Maura of Troyes was a French

virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

and

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

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 ...

. Born into

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

Troyes Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near to ...

, she devoted herself to prayer, remaining

chaste Chaste refers to practicing chastity. Chaste may also refer to: * Aymar Chaste (1514–1603), Catholic French admiral * Chaste (Marvel Comics), a fictional Marvel Comics martial arts enclave * Chaste (canton) - see List of townships in Quebec T ...

, and is credited with at least two

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 ...

Biography

Maura was born to a noble family in

Francia Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...

, in 827, and from a young age devoted herself to prayer. As a young girl, she converted her father Mauranus who had previously lived a worldly life, to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. After his death, Maura continued to live at home, praying, serving the poor, and caring for her mother, who was named either Seluca or Sedulia. Her example was also credited with her brother Eutropius' strong faith, and he later went on to become bishop of Troyes. When not praying or serving the poor, Maura greatly enjoyed meeting the material needs of local priests and the

Troyes Cathedral Troyes Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul de Troyes) is a Catholic church, dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul, located in the town of Troyes in Champagne, France. It is the episcopal seat of the Bishop of Troyes. The ca ...

: she would make sacred vestments, trim the candles, fill oil lamps and prepare wax and other things for the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

. In fact, Bishop

Prudentius of Troyes Prudentius (? in Aragon, Spain – 6 April 861 at Troyes, France) was bishop of Troyes, a chronicler and an opponent of Hincmar of Reims in the controversy on predestination. Life Prudentius left Spain in his youth and came to the Frankish Empir ...

, a personal friend, wore an

alb The alb (from the Latin ''albus'', meaning ''white''), one of the liturgical vestments of the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Reformed and Congregational churches, is an ample white garment coming down to the ank ...

spun and woven by her. Maura spent every morning in church, praying. She fasted Wednesday and Friday, sustaining herself only on small amounts of bread and water. Sometimes, she would walk several miles to visit her

spiritual director Spiritual direction is the practice of being with people as they attempt to deepen their relationship with the divine, or to learn and grow in their personal spirituality. The person seeking direction shares stories of their encounters of the di ...

at his

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. She was known to produce copious amounts of tears while praying, considered a gift from God. She was also said to have performed miracles, but asked the people she helped not to make her gifts known. She died on 21 September 850, at the age of 23. She was buried in the cemetery of Château-Nore-de-Troyes.

Miracles and sainthood

At least three posthumous miracles are attributed to Maura of Troyes. After her death, her body was washed with water, but the water was claimed to have changed into milk. A young man was believed to have been cured of "a burning fever" after drinking the milk. A young woman, whose husband disliked a large

birthmark A birthmark is a congenital, benign irregularity on the skin which is present at birth or appears shortly after birth—usually in the first month. They can occur anywhere on the skin. Birthmarks are caused by overgrowth of blood vessels, melanocy ...

on her cheek, also drank the milk and the birthmark disappeared. She was declared a saint by the community, as was the normal process before the establishment of the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, pa ...

. St. Maura of Troyes is honored in the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, and

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

. Her feast day is celebrated on 21 September.

References

{{authority control 827 births 850 deaths 9th-century French people Saints from the Carolingian Empire French Roman Catholic saints Female saints of medieval France Women from the Carolingian Empire 9th-century French women

Biography

Miracles and sainthood

See also

References