abbot's spirit, he said to him, ‘how goes it with thee, master?‘ to which the spirit of Odilo replied, ‘Very well, oh brother, Christ Himself deigned to come and meet His servant. In the hour of my death He pointed out to me a fierce and terrible figure which, standing in a corner, would have terrified me by its huge monstrosity had not its malignancy been annulled by His presence.’ Writings Of his writings we have but a few short and unimportant ones: a life of the holy Empress Adelaide to whom he was closely related a short biography of his predecessor, abbot Mayeul sermons on feasts of the ecclesiastical year some hymns and prayers a few letters from his extensive correspondence. Veneration He was buried in Souvigny Priory, where he died, and was soon venerated as a saint. In 1063 Peter Damien undertook the process of his canonization, and wrote a short life, an abstract from the work of Jotsald, one of Odilo's monks who accompanied him on his travels. In 1793, his relics, together with those of the previous Abbot Mayeul, were burned by French revolutionaries "on the altar of the fatherland". The feast of Saint Odilo was formerly 2 January, in Cluny, now it is celebrated on 19 January, and in Switzerland on 6 February. Elsewhere it is on 11 May. Odilo is patron of the souls in purgatory. The parish of Saint Odilo in Berwyn, Illinois is officially designated as "The National Shrine of the Souls in Purgatory". Attribution References External links Medieval French saints Cluniacs 960s births 1040s deaths 11th-century Christian saints French abbots Burials at Souvigny Priory 11th-century French Roman Catholic priests