations.

Emperor Otto was preparing to launch an expedition into Sicily when a violent illness overtook him in Rome and took him from this world at the age of twenty-nine. This sudden death plunged Adelaide into mourning; she found solace for her grief only in religion. Her son Otto III was recog nized by Othon III Holy Roman Emperor. the States of Germany; but as his age did not yet allow him to govern, Adelaide believed it was her duty to lend him her support, even though she foresaw the troubles that this participation in affairs would bring her. And, indeed, Theophanu, who had surrounded herself with several courtiers she had brought from Constantinople, caused her difficulties every day to discourage her and make her leave; but the pious princess, docile to the voice of God, who warned her not to abandon the young monarch, preferred to suffer rather than yield. In the midst of her sorrows, she said: "The hand of God strikes me to heal me of my weaknesses, especially of my self-love and the vanity of the world." The life of our Saint was a perpetual martyrdom; for whoever knows what a jealous, ambitious woman, guided by her pride and dominated by the spirit of the world, is capable of, will easily get an idea of the torments that pursued at every step the one whose motto was: "To suffer and to be silent." But the more men seemed to pour disdain and ingratitude upon her, the more the Lord compensated her with His favors for the injustice of the world. After prayer and the frequenting of the sacraments, Adelaide had recourse, as in the past, to the reading of our holy books, to steel herself against the persecutions of which she was the object. Finally, God put an end to her sufferings by taking her persecutor from this world, and all of Germany saw a punishment from heaven in this premature death.

The death of Theophanu had delivered Adelaide from her cruelest enemy; but far from rejoicing at this catastrophe, the holy princess gave her sincere tears. She would have needed rest, and even thought seriously of retiring from affairs to devote herself solely to her salvation; but the empire demanded her help more than ever. She therefore decided to remain at court, thus giving an example to those whose state calls them into the midst of the world, that one can be sanctified in all social positions as soon as one wishes to live there in a Christian manner, and not lose sight of the heavenly homeland, while devoting oneself to the good of one's earthly homeland. Otto III, her grandson, had not yet reached the age to direct the government of his vast States by himself. He begged his holy grandmother not to abandon him, and to assist him with her insights and experience. The nobles and princes set aside their prejudices against her, and solicited her cooperation and participation in affairs. Adelaide could not remain insensitive to wishes so generally expressed, and bowed her head under the yoke that necessity imposed upon her. She was there like an unshakable rock around which the waves of human passions agitated in vain; she had seen three thrones and reminded the Germans of the flourishing state of the empire under Otto I, her husband. The knowledge she had acquired of men and events provided her with the means to repair the faults committed by Theophanu; she began her new political career with various changes that she introduced into the different branches of the administration. Although she then had the power to take revenge on her enemies, she did the exact opposite, and granted them her protection, acting, as Saint Odilo, her historian, reports, according to the maxims of the Gospel, and returning good for evil.

Adelaide had become more powerful than ever, but she regarded her elevation only as a burden. She was accustomed to saying that the life of the great was only a continual agitation, a mixture of fears, hopes, terrors, and disgrace, and that the happiness it promises is only an illusion. Penetrated by the importance of her duties, she applied herself to rendering prompt and good justice to everyone, without distinction of rank or condition. When she was obliged to display severity, she always tempered her orders with all the mitigations that were in her power; she used long periods of restraint before coming to execution. Even those whom the sword of justice struck recognized the goodness of her soul and published her impartiality and clemency. She entrusted the direction of the provinces only to men of integrity with whom she corresponded often. She frequently represented to herself the terrible account she would one day render to the supreme Judge, and devoted several days per month to examining her public and private conduct. She often attended the instructions of the Church and received holy communion in the midst of the other faithful, whom her example singularly edified. In her moments of leisure, she made priestly vestments, which she then distributed to monasteries and poor parishes. The city of Magdeburg was indebted to her for several institutions; she likewise had the choir of the Augsburg cathedral embellished, which Saint Ulrich had left incomplete. The conversion of infidel peoples was always the object of her solicitude, and she recoiled before no expense to bring into the fold of Jesus Christ those whom error still kept far from the truth.

Emperor Otto III, having reached the age of majority, also showed some hostile dispositions toward his holy grandmother; but he did not go so far as to persecute her openly. This cooling of relations and various other circumstances determined Adelaide to leave her grandson's court forever and to retire to Burgundy to live in solitude. Otto did not at first want to consent to her departure, but he finally yielded to the repeated entreaties of his grandmother. Adelaide gave him advice, and made him feel, in their last interview, how important it was for him to treat his people with gentleness, so as not to risk seeing a renewal of the scenes of desolation that had so strongly shaken the country under Otto II. The prince promised her he would follow advice whose wisdom he recognized, gave her considerable gifts, and let her depart.

The journey of our Saint resembled a triumph. The people had such great veneration for her that they crowded everywhere along her path, considering themselves happy when they could touch her hand or possess something that had belonged to her. She visited all the monasteries she encountered, leaving marks of her generosity everywhere and giving the most touching examples of piety. The Abbey of Cluny was not forgotten, and the princess spent moments there that were delightful for her soul, in conversations with Saint Odilo, who taught her to know more particularly the high virtues of this humble servant of God. But Adelaide preferred to stay in religious communities of women, which she called her hotels. She constantly pushed away the honors that people wanted to render her, saying she should no longer remember what she had been in the world except to lament her imperfections and her numerous infidelities. She envied more than ever the happiness of the chaste spouses of Jesus Christ, who spent their days in retreat and peace, while her own life had been like a stormy sea. The princes of the lands she traversed sought in vain under a thousand pretexts to detain her; Adelaide knew how to delicately evade their eagerness and continued her pious pilgrimage. When she arrived at the borders of France, her daughter Emma, accompanied by King Louis her son, came to meet her and pressed her to settle in Paris; but she first wanted to fulfill another duty. She went to Geneva, where the faithful then venerated the tomb of the martyr Saint Victor. There she performed her devotions and left rich gifts. From Geneva she went to the Abbey of Saint-Maurice in the Valais, to venerate the relics of that generous athlete who suffered martyrdom in that region with the Theban Legion. She placed her grandson Otto III under the special protection of Saint Maurice, and after distributing alms to the poor and making magnificent donations to this famous church founded by Saint Sigismund, King of Burgundy, she took with her earth from the tombs of the martyrs, in order to honor the memory of these great men and to have a greater share in their favors.

The King of Burgundy, Rudolph III, and his brother Boso, nephews of Adelaide, had not been able to agree on the division of their states and were on the point of settling their quarrel by the fate of arms. The pious princess, who trembled at the thought of even the most just war, no sooner learned that the two brothers were making preparations to fight each other than she went to them to address severe reprimands to them. She depicted to them with such warmth the scandal they were about to give to the world, and retraced for them with such energy the evils that war brings in its wake, holding them responsible for them, that she managed to chain their fury. The ascendancy of her virtues and the reputation for holiness she enjoyed made more of an impression than the reasons of sound politics she could have invoked. This triumph, which she won over two men who had sworn an implacable hatred, turned entirely to her glory and added further to the high opinion held of her. Thus Adelaide did not cease to do good, and showed until her last moment the most tender attachment to the cause of religion and humanity.

The sorrows Adelaide had experienced undermined her health insensibly and led her slowly to the tomb. Saint Odilo had announced to her, in his last interview with her, that the end of her pilgrimage was not far off: Adelaide received this prediction as a warning from heaven, and prepared herself with even greater fervor to appear before the Lord. "I burn with the desire to see the bonds of my body broken to be reunited with Jesus Christ," she would sometimes cry out. "Death can strike, the victim is ready." Animated by the liveliest confidence in the mercies of God, she went to Alsace. She visited the priory of Colmar on her way, and went from there to Seltz, where she settled in a house located outside the enclosure of the cloistral buildings inhabited by the Benedictines. She soon became an edification to the fervent disciples of Saint Benedict. But she did not long enjoy the tranquility she had found in this pious solitude: an acute illness kept her in bed after a short stay. All human means were employed to prolong the existence of the one who was so dear to all hearts; they even flattered themselves with some hope of saving her; but Adelaide did not delude herself: she recognized in this grave infirmity the call of the Lord, and, submissive to his will, she awaited the day of his promises: even at the height of her illness, she did not relax any of her austerities; her sacrifice had to be perfect.

After distributing to the poor the little that still remained to her, she made several donations in favor of the monasteries of Cluny, Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, and the metropolis of Saint-Martin of Tours, to obtain after her death the help of the prayers of the fervent religious and priests of these churches. She then received with angelic piety the Holy Viaticum and Extreme Unction, and commended her soul to God; then, pressing the image of Jesus Christ against her heart, she did not cease to invoke him. She said to those present: "Ah! I have lived a long time when I count the years of my existence; but when I count the virtues I have practiced, I have lived only an instant. It is a miracle of the mercy of God to have suffered for so long on earth a useless plant like me. The Lord has taken away a great number, in their youth, who, if they had lived, would have borne abundant fruit, while I am only a sterile tree. I should render eternal thanks to Jesus Christ for the innumerable benefits with which he has showered me; I thank him above all for having preserved me from the danger of the pleasures of the world, to which my rank seemed to invite me. Where would my soul be if I had sought to satisfy all my desires? It took iron chains to restrain my heart; I die consequently more tranquil than I dared to hope, I die more content than I thought. I believed at the time I would die in a desert, and here I find myself as if in a palace. How many of those who desired my death have died before me! May the Lord forgive them as I forgive them myself, and then we will all find ourselves together in heaven. I leave the world with pleasure, for I have been separated from it for a long time."

Seeing her last moment approaching, she blessed her faithful servants, and had word sent to her grandson Otto III that she also gave him her blessing. She then asked the abbot of the monastery to recite with her the Penitential Psalms and the Litanies of all the Saints. It was in the midst of these prayers that her beautiful soul flew to heaven during the night of December 16 to 17 of the year 999, at the age of sixty-nine. Her body was deposited with solemnity in the church of the monastery of Seltz; a portion of her relics is preserved in a magnificent reliquary in the treasury of Hanover.

Striking miracles attested to the holiness of this illustrious princess; the blind recovered their sight, the paralyzed the use of their limbs, the sick a perfect healing near her tomb. Saint Odilo, in agreement on this point with secu Seltz Site of the foundation of a monastery and place of the saint's death. lar historians, proclaimed Adelaide a great Saint; the cult that has been rendered to her in Alsace and in several regions of Germany is very ancient.

She is represented: 1st standing, having bread distributed to the poor, while she prays before a crucifix; 2nd escaping by boat from the fort where she had been imprisoned; 3rd with a crown at her feet, to show that she knew how to despise the grandeurs of the world; 4th with a church in her hand, as a founder of religious establishments.

Excerpt from the Life of Saint Adelaide, by Father Hunckler. — Cf. History of the Saints of Alsace, by the same.