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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Walburga</title><script src="https://dtyry4ejybx0.cloudfront.net/js/cmp/cleanmediacmp.js?ver=0104" async="true"></script><script defer data-domain="newadvent.org" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"></script><link rel="canonical" href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15526b.htm"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <meta name="description" content="Fairly lengthy biographical article on this abbess of a double monastery, and author, who died in 777"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="http://feeds.newadvent.org/bestoftheweb?format=xml"><link rel="icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><link rel="shortcut icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><meta name="robots" content="noodp"><link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="../utility/screen6.css" media="screen"></head> <body class="cathen" id="15526b.htm">  <br/> <div id="capitalcity"><table summary="Logo" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="100%"><tr valign="bottom"><td align="left"><a href="../"><img height=36 width=153 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></td><td align="right"> <form id="searchbox_000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0" action="../utility/search.htm">  <input type="hidden" name="safe" value="active"> <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0"/> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="FORID:9"/>  <label for="searchQuery" id="searchQueryLabel">Search:</label> <input id="searchQuery" name="q" type="text" size="25" aria-labelledby="searchQueryLabel"/>  <label for="submitButton" id="submitButtonLabel" class="visually-hidden">Submit Search</label> <input id="submitButton" type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" aria-labelledby="submitButtonLabel"/> </form> <table summary="Spacer" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td height="2"></td></tr></table> <table summary="Tabs" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../"> Home </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_white_on_color" href="../cathen/index.html"> Encyclopedia </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../summa/index.html"> Summa </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../fathers/index.html"> Fathers </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../bible/gen001.htm"> Bible </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../library/index.html"> Library </a></td> </tr></table> </td> </tr></table><table summary="Alphabetical index" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"> <a href="../cathen/a.htm"> A </a><a href="../cathen/b.htm"> B </a><a href="../cathen/c.htm"> C </a><a href="../cathen/d.htm"> D </a><a href="../cathen/e.htm"> E </a><a href="../cathen/f.htm"> F </a><a href="../cathen/g.htm"> G </a><a href="../cathen/h.htm"> H </a><a href="../cathen/i.htm"> I </a><a href="../cathen/j.htm"> J </a><a href="../cathen/k.htm"> K </a><a href="../cathen/l.htm"> L </a><a href="../cathen/m.htm"> M </a><a href="../cathen/n.htm"> N </a><a href="../cathen/o.htm"> O </a><a href="../cathen/p.htm"> P </a><a href="../cathen/q.htm"> Q </a><a href="../cathen/r.htm"> R </a><a href="../cathen/s.htm"> S </a><a href="../cathen/t.htm"> T </a><a href="../cathen/u.htm"> U </a><a href="../cathen/v.htm"> V </a><a href="../cathen/w.htm"> W </a><a href="../cathen/x.htm"> X </a><a href="../cathen/y.htm"> Y </a><a href="../cathen/z.htm"> Z </a> </td></tr></table></div> <div id="mobilecity" style="text-align: center; "><a href="../"><img height=24 width=102 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></div>  <div id="mi5"><span class="breadcrumbs"><a href="../">Home</a> > <a href="../cathen">Catholic Encyclopedia</a> > <a href="../cathen/w.htm">W</a> > St. Walburga</span></div> <div id="springfield2"> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-top' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <h1>St. Walburga</h1> <p><em><a href="https://gumroad.com/l/na2"><strong>Please help support the mission of New Advent</strong> and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more  all for only $19.99...</a></em></p> <p>(WALTPURDE, WALPURGIS; at Perche GAUBURGE; in other parts of <a href="../cathen/06166a.htm">France</a> VAUBOURG, FALBOURG).</p> <p>Born in Devonshire, about 710; died at Heidenheim, 25 Feb., 777. She is the patroness of Eichstadt, Oudenarde, Furnes, <a href="../cathen/01588e.htm">Antwerp</a>, Gronigen, Weilburg, and Zutphen, and is invoked as special patroness against hydrophobia, and in storms, and also by sailors. She was the daughter of St. Richard, one of the under-kings of the West Saxons, and of Winna, sister of <a href="../cathen/02656a.htm">St. Boniface</a>, Apostle of <a href="../cathen/06484b.htm">Germany</a>, and had two brothers, St. Willibald and St. Winibald. St. Richard, when starting with his two sons on a <a href="../cathen/12085a.htm">pilgrimage</a> to the Holy Land, entrusted Walburga, then eleven years old, to the <a href="../cathen/01007e.htm">abbess</a> of <a href="../cathen/15648a.htm">Wimborne</a>. In the claustral <a href="../cathen/13554b.htm">school</a> and as a member of the community, she spent twenty-six years preparing for the great work she was to accomplish in <a href="../cathen/06484b.htm">Germany</a>. The <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">monastery</a> was famous for <a href="../cathen/07386a.htm">holiness</a> and austere discipline. There was a high standard at <a href="../cathen/15648a.htm">Wimborne</a>, and the child was trained in solid learning, and in accomplishments suitable to her rank. Thanks to this she was later able to write St. Winibald's Life and an account in Latin of St. Willibald's travels in Palestine. She is thus looked upon by many as the first <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">female</a> author of <a href="../cathen/05445a.htm">England</a> and <a href="../cathen/06484b.htm">Germany</a>. Scarcely a year after her arrival, Walburga received tidings of her father's death at <a href="../cathen/09405a.htm">Lucca</a>. During this period <a href="../cathen/02656a.htm">St. Boniface</a> was laying the foundations of the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> in <a href="../cathen/06484b.htm">Germany</a>. He saw that for the most part scattered efforts would be futile, or would exert but a passing influence. He, therefore, determined to bring the whole country under an organized system. As he advanced in his spiritual conquests he established <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">monasteries</a> which, like fortresses, should hold the conquered regions, and from whose watch-towers the light of <a href="../cathen/05752c.htm">faith</a> and learning should radiate far and near.</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p><a href="../cathen/02656a.htm">Boniface</a> was the first missionary to call <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">women</a> to his aid. In 748, in response to his appeal, <a href="../cathen/01007e.htm">Abbess</a> Tetta sent over to <a href="../cathen/06484b.htm">Germany</a> St. Lioba and St. Walburga, with many other <a href="../cathen/11164a.htm">nuns</a>. They sailed with fair weather, but before long a terrible storm arose. Hereupon Walburga <a href="../cathen/12345b.htm">prayed</a>, kneeling on the deck, and at once the sea became calm. On landing, the sailors proclaimed the <a href="../cathen/10338a.htm">miracle</a> they had witnessed, so that Walburga was everywhere received with <a href="../cathen/07131b.htm">joy</a> and veneration. There is a tradition in the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> of <a href="../cathen/01588e.htm">Antwerp</a> that, on her way to <a href="../cathen/06484b.htm">Germany</a>, Walburga made some stay there; and in that city's most ancient church, which now bears the title of St. Walburga, there is pointed out a grotto in which she was wont to <a href="../cathen/12345b.htm">pray</a>. This same church, before adopting the Roman Office, was accustomed to celebrate the feast of St. Walburga four times a year. At <a href="../cathen/09550a.htm">Mainz</a> she was welcomed by her uncle, <a href="../cathen/02656a.htm">St. Boniface</a>, and by her brother, St. Willibald. After living some time under the rule of St. Lioba at Bischofsheim, she was appointed <a href="../cathen/01007e.htm">abbess</a> of Heidenheim, and was thus placed near her favourite brother, St. Winibald, who governed an <a href="../cathen/01010a.htm">abbey</a> there. After his death she ruled over the <a href="../cathen/10487b.htm">monks'</a> <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">monastery</a> as well as her own. Her virtue, sweetness, and <a href="../cathen/12517b.htm">prudence</a>, added to the gifts of grace and nature with which she was endowed, as well as the many <a href="../cathen/10338a.htm">miracles</a> she wrought, endeared her to all. It was of these <a href="../cathen/11164a.htm">nuns</a> that <a href="../cathen/11378a.htm">Ozanam</a> wrote: "Silence and <a href="../cathen/07543b.htm">humility</a> have veiled the labours of the <a href="../cathen/11164a.htm">nuns</a> from the eyes of the world, but history has assigned them their place at the very beginning of German civilization: Providence has placed <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">women</a> at ever cradleside." On 23 Sept., 776, she assisted at the translation of her brother St. Winibald's body by St. Willibald, when it was found that time had left no trace upon the sacred remains. Shortly after this she fell ill, and, having been assisted in her last moments by St. Willibald, she expired.</p> <p>St. Willibald laid her to rest beside St. Winibald, and many wonders were wrought at both <a href="../cathen/14773b.htm">tombs</a>. St. Willibald survived till 786, and after his death devotion to St. Walburga gradually declined, and her <a href="../cathen/14773b.htm">tomb</a> was neglected. About 870, Otkar, then <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">Bishop</a> of Eichstadt, determined to restore the church and <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">monastery</a> of Heidenheim, which were falling to ruin. The workmen having <a href="../cathen/04748c.htm">desecrated</a> St. Walburga's grave, she one night appeared to the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishop</a>, reproaching and threatening him. This led to the solemn translation of the remains to Eichstadt on 21 Sept. of the same year. They were placed in the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> of Holy Cross, now called St. Walburga's. In 893 Bishop Erchanbold, Otkar's successor, opened the shrine to take out a portion of the <a href="../cathen/12734a.htm">relics</a> for Liubula, <a href="../cathen/01007e.htm">Abbess</a> of Monheim, and it was then that the body was first discovered to be immersed in a precious oil or dew, which from that day to this (save during a period when Eichstadt was laid under <a href="../cathen/08073a.htm">interdict</a>, and when blood was shed in the church by robbers who seriously wounded the bell-ringer) has continued to flow from the sacred remains, especially the breast. This fact has <a href="../cathen/03459a.htm">caused</a> St. Walburga to be reckoned among the <em>Elaephori</em>, or oil-yielding <a href="../cathen/04171a.htm">saints</a> (see <a href="../cathen/11228d.htm">OIL OF SAINTS</a>). Portions of St. Walburga's <a href="../cathen/12734a.htm">relics</a> have been taken to <a href="../cathen/04116a.htm">Cologne</a>, <a href="../cathen/01588e.htm">Antwerp</a>, Furnes, and elsewhere, whilst her oil has been carried to all quarters of the globe.</p> <p>The various translations of St. Walburga's <a href="../cathen/12734a.htm">relics</a> have led to a diversity of feasts in her <a href="../cathen/07462a.htm">honour</a>. In the Roman Martyrology she is commemorated on 1 May, her name being linked with <a href="../cathen/01766a.htm">St. Asaph's</a>, on which day her chief festival is celebrated in <a href="../cathen/02395a.htm">Belgium</a> and <a href="../cathen/02353c.htm">Bavaria</a>. In the <a href="../cathen/02443a.htm">Benedictine</a> <a href="../cathen/02768b.htm">Breviary</a> her <a href="../cathen/06021b.htm">feast</a> is assigned to 25 (in leap year 26) Feb. She is represented in the <a href="../cathen/02443a.htm">Benedictine</a> habit with a little phial or bottle; as an <a href="../cathen/01007e.htm">abbess</a> with a <a href="../cathen/04515c.htm">crozier</a>, a crown at her feet, denoting her royal birth; sometimes she is represented in a group with St. Philip and St. James the Less, and St. Sigismund, King of <a href="../cathen/03068a.htm">Burgundy</a>, because she is said to have been <a href="../cathen/02364b.htm">canonized</a> by <a href="../cathen/01156a.htm">Pope Adrian II</a> on 1 May, the festival of these <a href="../cathen/04171a.htm">saints</a>. If, however, as some maintain, she was <a href="../cathen/02364b.htm">canonized</a> during the episcopate of Erchanbold, not in Otkar's, then it could not have been during the pontificate of <a href="../cathen/01156a.htm">Adrian II</a>. The <a href="../cathen/02443a.htm">Benedictine</a> community of Eichstadt is flourishing, and the <a href="../cathen/11164a.htm">nuns</a> have care of the <a href="../cathen/04171a.htm">saint's</a> shrine; that of Heidenheim was ruthlessly expelled in 1538, but the church is now in <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> hands.</p> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-bottom' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <div class="pub"><h2>About this page</h2><p id="apa"><strong>APA citation.</strong> <span id="apaauthor">Casanova, G.</span> <span id="apayear">(1912).</span> <span id="apaarticle">St. Walburga.</span> In <span id="apawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="apapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company.</span> <span id="apaurl">http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15526b.htm</span></p><p id="mla"><strong>MLA citation.</strong> <span id="mlaauthor">Casanova, Gertrude.</span> <span id="mlaarticle">"St. Walburga."</span> <span id="mlawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="mlavolume">Vol. 15.</span> <span id="mlapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company,</span> <span id="mlayear">1912.</span> <span id="mlaurl"><http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15526b.htm>.</span></p><p id="transcription"><strong>Transcription.</strong> <span id="transcriber">This article was transcribed for New Advent by Tim Drake.</span> <span id="dedication"></span></p><p id="approbation"><strong>Ecclesiastical approbation.</strong> <span id="nihil"><em>Nihil Obstat.</em> October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.</span> <span id="imprimatur"><em>Imprimatur.</em> +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.</span></p><p id="contactus"><strong>Contact information.</strong> The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster <em>at</em> newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.</p></div> </div> <div id="ogdenville"><table summary="Bottom bar" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"><center><strong>Copyright © 2023 by <a href="../utility/contactus.htm">New Advent LLC</a>. 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