Saint Saint Walpurga

Walpurga or Walburga (Old English: Wealdburg; Latin: Valpurga, Walpurga, Walpurgis; Swedish: Valborg; c. 710 – 25 February 777 or 779) was an Anglo-Saxon missionary to the Frankish Empire. She was canonized on 1 May c. 870 by Pope Adrian II. Saint Walpurgis Night (or "Sankt Walpurgisnacht") is the name for the eve of her feast day in the Medieval period, which coincided with May Day; her feast is no longer celebrated on that day, but the name is still used for May Eve. Walpurga was born in Dumnonia, roughly corresponding to modern Devon, during the period it was becoming incorporated into Anglo-Saxon England. She was the daughter of Richard the Pilgrim, a likely Britonnic underking of the West Saxons, and of Wuna of Wessex, and had two brothers, Willibald and Winibald. In 721, Richard set out on a pilgrimage to Rome with his two sons. Before leaving he entrusted Walburga, then 11 years old, to the abbess of the double monastery at Wimborne Abbey in Dorset. She had been there but a year when she received word that her father had died at Lucca. After seeing to their father's burial in the Basilica of San Frediano, her brothers completed the pilgrimage to Rome, where they both became seriously ill. (Hygeburg, who wrote the Vita S. Willibaldi, says they contracted the Black Death; Francis Mershman suggests malaria). After recovering, Winibald, who was not of a particularly strong constitution, remained in Rome to pursue further studies, while Willibald set out for the Holy Land. After about seven years of travelling, Willibald returned to Italy and became a monk at Monte Cassino. In 730, Winibald returned to England and engaged a third brother and several amongst his kindred and acquaintances to accompany him on his journey back to Rome to begin a monastic life there. During this time Walpurga remained at Wimborne where she was educated, and eventually became a nun.