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Witnessing to Christ by the way of life, not by death.

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February 2 · Confessor

St. Adalbald

St. Adalbald

Witnessing to Christ by the way of life, not by death.

Traditional feast

February 2
1914 / pre-1969 calendar, per Baring-Gould (1897)

Current feast

February 2 (also listed: May 2)
Secondary source · Wikipedia

Represents

Confessor

Early life

Selected sentences from the original account, unaltered.

Thin entry · the 1897 book gives only 129 words. We have not filled the gap with invented detail.

His mother's name was Gerberta. From his earliest youth he was a model of virtue, even in the court of the king.

What they represent

How they teach us to live

Drawn from themes in the original account

Share your faith, in words and by example. Preaching and conversion are central here.

Learn from the kind of life it was. Witnessing to Christ by the way of life, not by death.

Read more

The full original · 129 words

Read Baring-Gould’s full account

Baring-Gould’s sources: Belgian Martyrologies, and in Saussaye's supplement to the Gallican Martyrology. Authorities:—Mention of him in the life of his wife S. Richtrudis, by Hucbald the monk, a.d. 907; and in the life of his daughter, S. Eusebia. In some Martyrologies he is styled Martyr, but generally Duke.

Duke Adalbald was a grandson of S. Gertrude of Hamage. His mother's name was Gerberta. From his earliest youth he was a model of virtue, even in the court of the king. He married S. Richtrudis, by whom he had S. Maurontus, his eldest son, who became afterwards abbot; and three virgin saintly daughters, Clotsendis, Eusebia, and Andalsendis. S. Amandus baptized Clotsendis, and Queen Nanthild, wife of King Dagobert, was sponsor to Eusebia. On his way to Gascony for some purpose, he was waylaid and murdered, by certain persons who were displeased at his marriage with Richtrudis. It seems probable, therefore, that the crime was committed on account of some property, but nothing for certain is known of the motive actuating the murderers. Relics at S. Amand, in Flanders.

Feast days

Feast: February 2

Nine days · Free

Pray the novena
with us.

One short email a day for nine days. The day's prayer, a line from St. Adalbald's story, and a nudge to keep going.

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← All 1726 saints in the library
Sources & notes

Feast-day sources

Sources

Credits

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897), digitized text from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897), digitized text from Project Gutenberg. Public domain in the United States. Reproduced unedited, except for short bracketed notes in grey that we added to explain names and terms (“S.” is the old abbreviation for Saint). Some history and judgments reflect 19th-century scholarship.