Eustochia of Padua, Bl.
EUSTOCHIA OF PADUA, BL.
Benedictine nun; b. Lucrezia, in Padua, Italy, 1444;d. there, February 13, 1469. She was the daughter of a nun and was born and educated in the convent of San Prosdocimo. After a more observant group replaced the old community there, she sought admission, which was granted reluctantly. Her profession was long delayed because, while she was sometimes obedient, gentle, and charitable, she was often stubborn and ill-tempered, and showed signs of diabolical possession. When suspected of being the cause of the abbess's mysterious illness, she was even in danger of being burned as a witch. Finally a wise and patient confessor intervened, and she took vows and won the respect and even the reverence of the community. Miracles were attributed to her, and her body was found incorrupt when it was transferred several years after her death to a more honorable place. Her cult, confirmed in 1760, is liturgically celebrated at Padua. She is sometimes referred to as Eustochius (or Eustochium), which was her religious name.
Feast: Feb. 13.
Bibliography: g. c. cordara, Vita virtù e miracoli della B. Eustochio vergine padovana (Venice 1768). a. m. zimmermann, Kalendarium Benedictinum: Die Heiligen und Seligen des Benediktinerorderns und seiner Zweige, 4 v. (Metten 1933–38) 1:207–209. a. butler, The Lives of the Saints, ed. h. thurston and d. attwater, 4 v. (New York 1956) 1:325–327.
[n. g. wolf]