Berlinda of Meerbeke

Berlinda (Latin: Berlindis, Berlenda, Berelenda, other variants; also known as Bellaude; died 702 AD) was a Benedictine nun of noble descent. Her feast day is 3 February. According to legend she was a niece of Amandus, and was disinherited by her father, Count Odelard, after he became sick with leprosy and believed that she would not take proper care of him.

Saint

Berlindis
Stained glass window of Saint Berlindis in Sint-Pieter en Sint-Berlindiskerk, in Meerbeke, Belgium
Diedc. 702 AD
Venerated inRoman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church
FeastFebruary 3
AttributesDepicted as a Brabantian nun with a cow and either a pruning hook or branch; sometimes portrayed with Saints Nona and Celsa
PatronageProtectress of trees and invoked against cattle diseases

Berlinda fled to a convent at Moorsel, near Aalst, and became a nun. After her father died, she became a hermit at Meerbeke, where her father had been buried. Her tradition states that she spent her life helping the poor and suffering.

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