Saint Adeltrude of Maubeuge

She had no difficulty in leading the young Adeltrude into the sublime paths of perfection, to which it seemed manifest that God was calling her. Occupied solely with the desire to please Jesus Christ, and to consecrate all her affections and thoughts to Him, she grew in wisdom and grace, and tasted an ineffable happiness in the fulfillment of the duties that were imposed upon her. Nothing seemed painful to her fervor, and, far from accepting the alleviations that her young age demanded, she seemed, on the contrary, to want to impose upon herself new burdens and greater fatigues.

But as much as her love for God was vivid and ardent, so much did her charity toward her neighbor make her attentive to all their needs. This sweet sensitivity for the sick and the poor, which she had imbibed with her mother's milk, nourished and maintained in the midst of her family, seemed to increase in her with age, and each time that circumstances permitted, she applied herself to giving testimony of it. Her companions especially felt the effects of this continual benevolence with which her soul was filled, and she rendered to them all, with a humility and modesty that further enhanced their value, all the services of the most delicate thoughtfulness. Thus, the young servant of Jesus Christ was cherished by her sisters, whom she edified by the continual and admirable examples of her virtues.

Among all those that shone in her, one noticed above all her obedience; this virtue, which is as the foundation of religious life, had always had many attractions for her, and Saint Aldegonde, for her part, had taken particular care to exercise her in it. Perhaps it was to reward her for her efforts, and to give at the same time an example to her companions, that God permitted in her favor one of those events in which are revealed all His goodness and the amiable familiarity with which He sometimes acts in the midst of holy souls.

One day, therefore, the biographer reports, Saint Adeltrude was tasked by Saint Aldegonde, her aunt, with collecting pieces of wax that had come loose, which were to be used for the service of the altar. Following the order she had been given, she placed them with others in a vessel exposed to the fire. But the flame of the hearth soon became so intense that the melted and boiling wax escaped on all sides, and increased its activity even further. The young virgin then, without fearing the inevitable accident to which she was exposing herself, boldly rushed toward the fire and removed the vessel without feeling the slightest harm.

This perfect obedience of Saint Adeltrude, and all the other virtues with which her soul was adorned, were rewarded even here below by angelic visions and revelations that filled her with ineffable consolations. One day, one of her nuns saw at the corner of the altar the apostle Saint Peter, who was smiling and saying to her: "Courage, Adeltrude, I will keep you, you and your daughters, in the peace of the Lord."

Chosen to lead, after the death of her aunt, the already significant community of Maubeuge, she discharged this duty with a wisdom and prudence of conduct that could not be sufficiently admired. All the holy daughters who served the Lord there obeyed her with joy and continued to make rapid progress in perfection; so much so that it was believed that Saint Aldegonde was being lost a second time when, twelve years later (696), the blessed Adel trude went to join her bienheureuse Adeltrude Abbess of Maubeuge in the 7th century. in the heavens. Towards the end of her life, another nun had seen bright stars rising and descending over the cell of the holy abbess, then the celestial Virgin who seemed to invite her to the wedding of her divine Son.

The memory of this holy abbess was preciously preserved in the nascent abbey that she had so long built up by her spirit of faith and religion, and her feast was celebrated there each year, on the 25th of February, with great solemnity. Her name, inseparable from that of the illustrious patroness of Maubeuge, is still dear today to the pious inhabitants, who have faithfully preserved the ancient traditions left by their ancestors.

Formerly, one could see in this city an ancient painting representing Saint Adeltrude and Saint Aldegonde, with the white veil, a violet mantle strewn with flowers, and a red robe covered by a white tunic.

In his great work on religious Orders, Hélyot provides a drawing of a h Hélyot Historian of religious orders cited as a source. abit such as the abbesses of Maubeuge wore in the past; it does not appear to differ much from the one we have just noted. This drawing, he says, is found in an ancient manuscript of the Abbey of Saint-Amand; it consisted of a dark white veil, a violet mantle strewn with flowers, a red robe trimmed with miniver, falling to mid-calf, under which there was another white one, which descended to the heels. Regarding the mantle, he continues, Father Mabillon believes that the flowers with which it is strewn are the inve ntion of th P. Mabillon Benedictine monk and historian, author of the Annales benedictinae. e painter.

See the Dict. des ord. relig. art. Nicelles. Migne edition.

-- SAINT AVERTAN SAINT AVERTAN Fourteenth-century Carmelite religious from Limoges. , CARMELITE RELIGIOUS (14th century).

Here is a flower of Carmel.

Avertan was born i Limoges Possible birthplace of the saint and origin of the woman who received the miracle. n Limoges to parents who transmitted to him something more precious than the earthly goods they lacked: the fear of God, a sincere love for the good, and a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin.

At an early age, he had the thought of offering himself as a victim to God: he prayed, he fasted to obtain from heaven the knowledge of his vocation. His perseverance was rewarded. Heaven sent an angel to manifest His will to him: Carmel was, in the designs of God, destined to sanctify Avertan.

The holy young man did not lose time: he went to the Carmelites of Limoges, and no sooner ha Carmes de Limoges Religious order to which the cited blesseds belong. d he donned the livery of the Order than the Lord favored him with frequent ecstatic raptures.

His conduct was in harmony with these extraordinary graces: he fulfilled the orders of his superiors with such joy and promptness that his brothers soon called him nothing but the son of obedience.

He had set before himself as models Jesus Christ and the prophet Elijah, the founder of his Order, in the practice of poverty: he would have believed it an imperfection not only to touch, but even to name money. He went further: he carefully averted his gaze from this metal which is the instrument of the ruin of so many souls.

He spent entire days in the exercise of contemplation, without thinking of the needs of the body. He was then so absorbed in God that it was difficult to recall him to the awareness of external things.

The eve of certain feasts of the year, he imposed upon himself the task of climbing on his knees, during the night, the hills neighboring the monastery: during this exercise, he prayed, wept, and struck his chest with a stone until he bruised it: he did not return to the convent until dawn.

Heaven had inspired in him the desire to make a pilgrimage to the holy places. The superiors, acceding to the fulfillment of this desire, gave him Brother Romeo as a traveling companion: they departed after All Saints' Day for Italy. After crossing the Alps, whose passage was made difficult by cold, rain, and snow, they saw the gates of all the cities close before them, because of the plague that was wreaking havoc on the Peninsula.

Avertan arrived in Lucca exhausted from fatigue and deat hly ill Lucques City in Italy where Saint Zita lived and died. . He was received out of charity at the Saint Peter hospital located on the ramparts. There he struggled for some time against the illness that was undermining him. Finally, one day Our Lord, accompanied by his divine Mother and numerous legions of angels, came to warn him to prepare for the final journey: he received the sacraments of the dying and ended a beautiful life with an even more beautiful death. The miracles that occurred before his body had barely cooled determined the people of Lucca to give him a magnificent funeral. From the hospital church where he was first buried, his body was later carried in procession to the main church of the city, along with that of Saint Romeo who had died shortly after.

What remains here below of the two friends is enclosed in the same tomb and receives the same honors. Saint Romeo, whose office the Carmelite religious celebrate on March 4, was Italian by birth.

Breviary of the Discalced Carmelites.