Saint Bertha of Avenay

Memorial

• 1 May

Profile

Married to Saint Gundebert of Gumber. When Gundebert retired to a monastery in Ireland, Bertha became Benedictine nun. Founder and abbess of the convent at Avenay in the diocese of Châlons-sur-Marne, France. When a drought hit the region, a vision of Saint Peter the Apostle led her to a spring of water which became a healing well. Widowed, she was murdered by her in-laws for distributing Gumbert’s estate to the poor, and is considered a martyr.

Died

• c.685

Canonized

• Pre-Congregation

Patronage

• against insanity

Additional Information

• Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
• Katherine Rabenstein
• Kirken i Norge
• Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints

MLA Citation

• “Saint Bertha of Avenay“. Saints.SQPN.com. 28 April 2013. Web. 18 June 2013. <>