Saint of the Day – 4 April – Saint Aleth De Montbard De Fontaines of Dijon (1064-1106) Laywoman, Mother of 7 including St Bernard of Clairvaux, St Humbeline of Jully (c1091-c1136) a Benedictine Nun, St Gerard of Clairvaux (Died 1138) Bernard older brother, Blessed Nivard of Clairvaux (c1100-c1150) Bernard’s youngest brother. Born in 1064 in Montbard, Departement de la Côte-d’Or, Bourgogne, France and died on 31 August 1106 (aged 41–42). Patronage – of Dijon, France. Also known as – Aleth of Montbard, Aleth of Zélie, Adelaide…Adèle…Alaysia…Aleidis…Aletta…Alette…Aleydis…Alice…Alix…Aliz…Alyette…Alèthe…Elisabeth…Ethle… In English her name would be Alice. Her Feast today is celebrated on the date of the transfer of her Relics to Clairvaux Monastery in 1250.
Aleth was a daughter of Bernhard I, the local lord of Montbard who came from the French nobility. She received a comprehensive education. At around the age of 16, she married Tezelin de Fontaine, the Castellan at the Castle of Fontaine-lès-Dijon. With him she became the mother of seven children, including Gerhard of Clairvaux , Bernhard of Clairvaux, Nivard of Clairvaux and Humbelina of Jully-sur-Sarce.
Aleth died with a reputation for sainthood at the Castle in Fontaine-lès-Dijon on 31 August 1106. She was buried in the Crypt of the Church of the Monastery of St Benignus in Dijon, next to hhis Tomb.
In 1250 her remains were transferred to the Clairvaux Monastery – in today’s Ville-sous-la-Ferté – near Troyes in France. She was solemnly laid to restby her son. Sadly all these holy Relics were dispersed and lost when the Monastery was attacked and closed during the French Revolution.
AnaStpaul 