Opportuna (died April 22, 770 ) is the holy abbess of Montreuil (Montreuil). Memorial Day - April 22 .
Life of St. Opportuns Vita et miracula Sanctae Opportunae was written a century after her death (c . 885-88) St. Adalhelm , Bishop of Se , who believed that he owed his life and his bishopric to St. Opportune [1] .
Content
Life
Being very young, sv. Opportuna was tonsured at Monasteriolum [a] , near Almenêches, where her twin sister, St. Lantildis (Lantildis), was abbess. Opportuna received tonsure from her brother, St. Hrodegang , episcope of Se [b] . Although Montreuil was only three miles from Se, St. Hrodegang was killed on the way from the city to the monastery [c] . Subsequently, St. Opportuna became abbess of the monastery. According to legend, being the abbess, she was “a true mother to all the nuns” [2] [3] , correcting with a word, and not corporal punishment, their mistakes, significant in order to remember them [4] .
Some sources report that St. Opportuna went to the Lord after a short illness [e] , aggravated by the grief associated with the murder of her brother on September 3, 769 . His murder is associated with the name of Khrodobert ( Chrodobert ), which was associated with vigorous rule during the seven-year absence of the latter due to his stay in Rome [5] . Although St. Opportuna foresaw the death of her brother, she did not have the opportunity to intervene [6] . Subsequently, she buried her brother in her monastery [2] [7] . After the death of the saint, miracles were revealed on her grave, which is why many reached out to her for help.
In the life of St. Opportuns are described by a peasant who stole a donkey from a monastery and did not admit a crime. St. Opportuna appeared with prayer before the Lord, and the next day the land of the peasant was salted. The repentant peasant not only returned the donkey, but also transferred the land to the monastery [3] .
Honor
Although the name of the saint was not included in the martyrology , her veneration was carried out locally, as the patroness of Almenes and one of the patrons of Paris. About her is told in the life of her relative, Hodegang. During the reign of Karl Lysy , according to [f] , a Viking attack occurred. The Montreuil Monastery and the Almenés Monastery were destroyed, and its relics were transferred to the Priory of Moussi (Val d'Oise) (Moussy, Val-d'Oise). Subsequently, they were transferred to Senlis . In 1374, her right hand and ribs were transferred to a small church in Paris, in Notre Dame des Bois, Paris . Most of the chapter of St. The Opportuns remain in Moussi, while her right hand and part of the chapter are in Almenesh. In addition, the jaw of the saint is located in the Priory of St. Hrodeganga in ильle-Adam . Saint Cancer in Paris is worn with the relics of Sts. Honorata and Genevieve [3] .
Iconography
St. Opportuna is often portrayed with a rectorial staff holding a reliquary . Sometimes they depict the Most Holy Theotokos at her deathbed or a princess with a basket of cherries and a heraldic lily [3] .
Notes
- ^ which means “little monastery”, he subsequently gave the name Montreuil -la-Cambe .
- ^ It probably should not be combined with the Hrodegang of Metz.
- ^ Brother sv. Opportuns are united with Hrodegang of Metz only one source. [8] However, the story described in the life of St. Opportuns and his bishopric at Sae and his murder by a robber on the road to Montreuil are absent from his life, where it is said that he died on March 6, 776 in Metz .
- ^ In hagiography st. wives of the Merovingian era usually mention St. Genevieve Paris (died in 502), written by St. Venantius Fortunatus ' Life of St. Radegundy (died 587) and St. Gertrude of Nivellles . To them may be added the life of St. Brigitte of Ireland (Smith 1995: 13).
- ^ Here St. Adalhelm suggests that she was taken to heaven by sv. Cecilia and Lucia .
- ^ The siege of Paris (885–886) took place during the reign of Charles III Tolstoy .
Notes
- ↑ Julia MH Smith, “The Problem of Female Sanctity in Carolingian Europe c. 780—920 » Past and Present No. 146 (February 1995), pp. 3-37.
- ↑ 1 2 Jones, Terry Opportuna . Saints.SQPN.com . Date of treatment February 25, 2012. Archived February 5, 2013.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Rabenstein, Katherine Opportuna of Montreuil, OSB . Saints O 'the Day for April 22 (April 1999). Date of treatment February 24, 2012. Archived on February 6, 2007.
- ↑ William Smith and Henry Wace, A Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and Doctrines “Opportuna”.
- ↑ Smith and Wace, op. cit .
- ↑ “When attention switches to political intrigue, women become bystanders, potential victims or mourners, but not the central characters in a story.” (Smith 1995: 23).
- ↑ Butler, Alban St. Opportuna . Butler's Lives of the Saints . Eternal Word Television Network (1864 edition). Date of treatment April 20, 2007. Archived February 5, 2013.
- ↑ Jones, Terry Chrodegang of Metz (link unavailable) . Patron Saints Index . Date of treatment April 20, 2007. Archived February 5, 2013.