Adalbert of Egmond

Saint Adalbert of Egmond (also called Adelbert of Egmond) (d first half of the 8th century in Egmond) was a Northumbrian Anglo-Saxon missionary. He was one of Saint Willibrord's companions in preaching the gospel in Holland and Frisia.

Biography

The "Life" of Adalbert is not rich in fact. He is said to have been born in Northumbria and, according to some sources, to have been first a monk at Rathmelsigi (possibly on the site of the later Mellifont Abbey, Co. Louth) and to have assisted in Ireland with the missionary work of Saint Egbert. He then went in c 690 to assist Saint Willibrord (who had also been at Rathmelsigi) in the mission field of Frisia, where he became associated particularly with Egmond. He was buried there, and miracles were reported at his tomb, over which a church was built.

Veneration

His continued remembrance rests largely on the foundation of the Benedictine monastery at Egmond, the first in the country, some two hundred years later by Count Dirk I of West Frisia (or Holland), of which Adalbert was made the patron. The "Vita" was not commissioned until the 990s, which presumably accounts for its lack of facts. Adalbert's relics were translated to the newly built abbey (initially, a convent) for veneration. After the Reformation and the destruction of the abbey, they were preserved in Haarlem. The cult was reinstated when the abbey was re-founded in 1923, and the relics were returned there in 1984. The saint's skull, painstakingly restored, is also preserved beneath the high altar. HIs feast day is 25 June.

References

#newgenbio|Adelbert

External links

* [http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintaag.htm Catholic Forum article]
* [http://utopia.knoware.nl/users/ikedl/chant/ike/saints/Adelbertus_of_Egmond_st.htm Utopia article]
* [http://www.abdijvanegmond.nl/patroon.html Life of Adalbert, website of Egmond Abbey, in Dutch]
* [http://www.ping.be/~ijpelaan/Heil2.html Detailed consideration of the legend and relics of Adalbert, in Flemish]