| Honorific Prefix: | Saint |
| Gudula of Brabant | |
| Death Date: | 680–714 |
| Feast Day: | 8 January, 19 January in the Diocese of Ghent |
| Venerated In: | Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church[1] |
| Birth Place: | Pagus of Brabant |
| Death Place: | Hamme, Francia |
| Canonized Place: | Pre-Congregation |
| Attributes: | depicted as a woman with lantern which the devil tries to blow out |
| Patronage: | Brussels, single, laywomen |
| Major Shrine: | Eibingen St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral |
Gudula of Brabant, also known as Saint Gudula (ca. 646 - 712), was a Christian saint who is venerated in Catholic and Orthodox churches. In Brabant, she is usually called Goedele or Goule; (la|Gudila, later Latin: Gudula; nl|Goedele; fr|Gudule). Her name is connected to several places: Moorsel (where she lived), Brussels (where a chapter in her honour was founded in 1047) and Eibingen (where the relic of her skull is conserved).
Gudula was born around 646 in the pagus of Brabant (in present-day Belgium). According to her 11th-century biography (Vita Gudilae), written by Onulfus of Hautmont, a monk of Hautmont Abbey between 1048 and 1051,[2] she was the daughter of a duke of Lotharingia called Witger and Saint Amalberga. Her mother embraced the religious life in Maubeuge Abbey. Gudula had three sisters, Saint Pharaildis, Saint Reineldis and Saint Ermelinde, and one brother, Saint Emebertus.[3] She received the veil from the hands of Saint Aubert, Bishop of Cambrai (d. about 668).
Gudula was educated in Nivelles Abbey by her godmother, Gertrude of Nivelles. When Gertrude died, Gudula moved back to her home at Moorsel, spending her time in good works and religious devotion. She was profuse in her alms for the poor,[4] and frequently visited the church of Moorsel, situated about two miles from her parents' house.[3] Nothing particular is recorded of Gudula beyond the singular holiness of her life.[5]
Gudula died between 680 and 714, with the most frequent date mentioned being 712, and was buried at Hamme (East Flanders). Later, her relics were removed to a St. Salvator near Moorsel, where the body was interred behind the altar. During the reign of Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine (977–992), they were transferred to Saint Gaugericus' chapel in Brussels.[3] Lambert II, Count of Leuven, (d. 1054) founded a chapter in 1047 in honour of Saint Gudula. Bishop Gerardus I of Cambrai (d. 1051) led the translation of her relics to the church of Saint Michael in Brussels. The church later became the famous Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula.
On 6 June 1579, the collegiate church was pillaged and wrecked by Protestant Geuzen ("Beggars"), and Saint Gudula's relics were disinterred and scattered.
Along with Saint Michael, Gudula is a patron saint of Brussels.[6] Her feast is generally celebrated on 8 January (the day she died according to her hagiography). However, in the diocese of Ghent (where Moorsel is situated), her feast is held on 19 January. Charlemagne also made donations to the convent of Moorsel in her honour.
Saint Gudula's skull is conserved in the Catholic Church of St. Hildegard in Eibingen, Germany.
Saint Gudula is often depicted holding a lantern or taper, but this originates probably out of confusion with the Paris Saint Genevieve tradition. She is depicted on a seal of the Church of St. Gudula of 1446 holding in her right hand a candle, and in her left a lamp, which a demon tries to extinguish. This refers to the legend that the saint went to church before cock-crow. The demon, wishing to stray her off the right way, extinguished the candle, but the saint obtained from God that her lantern should be rekindled.[7]
The flower called tremella deliquescens, which bears fruit in the beginning of January, is known as Sinte Goedele's lampken (St. Gudula's lantern).