Odilia

Biography

She was not very welcome upon her arrival on earth, for the double reason that her family was expecting a child and that she was born blind. Her father, Adalric, count of Alsace, even wanted to kill her, but her mother, Beresinda, entrusted her to a nurse. She was taken to the abbey of Baume-les-Dames in Burgundy. When Odilia was baptized by the holy bishop of Regenesburg, she was instantly healed of her blindness. As an adult, she returned to Obernheim to her parents' house and her father welcomed her this time with open arms. Soon he wanted to marry her to a German duke who was a friend of his, and Odilia, who had taken a vow of virginity, ran away and lived on the roads until the German duke married another woman. He returned home and, thanks to his persevering prayer, his father, Adalrico, was totally changed. He offered Odilia a castle to serve as a monastery and Odilia added a leper colony. He ruled both houses as long as he lived, and died, as he had lived, in absolute poverty.