Relindis of Maaseik

Venerable Relindis of Maaseik, also called Renule, was a nun of the eighth century, daughter of Count Adelard and sister of Saint Herlindis. She died around 750 and is venerated as a saint by the Catholic and the Orthodox Church. She is remembered on 6 February (and, locally, on 12 October).

The sisters were brought up at the Benedictine monastery in Valenciennes and learned the art of weaving, in which they became accomplished. Later Adelard and his wife built a monastery at Maaseik, on the Meuse, for their daughters; the abbey of Aldeneik was consecrated in 728. Willibrord made Harlindis the first abbess. After her death Relindis was named to succeed her by Saint Boniface of Mainz, with whom both kept up an important correspondence. Relindis was gifted in embroidery and painting. The vestments attributed to Saints Harlindis and Relindis, now in Maaseik in Belgium, are the earliest surviving examples of Anglo-⁠Saxon embroidery; traditionally they are regarded as their own work, but are in fact from the second half of the ninth century.

The life of the two sisters was written in the ninth century, between 855 and 881. The veneration of Saints Harlindis and Relindis became widespread throughout the diocese of Liège. Every twenty-⁠five years an Ommegang is held, a procession to commemorate the transfer of their relics from the church of Saint Anne at Aldeneik to the church of Saint Catherine at Maaseik; the most recent was in 2022.