Saint Alena (also written Alène[1] or Alina[2]) is a Christiansaint who, if historical, was martyred around the year 640.[1] She is sometimes referred to as Alena of Forest,[2] or Alena of Brussels,[3] having died in Forest, Belgium which is now one of the nineteen municipalities of Brussels.
The traditional account of Saint Alena's life, dating to the twelfth century,[4] states that she was born in Dilbeek, just outside Brussels, Belgium, to pagan parents, the nobleman Levold and his wife, Hildegaart.[5][6] Alena chose to be baptized without the knowledge of her parents. As a Christian, she had to attend Mass secretly.[3]
When her father discovered that she was worshipping as a Christian, he came to the conclusion that Christians had bewitched her into conversion. He sent guards to bring her home; she resisted, and during the fighting she lost one arm.[1] She subsequently died in prison due to her injuries.[5]
Various (unspecified) miracles were claimed at the burial site of Alena's body, and one of Levold's subjects, Duke Omundus, had his sight restored by invoking Alena's prayers.[6]
An angel appeared and took the severed arm to the chapel where she worshipped. Alena's parents were shocked, but the miracles, and the witness given by her determined faith, led them to examine Christianity, and they themselves were converted.[1]
Veneration of Saint Alena
Sint-Alenatoren (left) with De Viron Castle on the background
The Blind Leading the Blind by Pieter Breughel the Elder In the background is the church of Saint Alena of Dilbeek Belgium
The Bishop of Cambrai gave permission for Abbot Godeschalk of Affligem Abbey to enshrine Alena's remains in the Priory of Forest, then a dependency of Affligem, as the relics of a saint on Pentecost Sunday, 19 May 1193. This was effectively a canonisation.[4][6]
The chapel with Alena's relics became a popular place of pilgrimage. Her shrine became incorporated into the parish church of Forest as a chapel which held her cenotaph and relics.[4] By around 1600, her jawbone and upper arm were preserved in the parish church, each in its own jewel-studded reliquary dating from the 15th century. The rest of the bones, with the exception of the collarbones, were preserved in the abbey church in a Baroque reliquary (1644) commissioned by Françoise de Bette, abbess 1637–1666. When the abbey was suppressed in 1796 the last abbess, Juana Francisca de Rueda de Conteras (1785–1818), removed this reliquary to a monastery near Würzburg. It was returned to Forest only in 1812. The collarbones are still kept in a reliquary in the church of St Ambrosius in Dilbeek.[7]
Saint Alena is depicted in art as a princess with one arm torn off. She might also be portrayed healing a blind man, or with an angel helping her.[3]
She is venerated in Brussels, and is invoked for eye troubles and toothache.[3]
Her feast day is given as 17 June by the Polish Breviary[5] but other Polish-language sources also recognise 16 June, 28 July and 16 December;[2] with 16 June and 16 December often being kept as the name day in Poland.[8][9][10] Her feast is cited as 19 June in Italy,[11] and 24 June by English-language sources.[1][3] It is kept locally on 16 June in the Brabant region of Belgium.[12] The Antiochian Orthodox Diocese of North America commemorates her on 18 June.[13] She does not appear in the index of the 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology.[14]
References
^ abcdeSaint Alena at SQPN 2012-04-29 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 2012-05-10.
^St. Alena, Martyr, of Belgium Accessed 2012-05-10.
^Martyrologium Romanum, 2004, Vatican Press (Typis Vaticanis), pp. 697-844.
January 07, 2023
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Not to be confused with Blessed Alina Martain or Blessed Michelina of Pesaro Saint Alena also written Alene 1 or Alina 2 is a Christian saint who if historical was martyred around the year 640 1 She is sometimes referred to as Alena of Forest 2 or Alena of Brussels 3 having died in Forest Belgium which is now one of the nineteen municipalities of Brussels SaintAlenaVirgin and martyrBornDilbeek near Brussels BelgiumDiedc 640Venerated inRoman Catholic ChurchEastern Orthodox ChurchCanonized1193Major shrineForest BelgiumFeast16 June Brabant 17 June Poland 18 June Antiochian Orthodox 19 June Italy 24 June USA 28 July Poland 16 December Poland Patronagetoothaches and eye troubleLife of Saint Alena EditThe traditional account of Saint Alena s life dating to the twelfth century 4 states that she was born in Dilbeek just outside Brussels Belgium to pagan parents the nobleman Levold and his wife Hildegaart 5 6 Alena chose to be baptized without the knowledge of her parents As a Christian she had to attend Mass secretly 3 When her father discovered that she was worshipping as a Christian he came to the conclusion that Christians had bewitched her into conversion He sent guards to bring her home she resisted and during the fighting she lost one arm 1 She subsequently died in prison due to her injuries 5 Various unspecified miracles were claimed at the burial site of Alena s body and one of Levold s subjects Duke Omundus had his sight restored by invoking Alena s prayers 6 An angel appeared and took the severed arm to the chapel where she worshipped Alena s parents were shocked but the miracles and the witness given by her determined faith led them to examine Christianity and they themselves were converted 1 Veneration of Saint Alena Edit Sint Alenatoren left with De Viron Castle on the background The Blind Leading the Blind by Pieter Breughel the Elder In the background is the church of Saint Alena of Dilbeek Belgium The Bishop of Cambrai gave permission for Abbot Godeschalk of Affligem Abbey to enshrine Alena s remains in the Priory of Forest then a dependency of Affligem as the relics of a saint on Pentecost Sunday 19 May 1193 This was effectively a canonisation 4 6 The chapel with Alena s relics became a popular place of pilgrimage Her shrine became incorporated into the parish church of Forest as a chapel which held her cenotaph and relics 4 By around 1600 her jawbone and upper arm were preserved in the parish church each in its own jewel studded reliquary dating from the 15th century The rest of the bones with the exception of the collarbones were preserved in the abbey church in a Baroque reliquary 1644 commissioned by Francoise de Bette abbess 1637 1666 When the abbey was suppressed in 1796 the last abbess Juana Francisca de Rueda de Conteras 1785 1818 removed this reliquary to a monastery near Wurzburg It was returned to Forest only in 1812 The collarbones are still kept in a reliquary in the church of St Ambrosius in Dilbeek 7 Saint Alena is depicted in art as a princess with one arm torn off She might also be portrayed healing a blind man or with an angel helping her 3 She is venerated in Brussels and is invoked for eye troubles and toothache 3 Her feast day is given as 17 June by the Polish Breviary 5 but other Polish language sources also recognise 16 June 28 July and 16 December 2 with 16 June and 16 December often being kept as the name day in Poland 8 9 10 Her feast is cited as 19 June in Italy 11 and 24 June by English language sources 1 3 It is kept locally on 16 June in the Brabant region of Belgium 12 The Antiochian Orthodox Diocese of North America commemorates her on 18 June 13 She does not appear in the index of the 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology 14 References Edit a b c d e Saint Alena at SQPN Archived 2012 04 29 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 2012 05 10 a b c Saint Alina at Ebobas Accessed 2012 05 10 a b c d e Saint of the Day for 24 June at St Patrick s Accessed 2012 05 10 a b c The Church of Saint Denis Archived 2012 12 31 at archive today Accessed 2012 05 10 a b c Saint Alina at Brewiarz Accessed 2012 05 10 a b c Legend of Saint Alina Archived 2013 01 15 at archive today Accessed 2012 05 11 Bart Fransen Recherches historiques Historisch onderzoek Bulletin of the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage 32 2006 2008 pp 95 101 Polish Name website Accessed 2013 06 14 Polish Historical Calendar website Accessed 2013 06 14 Blog by Alina from Koszalin Accessed 2013 06 14 Italian Baby Names Alina Archived 2011 10 25 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 2012 05 10 Saint Aline at Nominis Accessed 2012 05 10 St Alena Martyr of Belgium Accessed 2012 05 10 Martyrologium Romanum 2004 Vatican Press Typis Vaticanis pp 697 844 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Saint Alena amp oldid 1093222697, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
