Berlinda of Meerbeke

Saint Berlindis
Stained glass window of Saint Berlindis in Sint-Pieter en Sint-Berlindiskerk, in Meerbeke, Belgium
Died	c. 702 AD
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church
Feast	February 3
Attributes	Depicted as a Brabantian nun with a cow and either a pruning hook or branch; sometimes portrayed with Saints Nona and Celsa^[1]
Patronage	Protectress of trees and invoked against cattle diseases^[1]

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.

Life

Berlinda was born in Meerbeke (Meerbeche, Marbec) in the Netherlands, (now a district of Ninove in the Denderstreek in the province of East Flanders in the region of Flanders in Belgium). She was the daughter of the wealthy Count Odelard, squire of Duke Wiger of Lorraine, and his holy wife Nona , who is said to have been the sister of the holy bishop Amandus of Tongeren-Maastricht.^[2]

Her father owned large estates in the center of present-day Belgium. They covered the area between Antwerp and Liège, including the castle of Ombergen between Ghent and Ninove, and Assche between Aalst and Brussels. Nona died when Berlinda was twelve years old.^[2]

Her father had fought against the Normans, who were finally defeated partly with the help of Arnold of Carinthia. However, his only son Eligard was killed and he himself came out of the battle infected with leprosy. All this ensured that Odelard became a bitter man. Although Berlinda cared for him with great love, she took every precaution to avoid becoming infected.^[2]

According to legend one day Odelardo thought he noticed in his daughter a certain disgust for his illness, and irritated by her, he renounced her in favor of the monastery of Santa Gertrude de Nivelles. Berlinda, abandoned by her father, entered the monastery of St. Maria in Moorsel and became a Benedictine nun.^[3]

After her father died, Berlinda returned to the family property and buried him next to her mother in the local church of St. Peter, which he himself. She did not return to Moorsel, but started with several women from the neighborhood her own convent and church in her parents' home. For the rest of her life, she helped the poor and needy while living a strict ascetic life. Many miracles were attributed to her intercession.^[3]

Veneration

Roman Martyrology: "In Meerbeke in Brabant, in today's Belgium, Saint Berlinda, virgin, who led a religious life of poverty and charity in this city".

Berlinda's highly legendary biography was written around the year 900 by Hubert, a monk from the monastery in Lobbes, based on information from his client, provost Gerhard of Meerbeke.