Galla of Valence

Saint Galla of Valence lived in the 6th century and is venerated in the Western Church, above all in the Rhône valley and around Nyons. She is remembered on 1 February and 6 November in the Western calendar. Reliable facts about her are few.

She is said to have come from a wealthy family of the district of Baginum, near Nyons. Her father chose several suitors for her, but she asked him to leave the choice to her and answered that she wished to be betrothed to Christ. Her father consented. She received the veil of a virgin at Valence in the presence of seven bishops, but did not live in a monastery; she lived in the city, serving the poor and the sick. A manuscript of the 11th century, kept in the Vatican, says that through her prayer the Lombards were kept from taking the city. She then returned to her parents' country, where she went on caring for the sick with tireless devotion.

The village of Sainte-⁠Jalle, in the Drôme, bears her name, and its Romanesque church is dedicated to the Mother of God. Her bones rest in the church of Saint-⁠Étienne in Valence, next to the cathedral.