Saint Bertha of Blangy

illustration of Saint Bertha of Blangy from 'Pictorial Lives of the Saints' Memorial

4 July

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Daughter of Count Rigobertus and Ursanna, daughter of the king of Kent, England. Married a noble named Siegfried, a cousin of the king, at age 20. Mother of five daughters. Widowed in 672. Built a convent at Blangy, Artois, France in 682. Legend says that two partially built houses collapsed, but Bertha had a vision in which an angel pointed out a better location. Retired to the convent at Blangy, and was soon joined by two of her daughters, Deotila and Gertrude, both of whom she outlived. Abbess. When she felt the house was on firm footing, she placed it in the hands of one of her daughters, retired to a cell in the convent, and spent her remaining years as an anchoress in prayer.