Aye (died c. 711) is a Belgian Catholic saint. She has been referred to also as Aia, Aya, Agia, and St. Austregildis. She is sometimes confused with another St. Agia, the mother of the French Saint Loup of

Sens Sens () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yonne Departments of France, department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France, 120 km from Paris. Sens is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture and the second city of the d ...

. Aye is revered by the

Beguines 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 form ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. 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 April 18.^. Little is known about Aye's early life or date of birth, but available sources state that she was the daughter of Brunulph, count d’Arennes and a relative of

Saint Waldetrudis Saint Waltrude (french: Waudru; nl, Waldetrudis; german: Waltraud; la, Valdetrudis, Valtrudis, Waltrudis; died April 9, 688 AD) is the patron saint of Mons, Belgium, where she is known in French as Sainte Waudru, and of Herentals, Belgium, wher ...

. She was married to Saint Hidulf of Hainault until both decided to enter religious life, after which point they parted ways. Aye joined the Abbey of Mons in Belgium, where she became a

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 gave her property away to the nuns of Saint Waldetrudis. The date of her death is not concretely known as sources place her death around the year 707 as well as 714. Aye is known as the

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 ...

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

s. She is believed to have gained the title due to a lawsuit that decided "her heirs against the Canonesses of Mons". A variant legend states that she righted an injustice by speaking from beyond the grave.

References

Belgian Roman Catholic saints 711 deaths Female saints of medieval Belgium 8th-century Christian saints {{saint-stub