Saint Adelaide of Burgandy

If you hadn't read already, Jen Fulwiler has her Saint Name Generator online again this year. I have never participated in this particular annual Catholic blogging ritual, but this year I decided to give it a try.  Before clicking the "show me my saint" button I said a little prayer and was I ever pleasantly surprised with the intercessor I received--Saint Adelaide of Burgandy.  While much of her patronage is not applicable to me, she is still a wonderful choice for me in my current state of life.  I'm looking forward to learning more about Saint Adelaide and hoping I remember to call on her intercession throughout 2014.  Happy New Year!

Feastday: December 16
Patron of abuse victims; brides; empresses; exiles; in-law problems; parenthood; parents of large families; princesses; prisoners; second marriages; step-parents; widows
932 - 999

Born c. 931 in Burgandy, St. Adelaide married, at 15 or 16, Lothair of Italy to whom her father had engaged her when she was two. When Lothair died three years later, his successor and usurper Berengar of Ivrea imprisoned Adelaide and attempted to force her to marry his son. Legends tell of Adelaide's escape to Canossa, where she appealed to Otto of Germany for help. He conqueredItaly and married her in 951. John XII crowned the pair rulers of the Holy Roman Empire the following year. After Otto's death in 973, Adelaide quarrelled with Otto II, possibly at the instigation of her daughter-in-law, Theophano, and lived with her brother in Burgandy. She established many monasteries and churches; she also became interested in evangelism. She and her son reconciled before his death in 983, and she became regent for her grandson, Otto III. Adelaide died in 999 at the convert at Seltz, which she had founded. Cluny became the center of her cult. She was canonized in 1097.