Why would a saint pray to be stricken with leprosy?
Saint Angadrisma of Beauvais had a life unlike any other. Born around 615 in the Diocese of Thérouanne, she was of a noble lineage and cousin to Saint Lambert of Lyon.
Under the tutelage of Lambert and Saint Omer, young Angadrisma felt an early and intense call to dedicate her life to God. But as was the custom of her time, her family arranged her marriage to Saint Ansbert of Chaussy.
Determined to uphold her vow to serve God, Angadrisma turned to fervent prayer. She asked for a miracle so profound that it would protect her from this unwanted union. Her prayers were answered in the form of leprosy. A visible and disfiguring disease, it broke off her engagement and stunned her family.
Her devotion moved Saint Ouen, the Archbishop of Rouen, who blessed her with the veil of consecration. Miraculously in that moment, her leprosy vanished.
Angadrisma’s trials led her to become the revered abbess of the Benedictine monastery at Oroër-des-Vierges near Beauvais. Known for her miraculous deeds, Angadrisma once thwarted a fire threatening her convent by holding up the relics of Saint Ebrulf and praying for divine intervention. Such was her sanctity that during the siege of Beauvais in 1472, her relics were brought to the city walls, where locals believed she protected them from destruction.
Depicted in art as a woman with leprous scars, Saint Angadrisma is venerated as the patron against fires, droughts and disasters.
Saint Angadrisma, pray for us!
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Photo credit: Pierre Poschadel, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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