Saint Gudule of Brussels

detail of an antique holy card of Saint Gudule of Brussels, date and artist unknown; swiped from Wikimedia Commons Also known as

Ergoule
Goedele
Goelen
Gould
Goule
Gudula

Memorial

8 January
19 January in the diocese of Hamme and Moorsel

Profile

Daughter of Count Witger and Saint Amalburga; great-niece of Emperor Pepin; sister of Saint Pharaildis of Ghent, Saint Reineldis, and Saint Emebert of Cambrai. Niece and student of Saint Gertrude of Nivelle, who trained her in the religious life. The girl then returned to live at the family castle at Hamme.

Pious and devoted, she lived for her prayers and time in church. During her early morning visits to the church in Moorsel, Belgium the devil extinguished her candle, which would miraculously re-ignite. The flower called tremella deliquescens, bears fruit in the beginning of January; it’s known as “Sinte Goulds lampken” (Saint Gudula’s lantern) because not even the winter can extinguish it.

Born

c.time-line-650 in Hamme, Brabant (in modern Belgium)

Died

8 January 712 at Hamme, Brabant (Belgium) of natural causes
buried in front of the church door in her hometown of Hamme
relics translated to Moorsel, Belgium
relics translated to the church of Saint Gery in Brussels in 978
relics translated to the collegiate church of Saint Michel (later Sainte Gudule) in Brussels in 1047
relics destroyed by Calvinists on 6 June 1579