Lives Of The Saints
September 20
St. Vincent Madelgarius
St. Vincent Madelgarius was the husband of St. Waldetrudis and father of four saints. He later became a Benedictine monk and founded monasteries at Hautmont and Soignies.
Saint Vincent of Soignies
Brief life
Marriage and family were St. Vincent Madelgarius's first school of holiness. Born about 615, he married St. Waldetrudis, also called Waudru. Their four children, Landericus, Madelberta, Aldetrudis, and Dentelinus, were all venerated as saints.
Around 653 Waldetrudis entered religious life. Madelgarius then took the Benedictine habit and the name Vincent at Hautmont, a monastery he founded. He later established another abbey on his estate at Soignies, where he died and where his September 20 feast was kept. In Artois and Hainault, the feast was observed on July 14 under his earlier name.
The medieval biography written centuries later borrowed whole passages from the lives of other saints, so its colorful details cannot safely enlarge this simple outline. The firm life is already beautiful: a husband and father who helped form a holy household, then answered a monastic vocation and founded communities of prayer.
Historical note
The later medieval biography copied heavily from other saints' lives. This life keeps the firmer outline of Vincent's family, monastic profession, foundations, and local veneration.
His feast was kept on July 14 in Artois and Hainault and on September 20 at Soignies in Flanders.
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