![Ida von Herzfeld](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Ida_von_Herzfeld.jpg)
Saint Ida of Herzfeld (c. 770 – 4 September 825) was the widow of a Saxon duke who devoted her life to the poor following the death of her husband in 811. Her feast day is September 4.
Life
While there is disagreement as to her precise parentage, it is generally agreed that she was closely related to the Carolingians.
Sabine Baring-Gould
Sabine Baring-Gould ( ; 28 January 1834 – 2 January 1924) of Lew Trenchard in Devon, England, was an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist, folk song collector and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1,2 ...
says she was the grand-daughter of
Bernard, son of Charles Martel Bernard or Bernhard de Saint Quentin (d'Herstal), Abby of von St. Quentin, Abbot of St. Quentin (c.720-787) was a son of Charles Martel by his mistress Ruodhaid.
Life
Bernard was a half Brother of the Frankish King Pepin the Short, and uncle to Ch ...
and his wife Gundlindis.
The daughter of a count, Ida received her education at the court of
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...
, who gave her in marriage to a favourite lord of his court, named Egbert, and bestowed on her a great fortune in estates to recompense her father's services. It was an apparently happy marriage.
[Butler, Alban. “Saint Ida, Widow”, ''Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints'', 1866]
/ref>
Her ''Life'' is sometimes quoted in support of the proposition that sexual congress within the institution of marriage reflects spiritual unities as well:
:At the moment when the two are united in one flesh, there is present in them a single and similar operation of the Holy Spirit: when they are linked together in each other's arms in an external unity, which is to say, a physical unity, this indivisible action of the Holy Spirit inflames them with a powerful interior love directed towards celestial realities.
Together they built the church of Herzfeld, Westphalia
Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants.
The territory of the regio ...
, sometimes recorded as Hirutveldun.
She was reportedly the mother of Warin, the abbot of Corvey from 826 to 856, Count Cobbo the Elder, and Addila or Mathilde, the abbess
An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey.
Description
In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Copt ...
of Herzfeld. She was left a widow at a young age. The available biographies of Saint Ida report that her husband died in 811.
He was buried on the south side of the Herzfeld church. She then built a portico over his grave, where she lived a life devoted to prayer and works of charity. Among her reported acts of kindness were filling a stone coffin with food each day, then giving it to the poor; she reportedly founded the church at Hovestadt, Westphalia.
Veneration
Ida died 4 September 825 and was buried at the church in Herzfeld, which became the first pilgrimage site in Westphalia. In 2011 the pilgrim Church of St. Ida in Herzfeld (Lippetal) was designated a minor basilica. In Herzfeld, the folk festival of "Ida Week" is held every year in September in memory of the saint. During the week, the bones of the saints are carried through the village in a solemn procession; then the "Ida Blessing" is granted.[''Der Soester Anzeiger über die Große Identracht 2015 in Herzfeld'', veröffentlicht am 13. September 2015]
The ''Vita sanctae Idae Hertzfeldensis'' written in 980, by the monk Uffing of the Abbey of Werden, focuses on her exemplary life, including suffering endured in divine trust. She was canonized on 26 November 980.
Patronage
Saint Ida is the patron saint of pregnant women, brides and widows, the poor and the weak.
Iconography
She is frequently depicted either as carrying a church or with a dove hovering over her head. During the 32-year war between the Saxons and the Franks, Ida extended her protection to the Saxons in their. The deer with which Ida is often portrayed represents the Saxons, who are besieged by the Franks. Even today the deer is in the coat of arms of Herzfeld.
References
{{Authority control
8th-century births
825 deaths
8th-century Saxon people
9th-century Saxon people
Saints from the Carolingian Empire
Women from the Carolingian Empire
Female saints of medieval Germany
Medieval German saints
Saxon women