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Sigolena of Albi

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Saint Sigolena of Albi
Statue of St Sigolena the Deaconess (upper) on the South Portal of Albi Cathedral
Abbess of Troclar, Deaconess
Born7th or 8th century
Died769[1]
Monastery of Troclar, France[2]
Venerated inCatholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
Major shrineAlbi Cathedral
Feast24 July
AttributesCrosier
PatronageAlbi, France

Saint Sigolena of Albi (fl. 7-8th. c.) was an Albigensian[a][3] deaconess[4] and saint from Albi, France.

Sigolena was born into a noble family of Aquitaine.[5]

Upon her marriage to Gislulf at the age of 12,[6] she offered her husband all of her possessions to "gain the freedom of her body". Her husband granted her desire for a Josephite marriage and encouraged her piety and charity. After ten years of marriage her husband died unexpectedly.[6] At age 24, she had difficulties convincing her parents she did not wish to remarry. After being consecrated by the city's bishop as a deaconess, she was eventually able to persuade her father to build her a convent on his own land.[4]

She was initially buried at Insula.[6]

Her church in Metz was situated near that of Saint Ferreolus of Besançon.[7] Sigolena's biography was written by an anonymous author.[8]

Miracles

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During her life on earth, the miracles attributed to her include the cleansing of 2 lepers, the healing of 3 blind people (including a priest), and at least 9 exorcisms. Upon her death, when the nuns removed her garments to wash her body, they reported that "a wonderful odour suddenly became sprinkled around that same place".[6]

Veneration

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The relics of St Sigolena are in Albi Cathedral.[9]

Her feast day is July 24.[5]

Notes

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  1. ^ In this period, an Albigensian refers solely to one from the city of Albi. The heresy of Albigensianism would not arise until the 12th century.

References

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  1. ^ "St. Sigolena of France". The Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. Archived from the original on 28 June 2016.
  2. ^ "Fiesta Santa Sigolena de Albi 24 de Julio". El Rincón de Edy. July 24, 2020.
  3. ^ "Sainte Sigolène".
  4. ^ a b Wemple, Suzanne Fonay (1985). Women in Frankish Society: Marriage and the Cloister, 500 to 900 (3rd ed.). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 142, 151. ISBN 978-0-8122-1209-9.
  5. ^ a b Dunbar, Agnes Baillie Cunninghame (1905). "St. Sigolena". A Dictionary of Saintly Women, Volume 2. Bell. p. 224. Sigolena of Albi.
  6. ^ a b c d "The Latin Life of *Segolena (abbess of Troclar, 7th c., S02435) records her life, death and miracles. Written possibly at Albi or Troclar (both south-west Gaul), 642/c.700". The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity. University of Oxford. 2021. Archived from the original on 3 May 2024.
  7. ^ Claussen, M.A. (2004). The Reform of the Frankish Church: Chrodegang of Metz and the Regula Canonicorum in the Eighth Century. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 211. ISBN 978-0-521-83931-0.
  8. ^ York, Laura (2002). "Sigolena of Albi (fl. 7th c.)". In Commire, Anne (ed.). Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Waterford, Connecticut: Yorkin Publications. ISBN 0-7876-4074-3.
  9. ^ "Fiesta Santa Sigolena de Albi 24 de Julio". El Rincón de Edy. July 24, 2020.

Further reading

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  • Klapisch-Zuber, Christiane, ed. A History of Women in the West, vol. II: Silences of the Middle Ages. Cambridge: Belknap-Harvard, 1992.