12/24
Blessed Adela (Adala) (-734), generation 43 or 42 grandmother;
and
Blessed Irmina (Hermine) (-706), generation 43 grandmother &/or aunt.
The exact history of these two saints, either sisters or mother (Irmina) and daughter (Adela), is contested by some. (Some sources have even listed Adela as mother, rather than sister, or daughter, to Irmina.) The earliest sources seem to attest that the two women are granddaughters of King Saint Sigebert III of Austrasia (Eastern Franks). They are believed by most traditionalists to be daughters of Sigebert’s son, King Saint Dagobert II, whose feast day is celebrated 12/23, the day before that of his daughters.
It is well attested that Blessed Adela married a prominent Count and bore children whose descendants continue to this day (My own family is one of thousands who trace a line of descent from her). After her widowhood she retired to serve as abbess at Pfalzel convent.
Blessed Irmina is also known to have married, and by some sources to have had a daughter Adela, named after the child’s aunt. This younger Adela, it seems almost certain, also became a nun at Pfalzel and succeeded her aunt as abbess. One of these two Adelas was the mother of St Gregory of Utrecht. After her widowhood, Irmina also became a nun and in turn abbess at another convent, in Oeren.
