Saint Eustadiola

Eustadiola (594–684) was a saint, widow, and abbess. She was born to wealthy and politically powerful parents in Bourges, France. She married due to pressure from her family, but became a widow at a young age, which gave her the financial and social independence to live what Sainted Women of the Dark Ages centuries later called a "semiretired religious life". She gave away her wealth to the poor, founded churches, monasteries, and convents, and used her wealth and influence to expand and decorate the buildings. Eustadiola was abbess of the convent she founded in Bourges, and lived as an ascetic for 70 years. Many miracles and healings were attributed to her. Her feast day is celebrated on 8 June. Eustadiola was born in 594 to the senatorial nobility, to wealthy and politically powerful parents, in Bourges, France. She received an education and "became wise in religious ways" at a young age. Her parents urged her to marry to give them heirs, which she did, and had one son, Tetradius. She was widowed at a young age, which gave her the financial and social independence to live a "semiretired religious life" after her husband died, without any formal vows or submission to outside monastic rules, like many wealthy widows of the time. The little that is known about Eustadiola is because her biography is documented in the early 8th-century hagiography of her patron, contemporary, and fellow saint, Bishop Sulpicius the Pious, who helped her resist her family's pressure to remarry. Like many wealthy widows of the time, Eustadiola gave away her wealth to the poor, and dedicated the houses she owned as basilicas in honor of the Virgin Mary and the 3rd-century martyr, Saint Eugenia of Rome. She decorated the churches with gold and silver vessels, gems and other jewels, objects used during masses and ceremonies, books, and turrets. She made, with her own hands and assisted by her servants, embroidered vestments, altar cloths with gold fringes, and wall hangings.