Saint Maxellende ( - 13 November 670) was the thaumaturgist saint martyr of

Caudry Caudry () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Its inhabitants are called theCaudrésiens. The town is mostly known as the Capital City of French Lace (along with Calais). Caudry station has rail connections to Douai, Cambr ...

. Traditionally, she is associated with the

diocese of Cambrai The Archdiocese of Cambrai ( la, Archdiocesis Cameracensis; French: ''Archidiocèse de Cambrai'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France, comprising the arrondissements of Avesnes-sur-Help ...

, and is invoked for relief from

ocular Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and con ...

diseases.

Martyr

Maxellende's

martyrdom A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external ...

occurred during the

Merovingian period The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

, under the

episcopate A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of Vindicien,

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...

and

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department and in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, regio ...

. She was the daughter of Huinlinus, a wealthy landowner from

. Her legend holds that she was promised to Harduin d'Armeval, future

lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or ar ...

of Solesmes. She resisted the prospective marriage because of her religious commitment, which led Harduin to kill her in 670, and after which he was blinded."The Basilica", City of Caudry
/ref> She was buried in the

Saint-Souplet Saint-Souplet () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Geography Saint Souplet-Escaufourt is on the (departmental) route 115. It is part of the Canton of Le Cateau-Cambrésis, 6 km from Cateau, 30 km south east of ...

church. A few years later, her bones were brought back to

during a procession that Harduin attended. Bursting into tears, he miraculously recovered his sight. Her bones became

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

kept in

, then in Le Cateau-Cambresis, and finally in

. She was revered in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. She is the

patroness Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

of the Caudresians and the

visually impaired Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

Basilica

Caudry - Basilique Sainte-Maxellende en 1923

The church is dedicated to Saint Maxellende. A place of

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

for the blind and partially sighted, the church was raised to the rank of

minor basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

by the pontifical brief on September 3, 1991. Construction began in the 1830s and was finished according to

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

architect

Louis Cordonnier Louis Marie Cordonnier (July 7, 1854, Haubourdin, Nord – 1940) was a French architect, born in Haubourdin and associated principally with Lille and the French Flanders region. Biography Son of the architect Jean-Baptiste Cordonnier (1820� ...

's Gothic-style plans (1887-1890). It is 72 meters long and its

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

is 75 meters high with a 3-bell

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 cast-bronze bells. The bells are hung in fixed suspension and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmoniou ...

. Inside, the large

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

culminates at 20 meters under the keystone, and the two

aisles Aisles is a six-piece progressive rock band originally from Santiago, Chile. The group was formed in 2001 by brothers Germán (guitar) and Luis Vergara (keyboards), and childhood friend Rodrigo Sepúlveda (guitar). Later on, it expanded to incl ...

at 8 meters. The

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

ends with two

chapels A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type ...

, the left-side is dedicated to

Our Lady of the Rosary Our Lady of the Rosary, also known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, is a Marian title. The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, formerly known as Feast of Our Lady of Victory and Feast of the Holy Rosary is celebrated on 7 October in the General Roma ...

while the right-side holds a

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...

dedicated to Saint-Maxellende herself. It is lit by two rosettes, each with 4,600 pieces of glass laid around 1921. The

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

is adorned with a high

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 white

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

, gilded copper and

mosaics A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

awarded at the 19th century exhibition of high altars in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. A plethora of other elements also contributes to the wealth of this sanctuary including: * Master Charles Lorin's stained glasses made in

Chartres Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as d ...

(1905-1946) * Charles Mutin Cavaillé Coll's Great Organ (1913); * The Shrine of Saint-Maxellende (14th century), classified as an Historic Monument. 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 celebrated on November 13, or the following Sunday, according to the traditional date of her murder.

Gallery

File:Caudry - Basilique Sainte-Maxellende (C).JPG File:Caudry - Basilique Sainte-Maxellende (A).JPG File:Caudry - Basilique Sainte-Maxellende (E).JPG File:Caudry - Basilique Sainte-Maxellende (F).JPG File:Caudry - Basilique Sainte-Maxellende (J).JPG File:Caudry - Basilique Sainte-Maxellende (D).JPG File:Caudry - Basilique Sainte-Maxellende (N).JPG File:Entree Basilique Sainte Maxellende Caudry.jpg

"Prayer to Saint-Maxellende".

''"St. Maxellende, virgin and martyr, you who have healed your murderer who had become blind, preserve us the precious gift of sight, heal those who are deprived of it, or who are in danger of losing it. Above all, obtain the light of the mind and the heart so that we may always walk on the paths of the Gospel. You who wanted to devote yourself to God enlighten those who seek their way here below. With the support of your prayer, they further peace and fulfill their vocation. Amen."''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maxellende 650 births 670 deaths 7th-century Christian saints Merovingian saints