Alpaïs of Cudot

Alpaïs of Cudot also called Alpaida and Alpaidis († November 3, 1211) is venerated by the Catholic Church as a Blessed. Her vita was written by the monk Peter of the nearby Cistercian monastery of Les Écharlis.

Life Alpaïs was born some time between 1150-1155, into a peasant family of Cudot, in the diocese of Sens. After the death of her father, she worked in the fields with her brothers. When her strength weakened, she looked after the sheep. It was discovered that she had contracted leprosy. She was relegated to a small hut to where her relatives brought her food. One day her brothers decided to abandon her and stop giving her food.

Some days later, her brothers, filled with remorse, return to find all traces of leprosy have disappeared which she attributed to the gentleness of the Virgin Mary. Although cured of the leprosy, she was paralyzed. She subsequently recovered the use of her right arm and hand. Alpaïs had frequent ecstasies during which she appeared as if asleep, almost dead. But when she woke up, she could describe her visions. The peasants from the surrounding area and then the Cistercian monks from a nearby abbey came to visit. Her remains lay in the Church of Notre-Dame, Cudot. A statue of the saint Alpaïs was erected at the top of the facade of the church. The Archdiocese of Sens and Auxerre sponsors an annual pilgrimage to Cudot each Whit Monday.