Edigna

ON BLESSED EDIGNA, ROYAL VIRGIN, AT BUECHA IN BAVARIA

Year 1109.

Edigna, Royal Virgin, in Bavaria (Bl.)

I. B.

[1] Buecha, or Bucha, or Puech, is a village of Bavaria between Munich and Augusta Vindelicorum, near Fuerstenfeld, a monastery of the Cistercian institute situated on the river Amper. Here, as Aventinus writes in book 7 of the Annals of the Bavarians, St. Edigna (whom the locals place in charge of thefts) lies buried and is venerated. Why Aventinus says she is placed in charge of "furcis" (gallows) in both editions, Ingolstadt and Basel—or rather "furtis" (thefts), as Raderus restores from the autograph—will presently be explained.

[2] That she is venerated on the 26th of February is reported by the same Raderus in volume 2 of his Holy Bavaria, and from him by Andreas Saussaye in the Gallic Martyrology and by our Francis Lahier in the Menologion of Virgins. Saussaye celebrates her with this eulogy: In Bavaria, of St. Edigna, Virgin, who was the illustrious offspring of the Kings of France, daughter of King Henry I and sister of Philip I. Wholly aflame with the love of Christ, she consecrated her virginity to the heavenly Spouse from the very flower of her youth. For this religious vow, having openly spurned marriage, when she was compelled by her parents' command to enter into it, she willingly underwent exile. Conveyed on a cart, in pilgrim's garb, with a staff—carried by oxen that voluntarily took the yoke to draw the noble burden—she came to Bavaria and halted in a place divinely appointed. There, hiding in a cave, she offered worship to God in sacred vows, tears, and many vigils for so long, until she set out from her foreign soil and exile to the heavenly fatherland. Her precious merits before God were made illustrious by great miracles, by which she is still renowned, and most celebrated in the church where she rests, which is dedicated under her patronage. Lahier composed a more extended Life in the French language, drawing his material from Raderus.

[3] Andreas Brunner of our Society writes succinctly and elegantly about her in part 3 of the Annals of Bavaria, book 12, section 1, page 227, at the year 1109: At the same time... the Virgin Edigna passed away. Her virtue does not allow her to be passed over, far more illustrious than her birth—which, however, common report refers to the Kings of France. Conveyed on a rustic wagon, in worn-out clothing to conceal her lineage, she came to Bavaria. At Buecha, a village between Munich and Augusta Vindelicorum, she settled, mostly hidden in the hollow trunk of a linden tree. This tree, imbued with the Virgin's holiness, after her death exuded oil that served as a panacea. As soon as this began to be sold, greed dried up the spring. Her other benefits, not subject to profiteering, continue to this day. Aventinus also wrote that losses from theft and cattle-rustling were especially commended to her, so that by her patronage lost property might be restored to its owners.

[4] Raderus presents a fuller account of her, which we shall also publish here. He prefixes an elegant image of the Blessed One, in which she sits on a cart; here a bell is attached, a rooster stands nearby, two oxen draw the cart; on the other side is the sacred chapel, and not far from it the hollow linden tree. Beneath are added these verses:

Is this, O Virgin, the most ample dowry of your kingdom? Is this your jasper, these your gems, your royal crown, your bed? Are your golden halls the cave of a linden hollowed by the ages? A comb, a bird, a cart, tinkling bells, and cattle? O Virgin prudent in the ways of the world—while you scorn the world, You can rightly call yourself mistress of the world. Whatever loves the vain is itself vain, and makes its lovers vain; Had you not fled it, it would have fled from you.

LIFE

by Matthaeus Raderus, S.J.

Edigna, Royal Virgin, in Bavaria (Bl.)

By Matthaeus Raderus.

[1] Manuscripts preserved at the church of Blessed Edigna report that Edigna set out from France of the Gauls to the lands of Germany among the Bavarians, and was born of royal stock, indeed a King's daughter. But they indicate neither the year of her birth nor the name of the King. She must have been born either to Henry I or to Philip I, who departed this life in the same year as Edigna—1109, I say—after having reigned forty-nine years; for in the year 1060 he had succeeded his father Henry as a very young man, or rather a boy. Thus it could be that Edigna was Philip I's sister, if we work out the chronology; or certainly his daughter, if she died at a younger age. I am inclined to think, however, that her father was Henry, though authority exists for neither position.

[2] But writers sometimes call even those who are closely related to kings the offspring of kings, as they do Richard, King of England, who appears to have been neither a king nor the son of kings, as we noted above in the affairs of St. Wunibald. So it is not clear about Edigna whether she was a king's daughter or a king's relative. The written tablets call her Francigena, "born of France," and a king's daughter. For thus a document speaks of her comb: This comb (which I myself saw in person and handled) belonged to Blessed Edigna the Virgin, born of France, who was the daughter of the King of France; and having undertaken exile for the sake of her Spouse Christ the Lord, she rests in this place, glorious with signs and miracles. There follows in the document a severe curse against those who might attempt to remove the comb from there.

[3] Of her sacred relics, nothing else is publicly available except the large shell that she had, which I have also taken care to append here. The rest of her small keepsakes are known to have been buried with her in the tomb. How she came to the place, we intend to set forth in another document. There also exists a tablet written in the vernacular language, which shows that she was descended from the royal line of the Franks, that she came to these lands concealed in pilgrim's garb, and that she offered worship to God in sacred vows, tears, and many vigils. At last, on the twenty-sixth of February 1109, she departed from her foreign soil and exile to the heavenly fatherland. Her skull, bones, veil, small strap, and spoon are devoutly preserved, and it is decreed that no one should take anything from there. The holiness of the Virgin has long been made famous by frequent benefits toward the afflicted.

[4] I deliberated anxiously with myself for a long time about what Aventinus meant when he wrote that the locals called her "placed in charge of gallows"—whether she was invoked as a patron by those about to be sent to the gallows, scaffolds, and crosses; or whether she warded off witches, Camiae, and Canidiae like some averting deity. But when I myself came to the spot on the 5th of August 1616, I learned from the neighbors and the sacristan (for the Pastor was absent) that, through the invocation of Edigna, things either stolen or lost by whatever chance were restored to their homes. From this I concluded that Aventinus had written "placed in charge of THEFTS," not "GALLOWS." I then examined his own handwriting and read THEFTS on page 120 of book 7, the last part. You will therefore correct the printed editions.

[5] I also examined her hiding place in the hollow of an immense linden tree that rises with a triple trunk. They affirmed that it had once exuded oil, but when greedy mortals sold the benefit, it refused its generosity and the spring of oil dried up. Today the bodily remains are preserved in a small case made visible with glass, recently fashioned, along with a pectoral image of the Virgin, at the left altar of the church, where a full-length image of the same is seen, placed between the Blessed Walburgis and Ursula. The image at the base of the altar shows Edigna arriving on a cart in pilgrim's garb, with a staff, by oxen that almost spontaneously took the yoke to carry the Virgin. Also depicted are a crested bird and a bell, which, when Edigna arrived, rang with no one moving them; the Virgin, as if receiving a divinely given sign, stopped and settled in that place, spending the rest of her life most holily—and I learned that she had been celebrated by wonderful deeds both during her lifetime and after her death.

[6] From the year 1610 to the present year 1616, when I visited the place, not a few miracles were observed. An eye disease from which a girl had long suffered was cured—in memory of which benefit, wax replicas of eyes hang at the altar. She removed headaches from some, throat infections from others, dysentery from others (a two-year-old boy was tormented by it for two days), and delirium from yet others, restoring their minds. I read that she delivered difficult labors that were stuck and had already brought the mothers to the last extremity of death; that she gently caught others who were falling; and that stones were removed by her benefaction. She is also said to have repelled diseases of cattle. These things are set forth more fully in the vernacular language, from which I chose to excerpt them, lest I be too prolix in commemorating the things that happened after her death and happen even today. For although we all willingly experience the benefits of the Saints when troubles press us, most people nevertheless recognize those same benefits not without weariness.

[7] I have read somewhere, but the place does not come to mind (in Wolfgang Selender, if my memory does not fail me), that she was a sister of Blessed Aurelia, whom I mentioned above; but the dates protest against this, if they have been correctly noted.