A noblewoman who, widowed young, founded the convent of Herzfeld in Westphalia and fed the poor daily from a stone coffin she had made for herself (c. 813)
Feast Day
September 4
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Ida of Herzfeld was a Saxon noblewoman of the Carolingian era who, after being widowed young, devoted her life and fortune to charity and to religious foundations in Westphalia. Closely related to the Carolingian house, she was educated at the court of Charlemagne, who arranged her marriage to a favored lord of his court named Egbert. She is commemorated on September 4 and is numbered among the pre-schism Western saints venerated as Orthodox.
After Egbert's death she did not remarry but turned to works of mercy. By tradition she had a stone coffin made for herself and filled it each day with food, which she distributed to the poor; the coffin served both as her almsgiving and as a daily reminder of her own mortality. She founded the convent of Herzfeld and a church at Hovestadt, and lived in austerity near her husband's grave.
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Life and Charity
Sources record that Ida was born about 770 and was related to the Carolingian dynasty. Raised at the court of Charlemagne, she was given in marriage to Egbert, and the couple built the church of Herzfeld together. Their children included Warin, who became abbot of the monastery of Corvey, and a daughter who is remembered as abbess of Herzfeld. Ida was widowed in the year 811 while still young.
In her widowhood she became known for her sustained care of the poor. The tradition emphasizes the stone coffin she kept by her, filling it daily with provisions for the needy. Beyond this personal charity she endowed religious life in the region, founding the convent at Herzfeld and a church at Hovestadt in Westphalia. She is said to have died of natural causes; her repose is dated to about 813, though some accounts place it later.
Veneration
Ida was buried at Herzfeld, where her tomb became an early center of pilgrimage in Westphalia. Her cult was formally recognized in the tenth century, her canonization being dated to November 26, 980. In Christian art she is commonly depicted carrying a church, in reference to her foundations, distributing food to the poor from a tomb, or with a dove hovering above her head. She is venerated as a patron of brides and widows.
