ELENA di SKÖVDEN, saint. – Swedish, died on 1 August 1160 at Skövden (southern Sweden). Of noble family, having been widowed after a few years of marriage, she led a holy life and made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Upon returning to her homeland, she was killed by relatives because she was unjustly suspected of complicity in the murder of her son-in-law. Buried in the church of Skövden, which she had built, she was canonized in 1164 by Stefano, archbishop of Uppsala, at the behest of Alexander III. She enjoyed widespread veneration in Sweden and on the island of Seeland (Denmark). Feast day: 31 July. She is absent from the Martyrologium Romanum.
BIBL.: La Lenzenda di Brimolo, in Acta SS. Iulii, VII, Parisi 1868, p. 343 according to Livario Olieer