Aurelia of Regensburg

Saint Aurelia of Regensburg (Aurelia of Ratisbon) died in 1027 and is an eleventh-⁠century Roman Catholic German saint, venerated at Regensburg. Her commemoration is on 15 October. Our sources mention no Orthodox veneration.

According to local tradition, Aurelia was a daughter of Hugh Capet, the first king of the Franks. She fled, disguised as a pilgrim, to escape a marriage arranged by her parents against her will. Following the advice of Saint Wolfgang, bishop of Ratisbon, who saw through her disguise, she accepted the life of a solitary and entered the abbey of Saint Emmeram near Regensburg, where she remained about fifty-⁠two years.

The reputation of her holiness, evidenced by several miracles, was widespread at the time of her death in 1027. Her relics were enshrined, and her hermitage was turned into a chapel, which became a known pilgrimage place. Her bones are believed to lie in the high tomb built in 1330 in the church of the abbey of Saint Emmeram. Earlier a Roman tombstone with her name had been found there. According to a legend, Aurelia escaped the pagans during the persecutions of Christians and fled from Füssen to Lindau, to the castle. Later, on that spot, the chapel of Aurelia was built. The name Aurelia comes from the Latin word aureus, which means golden.