Blessed Alda
A widow from an honorable family of Siena, Alda joined the Third Order of the Humiliati and dedicated her life to the poor and to mortification. She is famous for having carved a nail from olive wood in the likeness of that of the Passion and for having endured abuse during her ecstasies at the hospital of Siena. She died in 1309, leaving behind a reputation for great charity.
Contemporaries
Figures and markers around the normalized period for this entry.
Guided reading
4 reading sections
BLESSED ALDA, HUMILIATI RELIGIOUS (1309).
Renunciation and Eremitic Life
Widowed after seven years of marriage, Alda distributed her wealth to the poor of Siena and joined the Third Order of the Humiliati to lead a life of mortification.
Blessed Alda belonged to an honorable family of Siena. She l ost he r husband after a union of seven years. She then left the city, sold all the goods she possessed there for the benefit of the poor, took the habit of the Third Ord er of the Humiliati, and retired to a small country house where she led the most secluded and mortified life.
Visions and the relic of the nail
Alda receives precise visions of the nails of the Passion and carves a wooden replica, the conformity of which is validated by comparison with a royal relic.
Cruel temptations came to visit her there: to drive them away, she went so far as to press a crown of thorns into her head. Our Lord rewarded her perseverance with unstable favors. Thus, He showed her the shape and dimensions of the nails that had attached His holy body to the cross: one of the three nails, the one intended for the feet, was larger than the other two. She engraved the image so well in her memory that, taking a knife and an olive branch, she carved one perfectly similar: this wooden nail, later compared with the true nail kept in the treasury of the kings of France, was found to be in every way conformable. It was kept for more than three hundred years in the church of Saint Thomas in Siena, occupied by the Humiliati religious, until Pius V, the time at wh ich they w ere s uppressed.
Hospital service in Siena
Seeking total dispossession, she sold her remaining possessions and settled in the hospital of Siena to dedicate herself to works of charity.
But Alda still found herself too rich, even though she had only an empty gourd to hold her water and a wooden bowl to eat from, and all the income from her modest property was poured into the bosom of the poor: she sold this small property as well and came to live at the hospita l of Siena, where she gave herself over to all the good works that her ardent charity inspired in her.
Persecution, death and posterity
Mistreated by the hospice staff during an ecstasy, she died in 1309. Her cult declined following institutional changes in Siena.
She had been given, as a servant, a certain Jacomine who claimed to have seen the Saint walking constantly preceded by two torches: this same Jacomine, having one day surprised her in ecstasy, called the people of the hospice who had the barbarity to crucify her. When she came to herself, she was content to say to them: "May God forgive you". She died in 1309. Her cult, once very famous, was abandoned when the church of Saint Thom as, where her remai ns rest, was given to the Dominicans.
Ac ta Sanctoru m.
Iconography
Signs and attributes
Entities
Narrative network
The names, places, and concepts most present in the entry, weighted by centrality in the text.
The supernatural in their life
The miracles of Blessed Alda
Frequently asked questions about Blessed Alda
Who was Blessed Alda?
A widow from an honorable family of Siena, Alda joined the Third Order of the Humiliati and dedicated her life to the poor and to mortification. She is famous for having carved a nail from olive wood in the likeness of that of the Passion and for having endured abuse during her ecstasies at the hospital of Siena. She died in 1309, leaving behind a reputation for great charity.
How is Blessed Alda depicted in Christian art?
In iconography, Blessed Alda is recognizable by: crown of thorns, wooden nail (olive wood), hollowed-out gourd, wooden bowl and two torches.
What miracles are attributed to Blessed Alda?
4 miracles are attributed to this saint, notably: Vision / apparition and Sign / wonder.
Which saints were contemporaries of Blessed Alda?
Contemporaries include: Saint Peregrinus of Auxerre, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Francis of Assisi (Confessor) and Saint Colette (Nicole).
When did Blessed Alda die?
Blessed Alda died around 1309.
Who are the relatives of Blessed Alda?
Relatives of Blessed Alda: Inconnu (husband).
Annexes & related entities
Structured data for exploration: events, miracles, quotes, places, attributes, patronages, and important entities cited in the text.
Key Events
- Married for seven years
- Widowhood and sale of her possessions for the benefit of the poor
- Joined the Third Order of the Humiliati
- Retreat in a country house and life of mortification
- Settled at the hospital of Siena to serve the poor
- Episode of the crucifixion by the people of the hospice during an ecstasy
Quotes
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May God forgive you
Words addressed to her persecutors after being crucified during an ecstasy