Mont Sainte-Odile, Convent of
MONT SAINTE-ODILE, CONVENT OF
On a peak of the Vosges mountains in Alsace, founded c. 690 by (St.) odilia (also foundress of niedermÜnster), whose shrine was an important place of pilgrimage during the Middle Ages. It followed its own rule until Abbess Relindis (d. 1169) introduced the Augustinian rule. Under the Abbess Herrad (1167–95) the convent, then called Hohenburg, was famous for its spiritual atmosphere and the nuns' intellectual attainments. After fire forced the religious to leave in 1546, the shrine was cared for by the premonstratensians until the French Revolution, when the property was sold into private hands. In 1853 it was purchased by the bishop of Strasbourg, and the buildings have been gradually rebuilt. Sisters of the Cross now operate a hostelry and care for the shrine. Its German name is Odilienberg.
Bibliography: h. leclercq, Dictionnaire d'archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie, ed. f. cabrol, h. leclercq, and h. i. marrou, 15 v. (Paris 1907–53) 12.2:1921–34. c. umbricht, Le Mont Ste-Odile et ses promenades, ed. l. fritsch (6th ed. Strasbourg 1947). h. daniel-rops et al., Le Mont Sainte-Odile (Strasbourg 1957), excellent illus. a. m. burg, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner, 10 v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 7:1097.
[f. m. beach]