MONT SAINT-ODILE

In 660 AD, Odile ("daughter of light"), the daughter of Etichon, Duke of Alsace, was born blind.  Her father, who was hoping for a boy, was furious.  The child was raised away from her family in a convent and miraculously recovered her sight at age 12.  She later refused a marriage arranged by her father and, eventually, founded a monastery that she governed until her death in 720.  She has since become the Patron Saint of Alsace.  A source that flows at the bottom of Ste. Odile's monastery is said to have miraculous properties for curing afflictions of the eye.  VISIT ALSACE SITE