Wednesday’s Woman: St. Monegundis

The Basics: Born 6th century in France; died 570 in France; canonized pre-congregation; feast day, July 2. Wife, mother, woman religious.

The Story: Life was humming along for Monegundis. She was married and had two young daughters. Then, one after the other, the girls died.

Monegundis fell into a deep, deep depression. The only thing that seemed to help was quiet time with God. As she found solace in her time alone, eventually, she and her husband agreed it would be best for her to become a recluse, initially in a private room in the town in which they lived. As Monegundis’s faith deepened, she

moved to a site near the tomb of St. Martin of Tours. Eventually, she founded a monastery that later would become the convent at St. Pierre-le-Puellier in Tours (pictured here).

Even as a hermit, Monegundis was not entirely isolated from people. She is said to have effected many miracles, including the curing of people who were blind and deaf. There also is a legend that upon her deathbed, she blessed a cruet of vinegar and a barrel of salt for her community, and that neither ever ran out.

What We Can Learn from Monegundis: Tragedy often is incomprehensible; there typically are not good reasons for why bad things happen to us or those we love. We will always grieve those we lose. Our best and sometimes only comfort can be found in the Lord.

To Learn More About Monegundis: Read the entries about her in Lives and Legends of the Great Hermits and Fathers of the Church, with Other Contemporary Saints.

To Learn More About Other Women Saints and Blesseds: Come back next week, or consider buying my book, Sisterhood of Saints: Daily Guidance and Inspiration.

Tagged as: Catholic, monegundis, saints, st. pierre-le-puellier tours, wednesdays woman, women saints