Saint Christiana was born in England and is said to have been the daughter of an Anglo-Saxon king. An angel visited her in the guise of a poor man, who got her to forsake the idolatry of her country and be baptized by him a Christian. Abdicating her royal position, she decided to devout her life to Christ in asceticism. She crossed over to Flanders in Belgium where she lived in piety under Saint Hilduardus in Dikkelvenne (Ticlivinum), near Ghent, until her death in 750. Her relics were translated from Dikkelvenne to Termonde about the end of the ninth century, and were enshrined with those of Saint Hilduardus. She is commemorated July 24, and also on September 7, the day on which her relics were translated to Termonde. She is the patron saint of Termonde, Belgium.
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Transfer of the relics of Saints Hilduardus and Christiana from Dikkelvenne to Dendermonde |