Saint Pharaildis or Pharailde ( nl, Veerle) is an 8th-century

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

, and

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

. Her dates are imprecise, but she lived to a great age and died on January 5 at ninety.Engelbert, Omer. ''The Lives of the Saints.'' Christopher and

Anne Fremantle Anne Jackson Fremantle (born Anne-Marie Huth Jackson; 1909–2002) was an English-American journalist, translator, poet, novelist and biographer.Amalberga of Maubeuge Saint Amalberga of Maubeuge (also Amalia, or Amelia of Lobbes or Binche) was a Merovingian nun and saint who lived in the 7th century. Narrative Amalberga's father was Saint Geremarus. She was born in Brabant. She is said to have been the n ...

. Her siblings were:

Emebert Emebert was an early Bishop of Cambrai, often identified with Bishop Ablebert of Cambrai (early 8th century). According to the unreliable ''Vita S. Amalbergae viduae'', Emebert was the son of Duke Witger of Lotharingia and Saint Amalberga of Ma ...

Reineldis Reineldis (also Reinhild, Reinaldes, Rainelde among others; ''c.'' 630 – ''c.'' 700) was a saint of the 7th century, martyred by the Huns. Life Reineldis was born in a place called ''Condacum'' (which is identified with either Condé-sur-l'Esca ...

, Ermelindis and

Gudula Saint Gudula was born in the pagus of Brabant (in present-day Belgium). According to her 11th-century biography ( Vita Gudilae), written by a monk of the abbey of Hautmont between 1048 and 1051, she was the daughter of a duke of Lotharingia call ...

. Pharaildis was brought up by

Gertrude of Nivelles Gertrude of Nivelles, OSB (also spelled ''Geretrude'', ''Geretrudis'', ''Gertrud''; c. 628 – 17 March 659) was a seventh-century abbess who, with her mother Itta, founded the Abbey of Nivelles, now in Belgium. Life Family and childhood The ea ...

. Pharaildis was married against her will at a young age with a

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteristi ...

, even after having made a private vow of virginity. Her husband insisted that she was married to him, and her

sexual fidelity Infidelity (synonyms include cheating, straying, adultery, being unfaithful, two-timing, or having an affair) is a violation of a couple's emotional and/or sexual exclusivity that commonly results in feelings of anger, sexual jealousy, and riv ...

was owed to him, not

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

. She was therefore physically

abused Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...

for her refusal to submit to him, and for her late night visits to churches. When

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...

ed, she was still a virgin, and dedicated herself to charity.

Veneration

The cult of Pharaildis has been documented as early as the eighth century. About the year 754, Agilfrid, Abbot of

Saint Bavo's Abbey Saint Bavo's Abbey ( nl, Sint-Baafsabdij) is a former abbey in the currently Belgian city of Ghent. It was founded in the 7th century by Saint Amand, who also founded Saint Peter's Abbey, Ghent, near the confluence of the Leie and Scheldt rivers. ...

, acquired her relics and brought them to Ghent. Eckenstein, Lina. ''Woman under Monasticism: Chapters on Saint-Lore and Convent Life between A.D. 500 and A.D. 1500'', Cambridge University Press, 1896 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 January 4, and her feast, ''Fru Verelde'', was a major festival in

in the late 19th century (according to ''Acte de Pharailde'' 1882). She carries a goose as her insignia. Several

miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...

s are attributed to the saint. Legend says that Pharaildis caused a

well A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

to spring up whose waters cured sick children, turned some bread hidden by a miserly woman into stone, and there are accounts of a "

goose A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the ...

miracle," in which Pharaildis resuscitated a cooked bird working only from its skin and bones.

References

External links

* Eckenstein, Lina, d. 1931 / Woman under monasticism: chapters on saint-lore and convent life between A.D. 500 and A.D. 1500 (1896
The Tribal Goddess as a Christian Saint
an
Further Peculiarities of this Type of Saint

Vita Gudilae
{{Authority control 650s births 740 deaths 8th-century Frankish nuns 8th-century Frankish saints Christian female saints of the Middle Ages 7th-century Frankish nuns