Sainte
Opportune à l'abbaye de Lessay, relief en pierre calcaire du XIIIe siècle
provenant
de l'ancienne égloise paroissiale de Sainte Opportune
sur le territoire de laquelle fut fondée en 1056 l'Abbaye de Lessay
Sainte Opportune
Abbesse
bénédictine (+ 770)
Lorsqu'elle entra à
l'abbaye d'Almenèches, ce fut son frère, Godegrand, évêque
de Sées dans l'Orne, qui l'accueillit et lui remit le voile. On lui
prête beaucoup de miracles. Ce dont on est sûr, c'est qu'elle ne se consola pas
de l'assassinat de son frère par un cousin pressé de lui succéder. Elle le fit
inhumer dans son couvent et, treize jours après, elle le rejoignait au
ciel.
La diffusion de ses
reliques propagea son culte en Ile de France et surtout à Paris, qui a même
donné son nom à plusieurs de ses rues.
- Visite de l’abbatiale
dédiée à Ste Opportune et à l’origine de l’abbaye bénédictine d’Argentan (Orne
- 61) - Video
de l'abbatiale d'Almeneches. (diocèse de Seez)
- A lire aussi: Sainte
Opportune, abbaye Notre Dame d'Argentan
Un internaute nous
signale: "L'abbaye a été fondée à Almenêches à la fin du VIe siècle.
Détruit par les Normands, restauré vers 1060, le monastère adopte la Règle de
Saint Benoît. Réformé par Fontevrault au XVIe siècle puis transféré à Argentan
par ordre de Louis XV (1736), le monastère, dispersé à la révolution, se
regroupa de nouveau en 1822 à Vimoutiers, puis à Argentan en 1830. La bataille
de Normandie le détruisit de nouveau en 1944, obligeant la communauté à se
replier à Sées. En 1958, le monastère, reconstruit à Argentan en bordure de la
ville, reprenait la vie monastique bénédictine. Dans la nef de l'église
abbatiale, on peut voir une Vierge à l'Enfant du XIVe siècle et dans la crypte
une importante relique de Sainte Opportune (Abbesse du VIIIe). Les foyers
désirant un enfant viennent y demander l'intercession de la Sainte."
(Bénédictines de l'abbaye Notre-Dame d'Argentan)
Au pays de Sées, vers
775, sainte Opportune, abbesse, qui se distingua par une abstinence et une
austérité extrêmes.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/1020/Sainte-Opportune.html
Niche
avec statue de la sainte (place Sainte-Opportune, Paris Ier)
12 mai 2002 à Almenêches
Sainte Opportune
Le 12 mai 2002, nous
fêterons Sainte Opportune, la patronne de la Paroisse.
Nous savons qu’elle naquit à Exmes, ville autrefois importante du diocèse de Séez. Son père, descendait des Rois de France et vers le VIIème siècle, il gouvernait cette région à titre de comte.
Le frère de Sainte Opportune, Godegrand, (Ghrodegrand) fut évêque de Séez, et l’on pense que Sainte Lanthilde, leur tante, fut abbesse d’Almenêches. Sainte Opportune lui succéda.
Durant toute sa vie », comme après sa mort, Sainte Opportune a opéré un si grand nombre de miracles qu’elle a mérité le titre de « Thaumaturge de la Normandie ». Son culte s’est répandu rapidement dans presque toute la France.
Sainte Opportune se distingua par sa vertu, sa modestie et sa sainteté.
Sous le règne du Roi d’Angleterre, Henri 1er, l’abbaye fut détruite part un incendie, mais elle fut reconstruite grâce à l’abbesse Mathilde, Les papes, de 1178 à 1274, accordèrent de nombreux privilèges aux religieuses, Saint Louis fut leur protecteur.
Par manque de novices, le siège de l’abbaye fut transféré à Argentan, par un « arrêt royal » du 17 septembre 1736, et fut à l’origine de l’abbaye actuelle des Bénédictines d’Argentan.
Les restes de l’Abbaye d’Almenêches furent détruits sous la Révolution.
Pie IX, par un « indult » en date du 20 mars 1867 autorisa la reconnaissance solennelle de la « Bonne Dame ».
La construction de la chapelle du « Pré Salé » fut commencée le 25 avril 1869. Elle fut bénie par Monseigneur Rousselet le 16 avril 1871 et le 10 septembre de cette même année, furent reçues avec solennité les reliques de la Sainte, données par le Diocèse de Versailles.
Prions notre Sainte Patronne de nous protéger du mal, et confions lui nos
enfants, nos familles, nos malades.
Jean-Claude Lanéry
SOURCE : https://web.archive.org/web/20070622235624/http://diocesedeseez.cef.fr/article.php?id=83
Jacques Callot (1592–1635). Sainte
Opportune de Montreuil, circa 1630
Also known as
Opportune
Profile
Sister of Saint Chrodegang
of Séez. Niece of Saint Lanthilda. Benedictine nun and abbess at
the convent near
Almenêches, France,
receiving the veil from her brother. Legend says that a peasant stole
a donkey from her convent and
refused to acknowledge his crime. Opportuna turned it over to God; the
next day the farmer‘s
field was sown with salt. The peasant returned
the donkey AND gave the field to the nuns.
Born
at castle of Exmes,
Argentan, Normandy, France
22
April 770 from
a brief illness compounded
by grief from the death of
her brother
relics taken
to the priory of
Moussy, France,
in 1009,
and then to Senlis, France
in 1374 her
right arm and a rib were taken to Paris, France to
a church built in her honor
part of her head remains
at Moussy
her left arm and part of
her skull are
at Almenêches
one jaw is in the priory of Saint Chrodegang
of Metz at Isle-Adam
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
images
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
MLA
Citation
“Saint Opportuna of
Montreuil“. CatholicSaints.Info. 18 November 2021. Web. 21 April 2022.
<http://catholicsaints.info/saint-opportuna-of-montreuil/>
SOURCE : http://catholicsaints.info/saint-opportuna-of-montreuil/
_%C3%A9glise.JPG)
Église
Sainte-Opportune-du-Bosc, département de l'Eure, en région Normandie.
Opportuna of Montreuil,
OSB V, Abbess (AC)
Born near Ayesmes,
Normandy; died c. 770. Saint Opportuna was the sister of Saint Chrodegang,
bishop of Séez. When she was still very young, Opportuna received the veil from
her brother and entered the Benedictine convent of Montreuil at Almenèches,
three miles from Séez, where her cousin Saint Lantildis governed. (Chrodegang
was killed on the way to visit the abbey.) Later Opportuna succeeded her cousin
as abbess. Opportuna, a model of humility, obedience, mortification, and
prayer, is described as "a true mother to all her nuns."
Her cultus has always
flourished in France. In 1009, during the invasion of the Normans in the reign
of Charles the Bald, her relics were translated to the priory of Moussy between
Paris and Senlis. Later they were moved to Senlis. In 1374, her right arm and a
rib were enshrined in a small church dedicated to her in Paris near a hermitage
called Notre Dame des Bois Paris. As the city grew, so did the church. Most of
Opportuna's head still rests at Moussy; her left arm and part of her skull at
Almenèches; and a jaw bone in the priory of Saint Chrodegang at Île-Adam. The
Parisien shrine is carried in processions with those of Saints Honoratus and
Geneviève (Attwater2, Benedictines, Coulson, Husenbeth).
In art, Saint Opportuna
holds an abbess's crozier and a casket of relics. She may also be shown with
the Virgin appearing at her deathbed or as a princess with a basket of cherries
and a fleur-de- lys (Roeder). She is venerated at Ayesmes in Normandy (Roeder).
Source : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0422.shtml
Église
paroissiale de Sainte-Opportune-la-Mare, département de
l'Eure, en région Normandie.
April 22
St. Opportuna, Virgin and
Abbess
SHE was virgin and Abbess
of Montreuil, three miles from Seez, an episcopal see in Normandy, of which her
brother, St. Chrodegang, was bishop. This holy prelate, returning from a
pilgrimage of devotion which he had made to Rome and other holy places, went to
pay a visit to his cousin, St. Lantildis, abbess of Almanesches, in his
diocess; but was murdered in the way, at Normant, on the 3rd of September, 769,
by the contrivance of Chrodobert, a powerful relation, to whom he had intrusted
the administration of his temporalities during his absence. He is honoured in
the Breviary of Seez on the day of his death: his head is enshrined in the
abbey of St. Martin in the Fields, at Paris, and his body in the priory of
Isle-Adam upon the Oise, near Pontoise. St. Opportuna did not long survive him,
dying in 770, on the 22nd of April, having lived an accomplished model of
humility, obedience, mortification, and prayer. Her relics were carried from
Seez during the incursions of the Normans, in the reign of Charles the Bald, to
the priory of Moussy, between Paris and Senlis, in 1009: and some time after to
Senlis. In the reign of Charles V. in 1374, her right arm was translated to
Paris with great devotion and pomp, and deposited in the church which was built
in her honour, in the reign of Charles the Bald, to receive a former portion of
her relics then brought from Moussy. It was then a small church, built at the
entrance of a wood, near an hermitage, called before, Notre Dames des Bois
Paris. The town being since extended much beyond this church, it was made
parochial and a collegiate of canons.—A great part of the head of St. Opportuna
remains at Moussy; her left arm, with part of her skull, at Almenesches: one
jaw in the priory of St. Chrodegang, at l’Isle-Adam, and a rib, with her right
arm, in her church at Paris. In processions, when the shrine of St. Genevieve
is taken down, and carried, the ancient portion of the relics of St. Opportuna,
kept in a large shrine, is also carried next the shrine of St. Honoratus. She is
commemorated in the Paris Breviary, and is the titular saint of a parish in
that city. See her life written by Adelham, bishop of Seez, in 811, in
Mabillon, sæc. 3; Ben. part 2, and Henschenius, t. 3, Apr. p. 462; Le Beuf,
Hist. du Diocése de Paris, t. 1, p. 65; La Vie de St. Opportune, par
Nic. Gosset, 1655.
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume IV: April. The Lives of the
Saints. 1866
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/4/226.html
_%C3%A9glise_Sainte-Opportune_(02).JPG)
Église
Sainte-Opportune de Sainte-Opportune-la-Campagne, Le Plessis-Sainte-Opportune
(Eure, Fr)
Le
Plessis-Sainte-Opportune, Eure department in Normandy
Saint Opportuna
· Century: 8th
Century
· Patronage: Diocese
of Seez
· Feast
Day: April 22nd
St. Opportuna was from
Montreuil, and was a French Benedictine Nun and Abbess. When she was a
young girl, Opportuna became a Benedictine Nun at the convent called the
Monasteriolum, where her cousin St. Lantildis was Abbess. She took the
veil from her brother, St. Chrodegang, the Bishop of Seez. Montreuil was
only three miles from the Abbey, but Chrodegang was murdered on the way to
visit his sister there. Later, Opportuna became Abbess. She was
viewed, as a true mother to all her Nuns, correcting their faults, with words,
not blows.
Opportuna’s sanctity was
not expressed in charismatic actions during her lifetime; she performed no
miracles during her lifetime. She lived in a time where the Bishops were
hostile to any such forms of expressions such as charismatic ascetics, healers,
prophets or visionaries known as the Carolingian era. The accounts of
miracles worked at the site of Opportuna’s tomb, where present after her
death. She remained ever present in her former precincts, extending her
protection to her flock forward in time. Opportuna’s vita, records that
once a peasant stole a donkey from the convent and refused to acknowledge his
crime. Opportuna turned the matter over to God, and the next day the farmer’s
field was sown with salt. The repentant peasant returned the donkey and
gave the Nuns the field.
Some legends tell us that
Opportuna died from a brief illness which was compounded by grief from the
death of her brother, Bishop Chrodegang, who had died on September 3,
769. The Administrator he had entrusted his Diocese to while he was away
for seven years to Rome planned his murder. Opportuna foresaw her
brother’s death in a prophetic vision, but was powerless to intervene.
She buried her brother in her own convent, and she herself died on April 22,
770. According to sources, Vikings invaded both the convent at Montreuil
and the Abbey at Almeneches, and they were destroyed. Her relics were
transferred to the priory of Moussy. Some of her relics were enshrined in
a small Church in Paris, near a hermitage called Notre Dame Des Bois
Paris.
Practical Take Away
St. Opportuna was a
French Benedictine Nun. She was the brother of Bishop Chrodegang, now a
saint. She became the Abbess of her Convent, and was known as a true
mother to all her Nuns. She didn’t work great miracles in her lifetime,
but after death, many miracles were wrought at her tomb. She extended her
protection to the community and her Nuns, forward in time, beyond death.
She foresaw the murder of her brother Bishop Chrodegang, also a saint, but was
unable to do anything to prevent it.
SOURCE : http://www.newmanconnection.com/faith/saint/saint-opportuna
Le
quartier Saint-Opportune de Paris sur le plan
de Turgot (vers 1739).
L'église
Sainte-Opportune est aujourd’hui une église disparue . L'église
se trouvait dans l'actuel 1er arrondissement, au sud
des Halles, bordant la rue Saint-Denis, avec son entrée
principale rue de l'Aiguillerie (partie sud
de la rue Sainte-Opportune)1.
L'église
a donné son nom à une paroisse de Paris et
surtout à l'ancien quartier Sainte-Opportune. Le nom de
Sainte-Opportune est encore porté par quelques rues et une place du
quartier : la rue Sainte-Opportune ; la rue des
Lavandières-Sainte-Opportune ; la place Sainte-Opportune, qui occupe le
terrain de l'ancien cloître.
Le quartier
Sainte-Opportune est un quartier
historique de Paris, du début du xviiie siècle à
la Révolution française. Il correspond
aujourd'hui à la partie sud-est du 1er arrondissement, à cheval sur
les actuels quartiers de Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois et
des Halles. (Wikipedia)
Saint Opportuna of
Montreuil
(d. 770)
Saint Opportuna was born
near Hyesmes, Normandy. Her brother, Saint Chrodegang, became the bishop of
Seez. Opportuna felt God’s call to enter religious life and joined a
Benedictine convent at Monteuil. Opportuna lived a life of great humility,
obedience, prayer, and sacrifice. She was such a positive example to her other
sisters that she was appointed abbess. In an unexpected and tragic turn of
events, her brother was murdered while returning from a pilgrimage to Rome.
Saint Opportuna was struck with such sadness and grief that she died one year
after his death.
(From smp.org)
Vitrail de la cathédrale de Sées représentant Opportune, dans la chapelle Saint-Godegrand.
Prayer:
Dear Saint Opportuna, God
granted you the grace to put Him in the first place in your life, and to
generously serve Him in poverty, chastity and obedience under the Benedictine
Rule. When ever you had troubles in life, you turned to God in prayer and obtained
all you ever asked for, and more besides. As abbess you cared for all the needs
of the religious women entrusted to you, their spiritual; needs and their
temporal needs, depending upon the Providence of God. Even after your death,
you are still pleading before God on behalf of all those who entrust themselves
to your prayers. You have been successful in obtaining changes of heart among
the clergy. Encouraged by this, I ask you to obtain for me all of the favours I
seek (….here mention your requests ….). Dear St Opportuna, please take these
prayers to your heart and obtain favourable answers for them all, as well as
all of the spiritual and temporal graces I need to join you in Heaven praising
God’s goodness.
Amen.
SOURCE : http://www.houseofspirituality.com/a-saint-a-day-inspires-our-way-282/
.jpg)
.jpg)
Église
Sainte-Opportune de Sainte-Opportune, département de l'Orne en région Normandie
Sant' Opportuna di Seez Badessa
† 22 aprile, 770 circa
Martirologio
Romano: Nel territorio di Séez in Neustria, ora in Francia, santa
Opportuna, badessa, insigne per il suo spirito di estrema astinenza e per
l’austerità di vita.
Il principale documento
relativo ad Opportuna è la sua Vita, ricca di prodigi, scritta verso l'890 da
Adelelmo, vescovo di Séez. Nata al principio del secolo VIII a Exmes, nella
diocesi di Séez, entrò nel monastero delle Benedettine di Almenéches, di cui
sua zia era badessa. Alla morte di questa, le succedette e diede alle suore
l'esempio di una vita edificante.
In un anno non meglio
precisato il fratello Crodegango, che era vescovo di Séez, al ritorno da una
lunga permanenza a Roma, fu assassinato a Nonant da un certo Crodeberto. La sorella
seppellì il suo corpo nel monastero di Almenéches, ma poco dopo le spoglie del
vescovo martire furono trasferite all’Isle-Adam, vicino Parigi. Secondo il
biografo, Opportuna non sopravvisse che di qualche mese al fratello e morì un
22 aprile, attorno al 770.
Al tempo delle invasioni
normanne le sue reliquie furono messe al sicuro nella regione di Parigi,
dapprima a Moussy-le-Neuf, poi a Senlis. I miracoli ottenuti per sua
intercessione e il suo nome che era garanzia di soccorso, le dettero una grande
popolarità in Normandia e a Parigi, dove, sotto il regno di Carlo il Calvo, le
fu dedicata una chiesa. Le Suore benedettine di Almenéches, oggi ad Argentan
(Orne), tengono vivo il culto della santa.
La sua festa si celebra
il 22 aprile nelle diocesi di Séez, Meaux e Parigi, e il 22 giugno nella città
di Argentan.
Autore: Philippe
Rouillard
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/50340
Vitrail
de la rose nord de la cathédrale Notre-Dame de Sées (parfois
orthographiée Séez), représentant Sainte Opportune, sœur de Godegrand,
évêque de Sées (Alençon, Orne).
Voir aussi : http://www.abbaye-argentan.fr/index.php?page=ste_opportune
http://orthodoxievco.net/ecrits/vies/synaxair/avril/opportune.pdf
http://re-naissance.hautetfort.com/archive/2011/04/03/sainte-opportune-son-histoire.html
http://jceworld.blogspot.ca/2014/04/saint-april-22-st-opportuna.html
https://www.smp.org/resourcecenter/resource/7552/
