Prayer to St. Odilia: Patron of Eyesight, Story and Feast

St. Odilia (Ottilia, about 662–720) was the daughter of a duke of Alsace who, according to her legend, was born blind and rejected by her father, raised by nuns, and miraculously received her sight when she was baptized. She later founded the abbey of Hohenburg, on the mountain now called Mont Sainte-Odile, above the plain of Alsace, and cared for the poor and the sick. She is the patron of the blind and of people with eye problems, and the patron of Alsace. Her feast day is December 13. Below are a prayer to St. Odilia, her story and Scripture.

Prayer to St. Odilia

Written for this page.

St. Odilia, at your baptism God opened your eyes to the light of day and the light of faith.
Pray for me (or for name) in this trouble with my eyes: (name your intention).
Ask the Lord to heal my sight, if it is his will, and to keep the eyes of my soul open to his light. Amen.

For someone who is blind

St. Odilia, you knew darkness from your birth.
Pray for (name), who cannot see.
Lord, be their light, guide their steps, and fill their life with your peace. Amen.

Before eye surgery

St. Odilia, pray for me as I undergo surgery on my eyes.
Guide the surgeon’s hands, give me a good recovery,
and help me to trust in God whatever happens. Amen.

Who was St. Odilia?

According to her medieval life, Odilia was born around 662, the daughter of Adalric (Eticho), duke of Alsace, and his wife Bereswinda. Because she was born blind, her father, ashamed, wanted her put to death; her mother had her secretly carried away and brought up by nuns at Palma, probably Baume-les-Dames in Burgundy. When she was about twelve, St. Erhard, a bishop, was led by God to baptize her, and as the water touched her eyes she received her sight. He gave her the name Odilia, which was understood as “daughter of light.”

After years of trials her father was reconciled with her and gave her his castle of Hohenburg, high in the Vosges mountains, where she founded a monastery for women. Because the mountain was hard for the poor and the sick to climb, she founded a second house with a hospice at its foot, Niedermünster. She died on December 13, around 720. Her tomb on Mont Sainte-Odile has been a place of pilgrimage for thirteen centuries, and a spring on the mountain, said to have been brought forth by her prayer, is visited by people with eye problems. Pope Pius XII proclaimed her patron of Alsace in 1946.

Scripture

Psalm 145:8 (Douay-Rheims):

The Lord enlighteneth the blind. The Lord lifteth up them that are cast down: the Lord loveth the just.

Jesus heals the man born blind (John 9:6–7, Douay-Rheims):

When he had said these things, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and spread the clay on his eyes,
And said to him: Go, wash in the pool of Siloe, which is interpreted, Sent. He went therefore, and washed, and he came seeing.

What is St. Odilia the patron saint of?

Eyesight, the blind and people with eye diseases
Alsace, in France
The Crosier Fathers and Brothers (Order of the Holy Cross), who have spread devotion to her in the United States

Frequently asked questions

Who is the patron saint of eyes?

St. Odilia and St. Lucy are the saints most often invoked for the eyes. See the St. Lucy prayer.

When is St. Odilia’s feast day?

December 13, the same day as St. Lucy.

Where is St. Odilia buried?

At the abbey of Mont Sainte-Odile, in Alsace, France.

More prayers

Texts and sources

Psalm 145:8 and John 9:6–7 (Douay-Rheims).