Saint Berlinda ( la, Berlindis, Berlenda, Berelenda, other variants; also known as Bellaude; died 702 AD) was a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Great B ...

descent. Her

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

is 3 February. According to legend she was a niece of Saint Amandus, and was disinherited by her father, Count Odelard, after he became sick with leprosy and believed that she would not take proper care of him. Berlinda fled to a convent at

Moorsel Moorsel is a village in the Denderstreek in the province East Flanders in Belgium, a '' deelgemeente'' of the city of Aalst. The village belongs to a league of neighbouring villages, which call themselves the ''Faluintjesgemeenten''. Moorsel is ...

, near Aalst, and became a nun. After her father died, she became a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

Meerbeke Meerbeke is a village in the Denderstreek in the province of East Flanders in Belgium. Administratively it is part of the municipality of Ninove. This rural community is located along the Dender River on the western border of what is known as " P ...

, where her father had been buried. Her tradition states that she spent her life helping the poor and suffering.

References

Literature

* Van Droogenbroeck, F. J.
'Paltsgraaf Wigerik van Lotharingen, inspiratiebron voor de legendarische graaf Witger in de Vita Gudilae'
''Eigen Schoon en De Brabander'' 93 (2010) 113–136. * Van Droogenbroeck, F. J.
'Hugo van Lobbes (1033-1053), auteur van de Vita Amalbergae viduae, Vita S. Reinildis en Vita S. Berlendis'
''Eigen Schoon en De Brabander'' 94 (2011) 367–402.

External links

Berlinda at Saints.SQPN.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berlinda Of Meerbeke 7th-century births 702 deaths Belgian Roman Catholic saints Belgian hermits 7th-century Christian saints Year of birth unknown Benedictine nuns Christian female saints of the Middle Ages People from East Flanders