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Saint Odile (Odile of Hohenbourg)

An Alsatian legend

Odile of Hohenbourg, better known in Alsace as Sainte Odile, was born in Obernai at the end of the 7th century. The daughter of the Duke of Alsace, he was distressed to have a blind daughter and decided that she should die. Odile was taken from her father by her mother, who sent her to the Abbey of Parma. According to legend, she recovered her sight when she was baptised at the age of 15. She is also credited with other miracles, including the healing of the leagues and the covering of the famous Hohenburg springs, better known today as Mont Sainte Odile. It was she who transformed the upper château into a convent and was its firstère abbess. She was canonised in the 11th century and in 1946 by Pope Pius XII. She is still regarded today as the paternal saint of Alsace.

 

Photograph taken by Ralph Hammann of the stained glass window depicting Saint Odile from the church of Saint-Pancrace in Waldolwisheim

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