Waldedrudis,
or Waudru in French, was the daughter of the Duke of Lorraine, St.
Walbert and his wife St. Bertilia and closely related to the Merovingian
royal family. Her sister, St. Aldegundis of Maubeuge, was a foundress
and abbess.
Waldedrudis
was married to the noble St. Vincent Madelgar, Count of Hainault with
whom she had four children, all of them canonized saints.
Although
her family life was serene and exemplary, she suffered much from the
slander of others, and from severe interior trials and temptations. God,
after some years, recompensed her fidelity with a holy peace, and great
spiritual consolations.
Sometime after the birth of their fourth
child, the Count Madelgar withdrew into the Benedictine Abbey of
Haumont which he had founded, taking the name of Vincent. Waldedrudis
retired to a small house where she lived a life of prayer, poverty and
simplicity. Such was the influx of people seeking her counsel, however,
that the holy matron eventually founded a convent around which grew the
city of Mons in Belgium.
St. Waudru, as she is known in Belgium,
was renowned for her works of charity and for the numerous miracles she
performed during her life and after death. She is the patroness of Mons.
Photos by: Guy Debognies
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