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

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Her feast day is 23 October.

Life

Oda was born blind and her father sent her on

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

to visit the relics of

Saint Lambert Lambert of Maastricht, commonly referred to as Saint Lambert (; Middle Dutch: ''Sint-Lambrecht''; ; 636 – c. 705), was the bishop of Maastricht-Liège (Tongeren) from about 670 until his death. Lambert denounced Pepin's liaison with his mis ...

. While praying at his grave she was miraculously cured of her blindness, as recorded in the saint's eighth century ''

vitae ''Vitae'' is a Latin word, meaning or pertaining to life. * Aqua vitae, archaic name for a concentrated aqueous solution of ethanol, distilled spirits * Arbor vitae (disambiguation), "tree of life" * De Brevitate Vitae (Seneca), ''De Brevitate ...

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

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

.Jongen, Ludo ''Heiligenlevens in Nederland en Vlaanderen'', Amsterdam, 1998
/ref> According to records written in the thirteenth century by members of the noble Van Rode family, her father wanted to arrange a marriage for her. Because of her vow she and her maid fled across the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. After a

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and

Monte Sant'Angelo sul Gargano The Sanctuary of Saint Michael the Archangel () is a Roman Catholic shrine on Mount Gargano, Italy, part of the commune of Monte Sant'Angelo, in the province of Foggia, northern Apulia. It has the dignity of a minor basilica. It is the oldest s ...

, Oda prayed in various villages in the

and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and finally settled in

Venray Venray or Venraij (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg, the Netherlands. The municipality of Venray consists of 14 towns over an area of , with 43,494 inhabitants as of July 2016 ...

, only to be repeatedly disturbed by

magpie Magpies are birds of various species of the family Corvidae. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent c ...

s. Seeking solitude, she fled from the magpies and the birds led her to an open space in the forest. There the villagers built a hut for her."5 lesser-known Scottish saints", ''The Scotsman'', 12 June 2017
/ref> In order to protect her humble shelter from the wind, hail, rain and snow and to hide it from the view of the world, Oda planted some bushes. The following day they had already grown into a thick hedge. Her father sought for her, and as in the story of St.

Dymphna Dymphna (also Dimpna, Dymfna, Dimfna, Dympna and Dympha, Irish also Damhnait or Davnet) is a Christian saint honoured in Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox traditions. According to tradition, she lived in the 7th century an ...

, her location was disclosed by her use of coins from her homeland. However, when he attempted to approach her hut, magpies repeatedly drove him off. Eventually he gave up and returned to Scotland without her. She remained there as a hermitess.

Iconography

Saint Oda is usually depicted wearing a long blue gown with one shoulder bare and carying a staff or a book (symbolic of her cured 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). Sint-Oedenrode vlag

Veneration

After Oda's death, her humble hut became a place of pilgrimage. "Saint Oda's place in the woods" became the town of

Sint-Oedenrode Sint-Oedenrode () is a town in the Dutch province of North Brabant. Sint-Oedenrode is a moderately urbanized town in the Meierij of 's-Hertogenbosch. Sint-Oedenrode had a population of 18,360 as of and has an area of . On 1 January 2017 Sint- ...

, Netherlands (in Dutch, a small manmade open space in the woods is called a ''rode''). Like the flag of Scotland, the flag of Sint-Oedenrode is a white saltire on a blue field.Flag of Sint-Oedenrode North Brabant
/ref> 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 The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oda 8th-century Christian saints 680 births 720s deaths Dutch Roman Catholic saints Belgian Roman Catholic saints Scottish princesses Medieval Scottish saints 8th-century Scottish people 8th-century Scottish women Female saints of medieval Scotland