Blessed Oda

Blessed Oda grew in age and wisdom before God and men. She was the edification of all who saw her, the consolation and happiness of her parents, who were already forming the most beautiful plans for their beloved daughter's future. But thoughts very different from theirs filled the mind of the young virgin at that moment, who felt within herself an ever-increasing attraction to the religious life. With that ingenuous confidence often found in upright souls stirred by an ardent desire, Oda communicated her plan to a relative. She begged him at the same time to help her realize it, and solicited from him a request to the abbot of the monastery of Bonne-Espérance, that he might consent to give her the veil of virgins.

The relative to whom Oda had confided did not meet her expectations; on the contrary, he hastened to warn Wibert and Thesceline so that they might take, as soon as possible, the measures that would hinder their daughter's plan and cause it to fail. Thus, at the moment when the young virgin was rejoicing at the thought that, in a few days, she would be able to leave the world to go and consecrate herself entirely to her God in some solitude, everything that was to become an obstacle to the realization of her vows was being prepared. Indeed, it was soon agreed, by the counsel of the relatives who were secretly consulted, that they would seek to engage her in the bonds of marriage before long. This intention was skillfully manifested in the principal families of the country, and several young lords presented themselves to obtain the hand of young Oda. One of them, called

Simon, having been welcomed by Wibert and his wife, engagements were made Simon Abbot who organized the furtive translation of the relics. and accepted on both sides. The very day on which this alliance was to be celebrated was fixed according to the wishes of the young knight.

Such a deep secret had been kept throughout this affair that Oda, always persuaded that her relative was occupied with the project she had communicated to him and was working to make it succeed, had guessed nothing of what was happening around her. Her parents themselves, who no doubt feared an opposition that they absolutely wanted to overcome, had not confided in her until then; thus her surprise was extreme when she learned that they had resolved to give her a husband, and that they had fixed their choice on Simon, a young lord of noble family.

Grace did not fail the blessed Oda in the trial in which she found herself engaged. The faithful correspondence she brought to it rendered her victorious in this heroic struggle between virginity and the natural affection of parents. However, it was not without violent efforts. After the first moment of surprise and pain caused by this strange and unexpected communication, the young Virgin gathered herself within to consult the spirit of God who had inspired her design, and from whom she awaited the courage and strength necessary to accomplish it. In the light of faith, she understood that one must often pass through contradictions, temptations, and sufferings to be able to accomplish the will of God for us; that He permits these oppositions of nature and earthly affections in order to test the virtue of faithful souls and to make their sacrifice more meritorious in His eyes, and that, finally, He never refuses victory to those who, in these battles of the flesh against the spirit, know, like the Prophet, how to lift their eyes toward heaven and call upon it for help, light, and strength.

These consoling thoughts had brought calm back into the soul of the young and virtuous Oda. Abandoning herself entirely to the spirit of God who directed her, she saw approaching without fear the moment when she would have to manifest openly her feelings and the energetic resolutions of her will. In the meantime, she did not cease, day and night, to address fervent prayers to God, so that it might please Him to give His humble servant victory in the struggle that was about to begin. Already, in fact, the preparations for the wedding, to which they wished to give great magnificence, were beginning before her eyes. Alone and tranquil in the midst of this general movement of all that surrounded her, the young virgin seemed not even to worry about this display deployed for a ceremony in which she was firmly resolved to take no part. Her parents could not help but notice this calm and reflective demeanor of their daughter, and they seemed to want to deceive themselves regarding the motives that could determine it. After the declaration Oda had made of her desire to consecrate herself to Jesus Christ, after the feeling of painful surprise she could not restrain at the moment they spoke to her of her future union with the young Simon, it was hardly possible that they were without anxiety regarding the dispositions of their daughter and a determination that everything about her made them foresee. It was perhaps in order to completely conceal these apprehensions that Wibert, on the very eve of the wedding day, wanted to let his daughter understand that the moment to realize this project was still far off. However, the next morning, the young knight Simon was seen arriving at the castle of Oda's father, accompanied by a large procession of relatives and allies invited to the feast. The heart of the young virgin was extremely moved while seeing all that was happening before her eyes: she then renewed her generous resolution to live in perfect chastity for the love of Jesus Christ, and awaited without fear what was to come.

A few moments later, her parents came to invite her to go to the chapel for the ceremony of her marriage: Oda obeyed immediately. Already the young Simon had declared to the priest who questioned him that he took Oda for his legitimate wife; she had to answer in her turn to the same question. The sacred minister proposed it to her; the request was addressed to her again, and Oda remained silent. A lady then, detaching herself from the crowd of spectators, approached the young girl whom she knew very well and urged her not to listen to a false modesty that closed her mouth in such a solemn circumstance, and to answer calmly the question the priest was asking her. Oda then taking the floor expressed herself in these terms: "Since you seek with such solicitude if I am disposed to accept this young lord as a husband, know that I do not wish to accept him nor any other, for my love and my faith are engaged to Jesus Christ, to whom, from my earliest years, I have consecrated my virginity. Nothing will ever be able to separate me from His favors, neither the love of any creature, nor threats, nor anything else whatsoever."

At these words, all those present were filled with surprise and sadness. Young Simon, the first to leave, hurried away, mounted his horse, and returned full of anger to his father's castle. Several approached Oda, reproached her for her conduct, and strove to persuade her to take the husband her parents had chosen for her. The soul of the virtuous young girl was prey to the keenest pain at seeing the turmoil into which her relatives and family friends were thrown; but the vividness of her faith enabled her to endure this most painful trial and gave her the courage to remain faithful to her resolution. She withdrew to her mother's room to commend herself once more to God and to implore His help, at the very moment when her father, mounting his horse, was going to see young Simon, whose resentment and anger he feared. His family was one of the most important in the country, and there was reason to fear that they might take great offense at all that had just occurred. Moreover, Wibert alone could explain the reason for his daughter's conduct, regarding whose dispositions he had always kept the deepest silence. Perhaps he even wanted to give Simon the assurance that he would try again to persuade Oda to accept him as her husband. But, during this time, the generous virgin was taking an astonishing, energetic resolution, which was to shatter all the hopes that might still have been conceived for the future.

Indeed, while she was alone in her parents' room, asking God to enlighten her with His light and to assist her with His all-powerful help, she formed the plan to deprive herself of that beauty which was becoming an obstacle to the fulfillment of her desires. Seizing, therefore, a sword of her father's that she found at the head of the bed, and asking God to strengthen her arm, she cut off a part of her nostrils and immediately caught in a basin the blood that flowed in abundance. Several of the people who knew she had retired to this room were surprised not to see her come out. Curiosity led them to go there to question her about her inner dispositions and the motives for her conduct. Arriving at the door and finding it locked, they called out in a loud voice to the young girl, who did not answer. All then set about forcing the entrance, to ensure she was in that apartment. What was their surprise upon seeing Oda all disfigured and receiving in a basin the blood flowing from her wounds. At this sight, they uttered a cry of horror; Oda's mother ran up and fell fainting into the arms of those around her. The news of what had happened at the castle did not take long to spread outside: it reached the ears of Lord Wibert, who, at that moment, was returning on horseback in great haste. Upon arriving, he found his wife, his relatives, and his friends in a consternation impossible to describe. At the sight of his daughter thus covered in blood, he himself was seized with the deepest sorrow. He was undoubtedly beginning to recognize the mistake he had made in seeking to constrain her vocation and to force her to accept, against her will, the husband he had chosen.

The venerable Odon, abbot of the monastery of Bonne-Espérance, was not long in being informed of all that had transpired in Oda's family. Recognizing from these striking testimonies that God was calling this virgin to the religious life, he sought to facilitate the means for her to enter it. To this end, he entrusted a mission to two very virtuous and prudent religious, and instructed them to ask, in passing, for hospitality at the castle of Lord Wibert. They were received there with demonstrations of the liveliest satisfaction. Oda, who viewed their arrival in her father's house as a means offered to her by Providence to determine him to the sacrifice from which he always recoiled, asked him again for permission to devote herself entirely to the service of God in some pious community. Wibert refused her again this time: but finally, overcome by the pressing entreaties of his daughter and by the wise reflections suggested by her admirable conduct, he consented to give to God this cherished child whom He was asking back from him.

The blessed Oda was at t he height of hap bienheureuse Oda Virgin of the Premonstratensian Order, known for her resistance to marriage and her piety. piness when she obtained this favor for which she had been sighing for so long. A few days later, she received the veil of virgins from the hands of the abbot of Bonne-Espérance, and immediately entered a community of holy maidens who followed the rule of Prémontré. One soon had to admire i Prémontré Religious order to which Father Aubertin, the saint's biographer, belonged. n the fervent novice the assemblage of the most touching virtues. Her humility and spirit of obedience led her to regard herself as the last of all the sisters and to render them, with joy and simplicity, all kinds of services. Insatiable for austerities and privations, she found the rule she had embraced still too mild. Her love for prayer also made her taste in this pious exercise an abundance of sweetness and consolation. It pleased God, to manifest the holiness of His humble servant, to send her a serious and unusual illness. It was thought for some time to be leprosy, and the pious Oda had to remain in a small cell at some distance from the community. Entirely resigned to the will of Heaven, she submitted without murmuring to this mortifying separation and consoled herself by constantly recalling to her mind the passion of the Savior of men. The ailment having diminished little by little, Oda resumed her ordinary exercises and continued to give her sisters the example of perfect regularity. Her conduct made such an impression on the whole community that, when it was a question of choosing a new prioress, all votes were united in her favor. Obliged to accept this charge which alarmed her humility, Oda found in it only one consolation, that of being able more easily to help the poor and the unfortunate who presented themselves in great numbers at the door of the monastery. She had for them feelings of a completely natural commiseration, and she found in her ingenious charity a host of small means to relieve their misery and soften their privations and sorrows. Her spirit of faith made her consider Jesus Christ Himself in the person of the poor who presented themselves to her.

Until the last days of her life, the Blessed Oda practiced these works of religion and charity, and advanced in the perfection of her holy state. A final illness gave her, above all, the opportunity to manifest her admirable humility. One day, seeing her sisters shedding tears by her bed of pain, and asking her to remember them in heaven, she addressed these words to them: "Why, my daughters, do you speak thus to a sinner? Why ask me, who have done no good, for what only the Apostles and Saints can ask for you? Do not speak thus; but rather ask God to forgive me my sins, and to receive me upon my departure from this world." The Blessed Oda expired a moment later, on Easter day, April 20, in the year 1138. Her body was buried in the monastery of Bonne-Espérance itself, amidst a great gathering of religious and pious persons.

We have borrowed this Life from the Lives of the Saints of Cambrai and Arras, by Abbé Destembes. M. l'Abbé Destembes Author of the Lives of the Saints of Cambrai and Arras.