Realizing "Hey - you know this great saint, St. Radegonde..." wasn't the best conversation starter, I immediately thought that I would have to name a child after her. Funny that it didn't occur to me that Radegonde doesn't make for the best child's name either.
But six years later, I find myself explaining who Radegonde is, how to pronounce her name correctly, and yes, that my daughter's middle name is after a dragon slayer.
A dear friend of mine visited my sister's convent for a while and would send out Europe Updates. Of all the descriptions of St. Radegonde's life, I still love her's the best. So below is my friend's Life of St. Radegonde...
"I guess you need some background on St. Radegonde before you can really appreciate this story. Radegonde was the queen of the Franks in the middle of the sixth century, but she was not happy about it. If you remember from your history class, the first Christian king of the Franks was Clovis. He had two sons who became kings after his death. Unfortunately, these sons did not appreciate the whole "God is Love" aspect of the gospels, and they went about burning and pillaging lands bordering their kingdom. They invaded Thuringia (now in Germany), killed the king, and captured his two young children, ten-year-old Radegonde and her little brother. Many years passed. When King Clotaire's wife died, he decided that he wanted to marry Radegonde. After being caught trying to run away, Radegonde eventually was forced to marry the king. (Side note: Would YOU want to marry the guy who killed your father? I don't think I would find that kind of guy attractive, personally.) Anyway, Radegonde used her position and wealth to feed the local poor, tend the local sick, and plead for poor souls who were unjustly imprisoned. She would also spend her nights kneeling on the cold stone floor of her bedroom and doing penances.
This went on for a while until the already unattractive King Clotaire cold-bloodedly assassinated his beloved wife's only surviving relative, her little brother. Hint to all men: This is NOT a good way to keep your wife from running away from you, as Clotaire found out. Radegonde ran to the local bishop and gained his permission to leave her husband and join the monastic life. Clotaire was forced to agree to this after one day, after the newly planted oat stalks in the field through which Radegonde was fleeing grew to be over five feet tall, hiding Radegonde from the view of the king.
After this all happened, Radegonde settled in Poitiers, where the king gave her the land to found a monastery, L'Abbaye de Saint-Croix, which I think was on the same piece of land that the convent I am at right now is on, but it was bigger. Now, the part of the original abbey that is left is a curious rock formation that is just off one of the main streets here. Radegonde spent her days praying, taking care of the local sick, and bringing stability to the kingdom by making peace between her two stepsons, who had become kings after their father died. When she died, she was buried in a church named Sainte-Marie-hors-les-murs, which eventually became called St. Radegonde's because so many people went to visit her tomb there. You can actually still go visit her sarcophagus, which is right underneath the altar.
Back to the legend, the story has it that there was a dragon named la Grande Goule that lived in the area around the monastery. This dragon was especially villified because it would eat all the young nuns who ventured out alone after dark. Not good. So, one day, St. Radegonde left the monastery in search of the evil dragon and killed it, thereby winning the admiration of her fellow nuns and of the townspeople.
Side note: The skeptics among you might be thinking "This story is stupid. There are no such things as dragons." Well, have you ever seen the movie Dragonheart? I remember being forced to watch it in the bus taking us to the fateful honors retreat my freshman year of college. I was sitting next to my new buddy Clare, and we were both appalled by the film's lack of, well, anything that makes a movie good. Anyway, the movie puts out the theory that dragons did exist, and that the last dragon was actually a selfless creature who just wanted to help out humanity. The point is: Some weird people do think that dragons existed.
Actually, the real point is that whether or not the story is literally true really makes no difference. It just means that if God would give anyone the strength to kill a nun-eating dragon, he would give it to St. Radegonde because she was so holy.
These days, the Grande Goule is that local den of debauchery, the discothèque, which is found right across the street from the Church of St. Radegonde. I personally would feel very satisfied if the body of St. Radegonde rose up, walked across the street, and put the fear of God into the proprietors of the discothèque, but it probably won't happen."
This went on for a while until the already unattractive King Clotaire cold-bloodedly assassinated his beloved wife's only surviving relative, her little brother. Hint to all men: This is NOT a good way to keep your wife from running away from you, as Clotaire found out. Radegonde ran to the local bishop and gained his permission to leave her husband and join the monastic life. Clotaire was forced to agree to this after one day, after the newly planted oat stalks in the field through which Radegonde was fleeing grew to be over five feet tall, hiding Radegonde from the view of the king.
After this all happened, Radegonde settled in Poitiers, where the king gave her the land to found a monastery, L'Abbaye de Saint-Croix, which I think was on the same piece of land that the convent I am at right now is on, but it was bigger. Now, the part of the original abbey that is left is a curious rock formation that is just off one of the main streets here. Radegonde spent her days praying, taking care of the local sick, and bringing stability to the kingdom by making peace between her two stepsons, who had become kings after their father died. When she died, she was buried in a church named Sainte-Marie-hors-les-murs, which eventually became called St. Radegonde's because so many people went to visit her tomb there. You can actually still go visit her sarcophagus, which is right underneath the altar.
Back to the legend, the story has it that there was a dragon named la Grande Goule that lived in the area around the monastery. This dragon was especially villified because it would eat all the young nuns who ventured out alone after dark. Not good. So, one day, St. Radegonde left the monastery in search of the evil dragon and killed it, thereby winning the admiration of her fellow nuns and of the townspeople.
Side note: The skeptics among you might be thinking "This story is stupid. There are no such things as dragons." Well, have you ever seen the movie Dragonheart? I remember being forced to watch it in the bus taking us to the fateful honors retreat my freshman year of college. I was sitting next to my new buddy Clare, and we were both appalled by the film's lack of, well, anything that makes a movie good. Anyway, the movie puts out the theory that dragons did exist, and that the last dragon was actually a selfless creature who just wanted to help out humanity. The point is: Some weird people do think that dragons existed.
Actually, the real point is that whether or not the story is literally true really makes no difference. It just means that if God would give anyone the strength to kill a nun-eating dragon, he would give it to St. Radegonde because she was so holy.
These days, the Grande Goule is that local den of debauchery, the discothèque, which is found right across the street from the Church of St. Radegonde. I personally would feel very satisfied if the body of St. Radegonde rose up, walked across the street, and put the fear of God into the proprietors of the discothèque, but it probably won't happen."
1 comment:
Wow, talk about intense! I had never heard of St. Radegonde, before today. People seem to be fond of St. Joan of Arc for similar reasons (err... in principle, not deed), so it's surprising she isn't well-known.
Out of curiosity, how DOES one pronounce her name?
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