Ida of Nivelles (c.1190 – 11 December 1231) was a

beatified Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

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 ...

and mystic.

Biography

Ida was born into a prosperous mercantile family in

Nivelles Nivelles (; nl, Nijvel, ; wa, Nivele; vls, Neyvel) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. The Nivelles municipality includes the former municipalities of Baulers, Bornival, Thines, and Monstre ...

, an important market town and pilgrimage destination in

Brabant Brabant is a traditional geographical region (or regions) in the Low Countries of Europe. It may refer to: Place names in Europe * London-Brabant Massif, a geological structure stretching from England to northern Germany Belgium * Province of Bra ...

, a short distance to the south of

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. After her father died the family arranged for her to be married. She was aged only nine or sixteen (sources differ), and not wishing to marry she fled to a

beguinage A beguinage, from the French term ''béguinage'', is an architectural complex which was created to house beguines: lay religious women who lived in community without taking vows or retiring from the world. Originally the beguine institution was ...

, a community of intentionally unmarried Godly women who lived in a shared community, but without taking vows or cutting themselves off from the world outside. The beguinage community that took her in comprised seven women who lived near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in her home town. Ida became a

beguine The Beguines () and the Beghards () were Christian lay religious orders that were active in Western Europe, particularly in the Low Countries, in the 13th–16th centuries. Their members lived in semi-monastic communities but did not take forma ...

. She moved on in around 1213, accepted into the

Cistercian convent Cistercian nuns are female members of the Cistercian Order, a religious order belonging to the Roman Catholic branch of the Catholic Church. History The first Cistercian monastery for women, Le Tart Abbey, was established at Tart-l'Abbaye in th ...

Kerkom Boutersem () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Boutersem proper, Kerkom, Neervelp, Roosbeek, Vertrijk and Willebringen. On January 1, 2006, Boutersem had a total popul ...

near

Tienen Tienen (; french: Tirlemont ) is a city and municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises Tienen itself and the towns of Bost, Goetsenhoven, Hakendover, Kumtich, Oorbeek, Oplinter, Sint-Marg ...

. (The convent relocated shortly afterwards to La Ramée.) There she worked as a writer and illustrator. She reported numerous visions and other experiences by which she had been affected, and developing a particularly close relationship with the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

. Her experiences were sufficiently widely attested for her to become identified as a woman mystic. She is also celebrated for her exceptional dedication to poverty relief.

Goswin of Bossut Goswin of Bossut ( 1231–1238) was a Cistercian monk, crusader, composer and writer of Villers Abbey in the Duchy of Brabant. Life Goswin is the author of three to five known works. He is, nevertheless, a shadowy figure. He was probably born arou ...

wrote a biography of Ida of Nivelles shortly after her death.Martinus Cawley (ed.), ''Send Me God: The Lives of Ida the Compassionate of Nivelles, Nun of La Ramée, Arnulf, Lay Brother of Villers, and Abundus, Monk of Villers, by Goswin of Bossut'' (Brepols, 2003). She was later

. The

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

celebrates her each year on 12 December.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nivelles, Ida of 1190 births 1231 deaths 13th-century Christian mystics Belgian Christian mystics Cistercian beatified people Cistercian mystics Cistercian nuns People from Nivelles Roman Catholic mystics