For Saint Oda of Canterbury, see Oda the Severe

Oda the Severe

Oda , called the Good or the Severe, was a 10th-century Archbishop of Canterbury in England.-Early career:...

Saint Oda of Scotland (c. 680 – c. 726) was a woman, supposedly of Scottish origin, who became a holy woman in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

.

Life

Oda was born blind and her father sent her on pilgrimage

Pilgrimage

A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...

 to Liège to visit the relics of Saint Lambert

Saint Lambert (martyr)

Saint Lambert was the bishop of Maastricht from about 670 until his death. Lambert was from a noble family of Maastricht, a protégé of his uncle, Bishop Theodard of Maastricht. When Theodard was murdered soon after 669, the councillors of Childeric II made Lambert bishop of Maastricht...

. While praying at Saint Lambert's grave she was miraculously cured from her blindness. The miraculous cure of Oda is recorded in Saint Lambert's 8th century vitae

Vitae

Vitae is a Latin word, meaning or pertaining to life.* The Academia Vitae is a liberal arts college in Deventer, The Netherlands.* Aqua vitae is an archaic name for a concentrated aqueous solution of ethanol....

. Vowing to dedicate her life to God, she returned to Scotland.

According to records written in the 13th century, her father wanted her to marry in Scotland. Because of her vow she fled across the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

. After a pilgrimage

Pilgrimage

A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...

 to Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 and Monte Sant'Angelo sul Gargano, she moved to live in an open space in the woods in a place now known as Sint Oedenrode in the Netherlands (a small manmade open space in the woods is called a 'rode' in Dutch - the village is named after Oda).

16th century records describe how Oda prayed in various villages in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 and Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 only to be disturbed by magpie

Magpie

Magpies are passerine birds of the crow family, Corvidae.In Europe, "magpie" is often used by English speakers as a synonym for the European Magpie, as there are no other magpies in Europe outside Iberia...

s. She fled from the magpies and the birds led her to the open space in the forest.

Some accounts describe her as a king's daughter, but as there was no Kingdom of Scotland

Kingdom of Scotland

The Kingdom of Scotland was a Sovereign state in North-West Europe that existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England...

 at that time her background is problematic.

Iconography

Saint Oda is usually depicted wearing a long blue gown with one shoulder bare. She usually carries a staff or a book (symbolic for her cure of blindness). She is always shown with a magpie on her hand and a crown under her feet (symbolic of her rejection of her earthly father's kingdom).

Veneration

Pieces of Saint Oda's skull and teeth are kept in the Saint Martin Church of Sint-Oedenrode. Various statues and paintings are kept in a chapel dedicated to Oda in the church's garden. Pilgrim

Pilgrim

A pilgrim is a traveler who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journeying to some place of special significance to the adherent of a particular religious belief system...

s visited Saint Oda for relief of sore eyes and illnesses related to the head.

External links

• Meertens Institute, database of Dutch shrines and sacred places
• http://www.catholic-forum.com/SAINTS/sainto60.htm
• http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=4522
• http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/nl-nb-so.html