Statue of St. Hedwig, St. Maria Parish Church, Sehnde
Sainte Hedwige
Duchesse de Silésie ( 1243)
ou Edwige.
Fille du comte de Bavière, elle épouse, à douze ans,
le duc de Silésie, chef de la famille royale polonaise, qui réussit à refaire
l'unité de la Pologne. Elle est la belle-sœur du roi de France, Philippe
Auguste. Avec son mari, elle encourage la fondation des monastères dans le
royaume. Mère de famille attentive auprès de ses sept enfants, elle rejoint, à
la mort de son époux, sa fille Gertrude qui était abbesse cistercienne à
Trebnitz en Pologne et elle y mène dans l'humilité une vie très simple.
Mémoire de sainte Edwige, religieuse. Née en Bavière,
mariée à Henri le Barbu, duc de Silésie et de Pologne, elle se dévoua avec
beaucoup d’élan à venir en aide aux pauvres et construisit pour eux des
hospices. Après la mort de son mari, elle passa les dernières années de sa vie,
activement, au monastère de moniales cisterciennes qu’elle avait fait édifier à
Trzebnicz en Silésie, et dont l’abbesse était sa fille Gertrude, et c’est là
qu’elle mourut le 15 octobre 1243.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/2026/Sainte-Hedwige.html
Sainte Hedwig von Andechs
Hedwige, née vers 1179, est la fille de Berthold IV
von Diessen, comte d’Andechs et duc de Méranie, comte de Tyrol et prince de
Carinthie et d’Istrie, et de son épouse Agnès de Wettin Misnie. Sa sœur
Gertrude a épousé André II, roi de Hongrie : de ce mariage est née
Élisabeth de Hongrie. Sa sœur Agnès a épousé Philippe Auguste, roi de France.
Sa sœur Mechtilde, est devenue abbesse de Kissingen. Hedwige est élevée à
l'abbaye des Bénédictines de Kitzingen.
À 12 ans, elle épouse Henri Ier le Barbu, duc de Silésie ; la date précise et le lieu de la cérémonie du mariage d'Hedwige avec Henri le Barbu ne sont pas connus. Elle mit au monde sept enfants, dont quatre moururent en bas âge.
Après la mort de ses frères et de son père, Henri le Barbu, comme unique
successeur, accéda au pouvoir en 1202. Hedwige devint alors duchesse de
Silésie. Profondément enracinée dans ce milieu, s'étant familiarisée avec la
langue, ayant appris à connaître le pays et ses habitants, elle ne resta pas
sans exercer une influence sur l'activité de son mari. Elle prêta son appui à
des projets politiques de celui-ci et, par l’intermédiaire de ses frères et
sœurs, elle lui facilita des contacts internationaux. Non sans son initiative,
sa fille Gertrude fut fiancée à Otto Wittelsbach, et les filles du roi de
Bohême, Anne et Agnès, devinrent ses belles-filles. Des effets durables de sa
collaboration avec son mari se manifestent à travers de nombreuses fondations
d'églises, faites dans le cadre du processus d’aménagement de nouvelles
bourgades en Silesie.
La plus célèbre fondation ducale en Silésie fut le monastère des cisterciennes de Trzebnica (en allemand, Trebnitz), fondé en 1202 à l'initiative d'Hedwige. Son frère Ekbert, évêque de Bamberg, y envoya un groupe de moniales du monastère de la Vierge Marie et Saint-Théodore à Bamberg, avec Petrissa, ancienne éducatrice d'Hedwige, comme première abbesse de Trzebnica. Richement dotée par Henri le Barbu, l'abbaye commença vite à rayonner une intense vie religieuse. A partir de 1208, elle se peupla de religieuses polonaises ; en 1212, la fille d'Hedwige, Gertrude, devint cistercienne à Trzebnica et, avant 1232, elle en fut nommée abbesse. Les démarches d'Hedwige amenèrent en 1218 à faire admettre l'abbaye de Trzebnica comme premier monastère féminin dans l`Ordre de Cîteaux.
La dot importante, dont Hedwige disposait librement, lui permirent d'organiser un hôpital ambulant auprès de la cour, destiné aux pauvres, d'entretenir un hôpital pour les lépreux à Sróda, ainsi que d'organiser un hospice. Dans ses domaines, elle réduisit les redevances des paysans, faisant des provisions qui permirent de supporter plus facilement les calamités dues aux inondations et à la famine (1221-1222). Elle influença les décisions de son mari en adoucissant souvent ses jugements, ce qu’elle concevait aussi comme son devoir envers le pays.
Des événements pénibles vécus en 1208-1213 (la succession des décès de ses
enfants, des adversités touchant sa lignée, l'exil de ses frères et, surtout,
l'assassinat de sa sœur Gertrude, reine de Hongrie), augmentèrent chez Hedwige
l'esprit d'expiation et le désir de consacrer sa vie à des actes de charité.
Après vingt années d'union, Hedwige obtint de son mari le consentement à la séparation, confirmée par un vœu solennel. Dès ce moment, elle résida au monastère de Trzebnica, partageant avec les religieuses les devoirs résultant de la règle. Elle prit l'habit cistercien, mais elle ne fit pas de vœux monastiques, même après la mort d'Henri le Barbu, inspirée sûrement par la volonté de disposer librement de ses biens.
La renommée de la sainteté de sa nièce Élisabeth de Thuringe (morte en 1231, canonisée en 1235) et la spiritualité franciscaine l'incitaient à multiplier des pratiques expiatoires, à soigner les malades, à entourer de soins les prisonniers et les pauvres.
L'invasion des Tartares en 1241, au cours de laquelle périt son fils Henri le Pieux (Henryk Pobozny) dans la bataille de Legnica (Liegnitz), fut vécue par Hedwige à Krosno sur l'Odra, ensemble avec les moniales et sa belle-fille.
Épuisée par son activité caritative et par une rigoureuse ascèse qui de son
vivant déjà lui assurèrent un grand prestige, Hedwige mourut à Trzebnica en
octobre 1243.
En se basant sur la date de l’anniversaire célébré au monastère de Trzebnica encore avant sa canonisation, on admet comme date précise de sa mort le 14 octobre. Après la mort d'Hedwige, son culte se propagea vite et des foules toujours plus grandes affluèrent auprès de sa tombe à Trzebnica, venant de Silésie, de Grande-Pologne, de Poméranie, de Lusace et de Misnie. La demande de canoniser Hedwige, présentée par sa fille Gertrude, abbesse de Trzebnica, et par l’épiscopat polonais, fut appuyée par des princes polonais et par le roi de Bohême.
La mort du pape Urbain IV (Jacques Pantaleon, 1261-1264) retarda la chose mais
déjà son successeur Clément IV (Guy Foulques, 1265-1268) canonisa Hedwige le 26
mars 1267, à Viterbe.
Au cours des temps, la fête liturgique fut célébrée à
des jours différents du 14 au 17 octobre.
Source principale : missel.free.fr/Sanctoral/(« Rév. x
gpm »).
Née vers 1179, sainte Hedwige était l’un des huit
enfants[1] du
de Berthold IV, comte de Diesseu-Andechs (Bavière) qui, à partir de 1180, fut
prince titulaire de Méranie (Istrie) ; elle était née du son second
mariage de son père, conclu après 1176 avec Agnès, fille du margrave de Misnie,
Dedon V de Rochlitz. Comme fille aînée, selon la coutume d'alors, elle reçut le
nom de sa grand-mère. Son éducation, commencée à Andechs sur le lac Ammer
(Ammersee) où se trouvait le château familial, se poursuivit au monastère des
bénédictines de Kitzingen sur le Main (diocèse de Wurtzbourg) où elle reçut une
bonne formation intellectuelle pour l'époque, ainsi qu'une éducation religieuse
soignée. Les mœurs et la langue slaves n'étaient pas étrangères à la famille
d'Hedwige, étant donné leurs biens situés en territoires slaves, les mariages
des souxerains de Misnie avec les Piast, et les contacts des Andechs avec des
Slaves du Sud.
Par suite des changements politiques dans les Balkans,
le mariage projeté d'Hedwige avec Toljen Nemanicz, fils du comes serbe
Miroslaw, ne put se réaliser. Vers 1190, Hedwige, alors âgée de 12 ans, fut
envoyée à Wroclaw, à la cour de prince Boleslas Wysoki (Boleslas le Haut)
dont elle devait épouser le fils, Henryk Brodaty[2] (Henri le
Barbu). Cette union devait procurer à l'Empereur un nouveau partisan et, en
même temps, porter les souverains de la Bohême et de la Hongrie, apparentés
avec les Piast de la lignée silésienne, à quitter la coalition de Welfowie,
hostile à l'Empereur.
La date précise et le lieu de la cérémonie du mariage
d'Hedwige avec Henri le Barbu ne sont pas connus. La première dizaine
d'années de son séjour en Pologne s'écoula sous le signe de la vie de famille
et de cour. Elle mit au monde sept enfants, dont quatre moururent en bas âge[3].
A la cour de Silésie régnaient les coutumes polonaises. Hedwige fut entourée de
Polonais, bien qu’il ne manquât sûrement pas de demoiselles d'honneur et
d'hommes d'Église venus de sa patrie.
Après la mort de ses frères et de son père,
Henri le Barbu, comme unique successeur, accéda au pouvoir en 1202.
Hedwige devint alors duchesse de Silésie. Profondément enracinée dans ce
milieu, s'étant familiarisée avec la langue, ayant appris à connaître le pays
et ses habitants, elle ne resta pas sans exercer une influence sur l'activité
de son mari. Elle prêta son appui à des projets politiques de celui-ci et, par
l’intermédiaire de ses frères et sœurs, elle lui facilita des contacts
internationaux. On trouve aussi des marques de ses initiatives et d’actions
autonomes. En 1229, quand à la suite de la lutte avec Conrad Mazowiecki pour le
trône de Cracovie, Henri le Barbu fut fait prisonnier, Hedwige joua
le rôle d'intermédiaire et obtint la libération de son mari. Les négociations
furent confirmées par le contrat conjugal prévoyant le mariage de ses deux
petites-filles avec les fils de Conrad. Non sans son initiative, sa fille
Gertrude fut fiancée à Otto Wittelsbach, et les filles du roi de Bohême, Anne
et Agnès, devinrent ses belles-filles. Des effets durables de sa collaboration
avec son mari se manifestent à travers de nombreuses fondations d'églises,
faites dans le cadre du processus d’aménagement de nouvelles bourgades en
Silesie.
La plus célèbre fondation ducale en Silésie fut le
monastère des cisterciennes de Trzebnica (en allemand, Trebnitz), fondé en 1202
à l'initiative d'Hedwige. Son frère Ekbert, évêque de Bamberg, y envoya un
groupe de moniales du monastère de la Vierge Marie et Saint-Théodore à Bamberg,
avec Petrissa, ancienne éducatrice d'Hedwige, comme première abbesse de
Trzebnica. Richement dotée par Henri le Barbu, l'abbaye commença vite à
rayonner une intensense vie religieuse. A partir de 1208, elle se peupla de
religieuses polonaises ; en 1212, la fille d'Hedwige, Gertrude, devint
cistercienne à Trzebnica et, avant 1232, elle en fut nommée abbesse. Les
démarches d'Hedwige amenèrent en 1218 à faire admettre l'abbaye de Trzebnica
comme premier monastère féminin dans l`Ordre de Cîteaux.
La dot importante dont Hedwige disposait librement,
constituée par les domaines de Zawon et de Jawon et par la châtellenie de Wlen,
lui permirent d'organiser un hôpital ambulant auprès de la cour, destiné aux
pauvres, d'entretenir un hôpital pour les lépreux à Sróda, ainsi que
d'organiser un hospice. Dans ses domaines, elle réduisit les redevances des
paysans, faisant des provisions qui permirent de supporter plus facilement les
calamités dues aux inondations et à la famine (1221-1222). Elle influença les
décisions de son mari en adoucissant souvent ses jugements, ce qu’elle concevait
aussi comme son devoir envers le pays.
Des événements pénibles vécus en 1208-1213 (la
succession des décès de ses enfants[4],
des adversités touchant sa lignée, l'exil de ses frères et, surtout,
l'assassinat de sa sœur Gertrude, reine de Hongrie), augmentèrent chez Hedwige
l'esprit d'expiation et le désir de consacrer sa vie à des actes de charité.
Après vingt années d'union, Hedwige obtint de son mari le consentement à la
séparation, confirmée par un vœu solennel. Dès ce moment, elle résida au
monastère de Trzebnica, partageant avec les religieuses les devoirs résultant
de la règle. Elle prit l'habit cistercien, mais elle ne fit pas de vœux
monastiques, même après la mort d'Henri le Barbu, inspirée sûrement par la
volonté de disposer librement de ses biens. La renommée de la sainteté de sa
nièce Élisabeth de Thuringe (morte en 1231, canonisée en 1235) et la
spiritualité franciscaine l'incitaient à multiplier des pratiques expiatoires,
à soigner les malades, à entourer de soins les prisonniers et les pauvres.
Au-delà de la dévotion pour le Christ, elle avait un
culte particulier pour la Mère de Dieu, ne se séparant jamais de sa petite
statuette gothique. De son goût pour la liturgie témoignent de précieuses
reliques : le Psautier de Trzebnica[5],
enluminé et les « Offices de sainte Hedwige[6].»
L'invasion des Tartares en 1241, au cours de laquelle
périt son fils Henri le Pieux (Henryk Pobozny)[7],
dans la bataille de Legnica (Liegnitz), fut vécue par Hedwige à Krosno sur
l'Odra, ensemble avec les moniales et sa belle-fille. Epuisée par son activité
caritative et par une rigoureuse ascèse qui de son vivant déjà lui assurèrent
un grand prestige, Hedwige mourut à Trzebnica en octobre 1243. En se basant sur
la date de l’anniversaire célébré au monastère de Trzebnica encore avant sa
canonisation, on admet comme date précise de sa mort au 14 octobre. Après la
mort d'Hedwige, son culte se propagea vite et des foules toujours plus grandes
affluèrent auprès de sa tombe à Trzebnica, venant de Silésie, de Grande-Pologne,
de Poméranie, de Lusace et de Misnie. La demande de canoniser Hedwige,
présentée par sa fille Gertrude, abbesse de Trzebnica, et par l’épiscopat
polonais, fut appuyée par des princes polonais et par le roi de Bohême. La mort
du pape Urbain IV retarda la chose mais déjà son successeur Clément IV canonisa
Hedwige le 26 mars 1267, à Viterbe, en fixant sa fête patronale au 15 octobre.
L'ouverture de la tombe et l'élévation des reliques eurent lieu le 17 août
1267, suivies le 25 août 1269 par la translation solennelle dans une nouvelle
chapelle gothique, fondée par un petit-fils d'Hedwige, Ladislas, archevêque de
Salzbourg et administrateur de l'évêché de Wroclaw. A la demande du roi de
Pologne, Jean Sobieski, le pape Innocent XI étendit en 1680 le culte d'Hedwige
à toute l'Eglise catholique. C'est de cette époque-là que date le sarcophage
avec la statue d'Hedwige en albâtre, commandé par l’abbesse Christine Pawlowska
de Wierzbno. Au cours des temps, la fête liturgique fut célébrée à des jours
différents du 14 au 17 octobre.
[1] Deux
frères de sainte Hedwige furent évêques, une de ses sœurs fut abbesse, une
autre fut reine de Hongrie et mère de sainte Elisabeth, une troisième, Agnès,
fut reine de France et femme de Philippe II Auguste.
[2] Henri
I° le Barbu né vers 1168, succéda à son père, Boleslas le Long,
en 1202, et mourut en 1238. Il favorisa la culture germanique et les influences
allemandes ; après 1230, il commanda en Pologne et à Cracovie.
[3] Boleslas,
Agnès, Sophie et Ladislas moururent en bas âge.
[4] Tous
moururent avant elle, à l’exception de Gertrude. Née en 1200, elle fut fiancée
à Othon de Wittelsbach, palatin du Rhin (1208). Après que son fiancé fut tué (5
mars 1209), elle refusa d’autres fiançailles et entra à Trzebnica dont elle
devint abbesse (1229). Elle mourut en 1268.
[5] Bibliothèque
de l'Université de Wroclaw.
[6] Bibliothèque
Pierpont-Morgan à New York : livre de prières orné de 150 miniatures,
contenant aussi le calendrier et des notices nécrologiques de la dynastie des
Piast, des Przemyslidzi et des Andechs.
[7] Henri le
Pieux, né en 1191, fut duc de Silésie et de Pologne. A l’emplacement de la
bataille, sainte Hedwige fonda la prévôté bénédictine de Wahlstatt.
SOURCE : http://missel.free.fr/Sanctoral/10/16.php
Passau, Kloster Niedernburg, Klosterkirche
16/10 Ste Hedwige, veuve
Morte le 15 octobre 1243, canonisée en 1627, fête en
1706 (déplacée en 1929 par l’ajoût de Ste
Marguerite Marie au calendrier)
(Leçon des Matines (avant 1960)
Quatrième leçon. Hedwige, née de famille royale et plus illustre encore par l’innocence de sa vie, était fille de Berthold, duc de Moravie et d’Agnès, son épouse, ainsi que tante maternelle de sainte Elisabeth de Hongrie. Dès ses plus tendres années, elle se fit remarquer par sa sagesse et son éloignement pour les amusements de son âge. Donnée en mariage par ses parents, à l’âge de douze ans, à Henri, duc de Pologne, elle remplit saintement tous ses devoirs de fidèle épouse, et éleva ses enfants dans la crainte du Seigneur. Pour mieux s’appliquer au service de Dieu, elle amena son époux à consentir et à s’engager par vœu, comme elle, à garder la continence. Le duc étant mort, Hedwige, après d’instantes prières et sur l’inspiration divine, prit généreusement l’habit de l’Ordre de Cîteaux, dans le monastère de Trebnitz ; et là, s’appliquant à la contemplation et assistant avec assiduité, du lever du soleil jusqu’à midi, aux divins Offices et à la célébration des Messes, elle se montra courageuse à mépriser l’antique ennemi du genre humain.
Cinquième leçon. Elle ne voulut plus soit parler soit entendre parler des choses du siècle, à moins qu’elles ne se rapportassent à la gloire de Dieu ou au salut des âmes. La prudence brillait dans ses actions, en sorte qu’il ne s’y produisait ni excès quant à la mesure à garder, ni erreur pour l’ordre à suivre ; Hedwige était en outre affable et douce envers le prochain. Macérant son corps par des jeûnes, des veilles, ainsi que par la sévère rudesse de ses vêtements, elle remporta une grande victoire sur elle-même, et dès lors on vit fleurir en elle les plus sublimes vertus du christianisme, et elle devint un rare modèle de piété religieuse, par la gravité de ses conseils, la candeur et la sérénité de son âme. Se mettre volontiers au dessous de toutes ses sœurs, et les devancer toutes pour remplir avec joie les emplois les plus vils, servir les pauvres, même à genoux, laver et baiser les pieds des lépreux, tout cela lui était familier, car elle était assez maîtresse d’elle-même pour ne pas être arrêtée par le dégoût à la vue de la sanie découlant de leurs ulcères.
Sixième leçon. La pieuse duchesse se montra admirable de patience et de
force d’âme, principalement à la mort de son fils Henri, duc de Silésie, tué
dans une guerre contre les Tartares ; car, au lieu d’accorder des larmes à
ce fils qu’elle aimait tendrement, elle rendit grâces à Dieu. Le don des
miracles accrut encore sa gloire. Un enfant étant tombé à l’eau, engagé dans
les roues d’un moulin et tout broyé, on eut recours à Hedwige, et elle le
rendit à la vie. Elle accomplit d’autres prodiges encore, qui, dûment
constatés, portèrent Clément IV à l’inscrire au nombre des Saints, et à
concéder que la Pologne, qui l’honore comme sa patronne d’une vénération
particulière, célébrât sa Fête le quinzième jour d’octobre. Plus tard, Innocent
XI a rehaussé la solennité de cette Fête, en décidant qu’on la ferait dans
toute l’Église [1].
[1] mention supprimée en 1929 : le
dix-sept du même mois.
SOURCE : https://www.introibo.fr/16-10-Ste-Hedwige-veuve
Henri Ier avec sa famille. Assis au centre :
Henri et son épouse Edwige.
Debout, de gauche à droite : Gertrude, Agnès,
Henri et Boleslas. Sophie et Conrad assis au premier plan
Also known as
Hedwig of Silesia
Hedwig von Andechs
Hedvigis….
Hedwiges….
Avoice….
Jadwiga Śląska
15
October (in the monastery of Trzebnica, Poland)
Profile
Daughter of Berthold IV, Duke of
Merania. Aunt of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. Married Prince Henry
I the Bearded of Silesia and Poland in 1186 at
age 12. Mother of seven,
including Saint Gertrude
of Trebnitz. Cared for the sick both
personally and by founding hospitals. Widow.
Upon her husband’s death,
she gave away her fortune and entered the monastery at
Trebnitz where her daughter was abbess.
Born
1174 in
Castle Andechs, Bavaria (part
of modern Germany)
Died
15
October 1243 at
at Trzebnica, Silesia (part
of modern Poland)
relics preserved
at Adechs Abbey
26 March 1267 by Pope Clement
IV
—
Andechs
Abbey, Bavaria, Germany
Additional Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Catholic
Encyclopedia, by J P Kirsch
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
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of the Saints, by Father Francis
Xavier Weninger
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of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
Short
Lives of the Saints, by Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly
books
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Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
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Readings
Hedwig knew that those living stones that were to be
placed in the buildings of the heavenly Jerusalem had to be smoothed out by
buffetings and pressures in this world, and that many tribulations would be
needed before she could cross over into her heavenly homeland. Because of such
great daily fasts and abstinences she grew so thin that many wondered how such
a feeble and delicate woman could endure these torments. The more attentively
she kept watch, the more she grew in the strength of the spirit and in grace,
and the more the fire of devotion and divine love blazed within her. Just as her
devotion made her always seek after God, so her generous piety turned her
toward her neighbor, and she bountifully bestowed alms on
the needy. She gave aid to colleges and to religious persons dwelling within or
outside monasteries,
to widows and orphans,
to the weak and the feeble, to lepers and those bound in chains or imprisoned,
to travelers and
needy women nursing infants. She allowed no one who came to her for help to go
away uncomforted. And because this servant of God never neglected the practice
of all good works, God also conferred on her such grace that when she lacked
human means to do good, and her own powers failed, through divine favor of the
sufferings of Christ she had the power to relieve the bodily and spiritual
troubles of all who sought her help. – from a biography of Saint Hedwig
MLA Citation
“Saint Hedwig of Andechs“. CatholicSaints.Info.
22 April 2021. Web. 16 October 2021.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-hedwig-of-andechs/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-hedwig-of-andechs/
Hedwig (Jadwiga, Avoice), OSB Cist. Queen Religious
(RM)
Born in Bavaria c. 1174; died in Silesia, 1243;
canonized 1267. Hedwig was one of the eight children born to Berthold IV, the
count of Andechs, who ruled over the Tyrol and Istria (Croatia and Dalmatia).
Two of her brothers became bishops and two of her sisters became queens. One of
them, Gertrude, who married Andrew II of Hungary, was the mother of Saint
Elizabeth (of Hungary, my fav!).
As a child she was placed in the Benedictine monastery
of Kitzingen in Franconia (see Saint Thecla).
In 1186, when she was 12 years old, Hedwig was married
to 18-year- old Henry the Bearded, prince of Poland and future duke of Silesia.
She bore him 6 (some say 7) children and the family was closely knit. But from
1209 onwards she and her husband agreed to live in perpetual continence. Hedwig
was then 35 and Duke Henry was barely past 40, but he submitted to the austere
disciple without complaint or resistance.
After succeeding to his father's dukedom in 1202, and
under Hedwig's influence, Henry founded the monastery of Cistercian nuns at
Trebnitz (near Breslau, now Wroclaw), the first convent of women in Silesia.
The convent was built with the labor of those convicted of crimes. It was the
first of a large number of such establishments founded by the couple, including
houses of Augustinian canons, Cistercian monks, and Dominican and Franciscan
friars, by which religion and German culture were spread over their
territories.
Henry also founded the Hospital of the Holy Ghost in
Breslau, and Hedwig founded a hospital for female lepers.
Following the example of his wife, he was sustained by
a great and ennobling piety. He let his beard grow in the manner of Cistercian
converts (when his name Henry the Bearded) and greatly reduced his household
expenses, devoting the money that he saved to charitable purposes. After their
separation Henry never again wore gold, silver, or purple.
There have been few duchesses like her. She was
humble, serving the poor and the lepers, pardoning offenses, helping her
enemies, and bringing aid to even the most insolent and hardened sinners. She
kept barely a hundredth part of her income, giving the rest away with an open
hand. Beneath her tattered cloak she wore a hair shirt. She went about with
naked feet in all weather, and when, in obedience to her confessor, she bought
a pair of new shoes, she carried them under her arms. She scourged herself and
subjected her soul and her body to countless mortifications.
Towards the end of her life she had the gift of
working cures and making predictions. Several miracles are recorded of her--she
fell asleep, it was said, one night while reading the Bible by candlelight; the
book caught fire and burned, but was undamaged. A blind man's sight was
restored because of her blessing.
As for Henry I, her good and faithful husband, she
outlived him by five years. In 1227, Henry engaged in fighting Conrad of
Masovia for the land of Ladislaus of Sandomir who had been killed in battle.
Henry triumphed and established himself at Cracow, but he was kidnapped during
Mass and taken by Conrad to Plock. Hedwig followed and helped bring the two to
a peaceful agreement, which included the marriage of her two granddaughters to
Conrad's sons. Upon Duke Henry's death in 1238 Hedwig moved into the monastery
at Trebnitz. Hedwig did not cry at her husband's death; she consoled the
sorrowing nuns instead.
God treats harshly those whom he loves. All her
children died before she did, except for one daughter, Gertrude, who was the
abbess of the convent of Trebnitz. Two of her sons dishonored the family name
by engaging in fratricidal wars, and another son, Henry the Pious who succeeded
his father, was killed in 1241 by the Tartars at the battle of
Liegnitz. Again, Hedwig comforted the others.
She took the habit of the nuns but not the vows,
wishing to administer her property as she wished to help the needy. She
predicted her own death, insisting on being anointed before anyone else would
acknowledge she was in danger. Worn out by the hardships she had endured, she
died in 1243, in her seventieth year.
Riches have never been able to buy entrance into
heaven. Hedwig, the duchess with the naked feet and workworn hands, had no need
to knock on the gates which, at her approach, swung open of themselves. And
someone was on the threshold to greet with open arms the woman who had freely
given of her heart, her wealth, and her light, and who had been a supreme
example of the life of poverty in the example of God (Attwater, Bentley,
Delaney, Encyclopedia, White).
The policies and foundations of Duke Henry and Saint
Hedwig were important in Silesian history through the increase of German
influence they brought to the country (Attwater).
She is the patroness of Silesia, and venerated in
Franconia.
Depicted in art with the church and a statue of the
Virgin Mary in her hands; or washing the feet of the poor; or barefoot with her
shoes in her hands; or in a religious habit with the robes and crown of a
princess near her (White). Sometimes she is seen holding a picture of the
Virgin and Child in her hand or Christ blessing her from the Cross (Roeder).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/1016.shtml
750th day of death of saint Hedwig of Andechs (1174-1243)
750. Todestag der heiligen Hedwig von Andechs (1174-1243)
St. Hedwig
Duchess of Silesia, b. about 1174, at the castle
of Andechs; d. at Trebnitz,
12 or 15 October, 1243. She was one of eight children born
to Berthold IV, Count of Andechs and Duke of Croatia and Dalmatia.
Of her four brothers, two became bishops, Ekbert of Bamberg,
and Berthold of Aquileia; Otto succeeded
his father as
Duke of Dalmatia,
and Heinrich became Margrave of Istria. Of her three
sisters, Gertrude married Andrew II, King of Hungary,
from which union sprang St.
Elizabeth, Landgravine of Thuringia; Mechtilde became Abbess of
Kitzingen; while Agnes was made the unlawful wife of Philip
II of France in
1196, on the repudiation of his lawful wife, Ingeborg, but was
dismissed in 1200, Innocent
III having laid France under
an interdict.
Hedwig was educated at
the monastery of
Kitzingen, and, according to an old biography, at the age of twelve (1186),
was married to Henry I of Silesia (b. 1168), who in 1202
succeeded his father Boleslaw
as Duke of Silesia. Henry's mother was a German;
he himself had been educated in Germany;
and now through his wife he was brought into still
closer relations with Germany.
Henry I was an energetic prince, who greatly extended the boundaries of his
duchy, established his authority on a firm basis, and rendered important
services to civilization in the realm. For this purpose he encouraged to the
utmost the spread of the more highly developed
civilization existing in the German territories adjoining
his to the west, so that Silesia became German in
language and customs.
Hedwig now took a prominent part in the beneficent
administration of her husband. Her prudence, fortitude,
and piety won
for her great influence in the government of the land. In particular she gave
her support to new monastic foundations and assisted those already
in existence. It was chiefly through the monasteries that German civilization
was spread in Silesia. Henry and
Hedwig endowed munificently the Cistercian monastery of Leubus,
the Premonstratensian monastery of St.
Vincent, and the foundation of the Canons
of St. Augustine at Breslau.
The following monasteries were
established: the Augustinian priory of
Naumburg on the Bober (1217), later transferred to Sagan, the Cistercian monastery of Heinrichau (1227),
and the priory of
the Augustinian
Canons at Kamenz (1210). St. Hedwig brought the Dominicans to Bunzlau and Breslau,
the Franciscans to
Goldberg (1212) and later to Krossen. The Templars established
a house at Klein-Oels. Henry was also the founder of
the Hospital of the Holy Ghost at Breslau (1214),
and Hedwig tended with disinterested charity the leper women in
the hospital at Neumarkt.
At the instance of his saintly wife, the duke then founded at his own
expense, and on ground donated by himself the convent of
the Cistercian nuns at Trebnitz (1202),
and generously endowed it. This was the first house
of religious women in Silesia.
The first nuns came
from Bamberg and
took possession of their new monastery early
in 1203. The first abbess is
said to have been Petrussa, succeeded by Bl. Gertrude, a daughter
of Henry and Hedwig, who at an early age had been betrothed to Otto von
Wittelsbach. After he murdered the German King Philip of
Swabia (1208), the betrothal was
annulled and Gertrude entered the Abbey of Trebnitz (before
1212), where she later became abbess.
For some years after her marriage, Hedwig resided
chiefly at Breslau.
She had seven children. A son, Boleslaw, and two daughters, Sophia
and Agnes, died at an early age; Henry succeeded to his father's title; Conrad died
while still a young man, in consequence of a fall from his horse (c. 1214);
and Gertrude embraced the religious
life. On Christmas
Day, 1208, another son of Hedwig's was baptized,
probably not identical with the above-mentioned Boleslaw, who had died before
this time. On the suggestion of Hedwig, after the birth of this last
child, she and her husband led a virgin life (1209), and
pronounced a vow of chastity before
the Bishop of Breslau. Duke Henry took
the tonsure and
allowed his beard to
grow, like the Cistercian lay
brothers (whence his sobriquet of "the Bearded"). From
this time forward Hedwig spent much of her time at the Abbey of
Trebnitz, where, on the death of her husband (1238), she took up her permanent
abode, that she might devote herself unreservedly to exercises
of mortification and piety as
well as to works
of charity. She transferred to the abbey her
inheritance of Schawoine. Hedwig had had many trials and tribulations. In the
year 1227 her husband, with Duke Lesko of Sandomir,
was treacherously set upon by Swantopolk, Duke of Pomerania,
and severely wounded. Hedwig immediately hastened to Gonsawa, where the
bloody deed had taken place, to care for her
husband. Lesko had been killed, and war now
broke out between Henry of Silesia and Conrad of
Masovia over the possession of Cracow. Conrad was
defeated, but succeeded in surprising Henry in
a church attending Divine service and led him captive to Plock (1229).
Hedwig forthwith went to her husband's assistance, and her very appearance made
such an impression on Conrad of Masovia that he released the duke.
Of Hedwig's children,
only Gertrude survived her; Duke Henry II fell
at Wahlstatt (1241) in a battle against the Tatars. After her
husband's death, Hedwig took the grey habit of the Cistercians,
but was not received into the order as a religious, that she might retain
the right to
spend her revenues in charities. The duchess practised
severe mortification,
endured all trials with the greatest resignation, with
self-denying charity cared for the sick and supported the poor;
in her interior life of prayer,
she gave herself up to meditation on supernatural things.
Her piety and
gentleness won for her even during life the reputation of
a saint. She was interred in
the church attached to the monastery,
and was canonized by Clement
IV, 26 March, 1267, and on 25 August of the same year her remains were
raised to the honours of the altar. Her feast is
celebrated 17 October; she in honoured as
the patroness of Silesia.
With St. Hedwig as patroness, R. Spiske,
later canon at Breslau,
founded, in 1848, a pious association of women and
young girls, from which developed the congregation of
the Sisters of St. Hedwig, established in 1859, at Breslau,
under the Rule
of St. Augustine, and constitutions approved by the bishop.
Their chief aim is the education of orphaned and abandoned children;
they also conduct schools for
little girls and trade schools.
Their activity extends chiefly over Germany and Austria,
but they also have a house in Denmark.
The sisters number about three hundred, with mother-house at Breslau.
Sources
Acta SS., Oct., VIII, 189-267; STENGEL, Scriptores
rerum Silesiacarum, II (Breslau, 1835—), 1 sqq; SEMKOWICZ, Monumenta
Poloniæ historica, IV (Lemberg, 1884), 510-651; POTTHAST, Bibliotheca
hist. med. ævii, II, 1362-63, with bibliography; Bibliotheca hagiographica
latina, ed BOLLAND., I, 562; GÖRLICH, Das Leben der hl. Hedwig,
Herzogin von Schlesien (Breslau, 1843; 2nd ed., 1854); WOLFSKRON, Die
Bilder der Hedwigslegende (Vienna, 1846); KNOBLICH, Lebensgeschichte
der Landespatronin Schlesiens, der hl. Hedwig (Breslau, 1860);
LUCHS, Ueber die Bilder der Hedwigslegende (Breslau, 1861);
BECKER, Die hl. Hedwig, Herzogin von Schlesien und Polen (Freiburg im
Br., 1872); JUNGNITZ, Die hl. Hedwig (Breslau, 1886);
IDEM, Das Breslauer Brevier und Proprium (Breslau, 1893), 24 sqq.;
BAZIN, Sainte Hedwige, sa vie et ses oeuvres (Paris, 1895);
MICHAEL, Geschichte des deutschen Volkes vom 13. Jahrh. bis zum
Ausgang des Mittelalters, II (Freiburg im Br., 1899) 225 sqq.;
BRAUNSBERGER, Rückblick auf das katholisches Ordenswesen im
19. Jahrhundert (Freiburg im Br., 1901).
Kirsch, Johann Peter. "St. Hedwig."
The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 16
Oct. 2016 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07189a.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for
New Advent by WGKofron.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. June
1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal
Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2020 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07189a.htm
St.
Hedwiges, or Avoice, Duchess of Poland, Widow
From her exact life extant in Surius, and D’Andilly,
Saints Illustr. See also Chromer, Hist. l. 7, 8; Dlugoss, Hist. Polonicæ, l. 6
et 7, and F. Raderus, Bavaria Sancta, t. 1, p. 147.
A.D. 1243
THE FATHER of this saint was Bertold III. of Andechs,
marquis of Meran, count of Tirol, and prince (or duke) of Carinthia and Istria, 1 as
he is styled in the Chronicle of Andechs, and in the life of St. Elizabeth of
Hungary. 2 Her
mother was Agnes, daughter of the count of Rotletchs. St. Hedwiges had three
sisters and four brothers. Her eldest sister, Agnes, was married to Philip
Augustus, king of France; Gertrude, the second, to Andrew, king of Hungary, by
whom she had St. Elizabeth; the third was abbess of Lutzingen in Franconia. As
to her brothers, Bertold died patriarch of Aquileia, and Elebert, bishop of
Bamberg: Henry and Otho divided between them their father’s principalities, and
became renowned generals. St. Hedwiges, by a distinguishing effect of the
divine mercy in her favour, was from her cradle formed to virtue by the example
and lessons of her devout mother, and of those that were placed about her. In
her infancy she discovered no marks of levity, and all her inclinations were
turned to piety and devotion. She was placed very young in the monastery of
Lutzingen, in Franconia, and only taken thence, when twelve years old, to marry
Henry, Duke of Silesia, descended of the dukes of Glogau in that country; to
which match she only consented out of compliance with the will of her parents.
In this state, by the fidelity with which she acquitted herself of all her
respective duties towards God, her husband, her children, and her family, she
was truly the courageous woman described by the wise man, 3 who
is to be sought from the utmost boundaries of the earth: making it her study in
all things only to please God, and to sanctify her own soul and her household,
she directed all her views and actions to this great end. With her husband’s
free consent she always passed holydays, fast-days, and all seasons of devotion
in continence. She bore her husband three sons, Henry, Conrad, and Boleslas;
and three daughters, Agnes, Sophia, and Gertrude. After the birth of her sixth
child, she engaged her husband to agree to a mutual vow of perpetual
continence, which they made in presence of the bishop of the place; from which
time they never met but in public places. Her husband faithfully kept this vow
for thirty years that he lived afterwards; during which time he never wore any
gold, silver, or purple, and never shaved his beard; from which circumstance he
was surnamed Henry the Bearded; and so he is constantly called by Dlugoss, Chromer,
and other Polish and German historians.The nobility of Greater Poland having
expelled their Duke Ladislas Otonis, conferred on Henry that principality in
1233. Hedwiges endeavoured by all the means in her power to dissuade him from
accepting that offer; but was not able to prevail. Henry marched thither with
an army, and quietly took possession of that and some other provinces of
Poland, and though Boleslas the Pious was Duke of Cracow and Sendomir, both he
and some other lesser princes of that country stood so much in awe of Henry’s
superior power, as never to dare to have any contest with him. From that time
he is styled Duke of Poland. Out of partial fondness he was once desirous to
leave his dominions to his second son, Conrad; but Hedwiges supported the cause
of Henry, which was that of justice. The two brothers, with their factions,
came to an open rupture, and notwithstanding their mother’s desire to reconcile
them, a great battle was fought, in which Henry entirely routed his younger
brother’s army, who died soon after in retirement and penance. This happened
several years before the death of their father, and was one of those crosses by
which the duchess learned more bitterly to deplore the miseries and blindness
of the world, and more perfectly to disengage her heart from its slavery.
Whether in prosperity or adversity her whole comfort was in God, and in the
exercises of religion. The duke, at her persuasion, and upon her yielding into
his hands her whole dower for this purpose, founded the great monastery of
Cistercian nuns at Trebnitz, three miles from Breslaw, the capital of Silesia;
upon which he settled the town of Trebnitz, and other estates, endowing it for
the maintenance of one thousand persons, of which, in the first foundation, one
hundred were nuns; the rest were young ladies of reduced families, who were to
be here educated in piety, and afterwards provided with competent portions to
marry advantageously in the world; or, if they were inclined to a monastic
state, they were at liberty to profess it in this or in any other nunnery. This
building was begun in 1203, and was carried on fifteen years without
interruption, during which time all malefactors in Silesia, instead of other
punishments, were condemned to work at it, and the severity of their servitude
was proportioned to their crimes. The monastery was finished, and the church
dedicated in 1219. The duchess practised in her palace greater austerities than
those of the most rigid monks, fasted and watched in prayer, and wherever she travelled,
had always thirteen poor persons with her, whom she maintained, in honour of
Christ and his apostles, waiting upon them herself upon her knees at table,
where they were served with good meat, before she took her own coarse
refection. She often washed the feet and kissed the ulcers of lepers, and
having an extreme desire to hear that amiable sentence from Christ at the last
day: I was in prison and you visited me, &c., she exhausted her
revenues in relieving the necessitous. The simplicity which she observed in her
dress whilst she lived with her husband, showed, that if respect to him and his
court obliged her to wear decent apparel, she was yet an enemy to vain or gaudy
ornaments, which amuse a great part of her sex, and much more to all decorations
and artifices of dress, with which many ladies study to set themselves off to
advantage: a certain mark of vanity, or a pleasure they take in themselves, and
a dangerous desire of pleasing others. This passion, which banishes from the
breast where it reigns the spirit of Christ, and his gospel, cherishes the root
of many vices, and without design spreads snares to entangle and destroy unwary
souls, cannot find place in one whose conduct is regulated by, and whose heart
is penetrated with, the spirit of Christian modesty.
St. Hedwiges, after her separation from her husband,
carried her love of humility and penance much further in this respect, and wore
only clothes of plain grey stuff. Her desire of advancing in perfection put her
upon leaving the palace with her husband’s consent, and fixing altogether at
Trebnitz, near the monastery, often retiring for some days into that austere
house, where she lay in the dormitory, and complied with all the penitential
exercises of the community. She wore the same cloak and tunic summer and
winter; and underneath a rough hair shift, with sleeves of white serge, that it
might not be discovered. She fasted every day, except Sundays and great
festivals, on which she allowed herself two small refections. For forty years she
never ate any flesh, though subject to frequent violent illnesses; except that
once, under a grievous distemper in Poland, she took a little, in obedience to
the precept of the pope’s legate. On Wednesdays and Fridays her refection was
only bread and water. With going to churches barefoot, sometimes over ice and
snow, her feet were often blistered, and left the ground stained with traces of
her blood; but she carried shoes under her arms, to put on if she met any one.
Her maids that attended her to church, though well clad, were not able to bear
the cold, which she never seemed to feel. She had a good bed in her chamber,
but never made use of it, taking her rest on the bare ground: she watched great
part of the night in prayer and tears, and never returned to rest after matins.
After compline she prolonged her prayers in the church till very late; and from
matins till break of day. At her work, or other employments she never ceased to
sigh to God in her heart as a stranger banished from him on earth, and returned
often in the day to the church, where she usually retired into a secret corner,
that her tears might not be perceived. The princess Anne, her daughter-in-law,
who usually knelt next to her, admired the abundance of tears she saw her
frequently shed at her devotions, the interior joy and delights with which she
was often overwhelmed during her communications with heaven, and the sublime
raptures with which she was sometimes favoured. The same was testified by
Herbold, her confessor, and by several servant-maids. At her prayers she
frequently kissed the ground, watering it with her tears, and in private often
prayed a long time together prostrate on the floor. She continued in prayer
during all the time it thundered, remembering the terrors of the last day. Her
tears and devotion were extraordinary when she approached the holy communion.
She always heard mass either kneeling, or prostrate, with a devotion which
astonished all who saw her; nor could she be satisfied without hearing every
morning all the masses that were said in the church where she was. 4
That devotion is false or imperfect which is not
founded in humility and the subjection of the passions. St. Hedwiges always
sincerely looked upon herself as the last and most ungrateful to God of all
creatures, and she was often seen to kiss the ground where some virtuous person
had knelt in the church. No provocation was observed to make her ever show the
least sign of emotion or anger. Whilst she lived in the world, the manner in
which she reprimanded servants for faults, showed how perfectly she was
mistress of herself, and how unalterable the peace of her mind was. This also
appeared in the heroic constancy with which she bore afflictions. Upon
receiving the news of her husband being wounded in battle, and taken prisoner
by the Duke of Kirne, she said, without the least disturbance of mind, that she
hoped to see him in a short time at liberty and in good health. The conqueror
rejected all terms that could be offered for his freedom; which obliged Henry,
our saint’s eldest son, to raise a powerful army to attempt his father’s rescue
by force of arms. Hedwiges, whose tender soul could never hear of the effusion
of Christian blood without doing all in her power to prevent it, went in person
to Conrad, and the very sight of her disarmed him of all his rage, so that she easily
obtained what she demanded. The example of our saint had so powerful an
influence over her husband, that he not only allowed her an entire liberty as
to her manner of living, and exercises of piety, but began at length, in some
degree, to copy her virtues; observed the modesty and recollection of a monk in
the midst of a court; and became the father of his people, and the support of
the poor and weak. All his thoughts were directed to administering justice to
his subjects, and making piety and religion flourish in his dominions. He died
happily in 1238: upon which melancholy occasion all the nuns at Trebnitz
expressed their sense of so great a loss by many tears and other marks of
grief. Hedwiges was the only person who could think of the deceased prince with
dry eyes, and comforting the rest, said: “Would you oppose the will of God? Our
lives are his. We ought to find our comfort in whatever he is pleased to
ordain, whether as to our own death, or as to that of our friends.” The
serenity of mind, and composure of features, with which on that occasion she
urged the unreasonableness of an ungoverned grief, and the duty of resignation
to the divine will, showed, still more than her words, how great a proficient
she was in the virtues which she recommended, and how perfectly the motives of
faith triumphed in her soul over the sentiments of nature. From that time she
put on the religious habit at Trebnitz, and lived in obedience to her daughter
Gertrude, who, having made her religious profession in that house when it was
first founded, had been before that time chosen abbess. Nevertheless, St.
Hedwiges never made any monastic vows, that she might continue to succour the
necessitous by her bountiful charities.
One instance will suffice to show with what humility
and meekness she conversed with her religious sisters. Out of a spirit of
sincere poverty and humility she never wore any other than some old threadbare
castaway habit. One of the nuns happened once to say to her: “Why do you wear
these tattered rags? They ought rather to be given to the poor.” The saint
meekly answered: “If this habit gives any offence I am ready to correct my
fault.” And she instantly laid it aside and got another, though she would not
have a new one. Three years after the death of her husband she sustained a
grievous trial in the loss of her eldest most virtuous and most beloved son
Henry, surnamed the Pious, who had succeeded his father in the duchies both of
Greater and Lesser Poland, and of Silesia. The Tartars with a numberless army
poured out of Asia by the north, proposing nothing less to themselves than to
swallow up all Europe. Having plundered all the country that lay in their way
through Russia and Bulgaria, they arrived at Cracow in Poland. Finding that
city abandoned by its inhabitants who carried off their treasures, they burnt
it to the ground, so that nothing was left standing except the church of St.
Andrew without the walls. Continuing their march into Silesia they laid siege
to the citadel of Breslaw, which was protected by the prayers of St. Ceslas or
Cieslas, prior of the Dominicans there, and the barbarians, terrified by a
globe of fire which fell from the heavens upon their camp, retired towards
Legnitz. Duke Henry assembled his forces at Legnitz, and every soldier having
been at confession, he caused mass to be said, at which he and all his army
received the holy communion. 5 From
this sacred action he courageously led his little army to fall upon the enemy,
having with him Miceslas Duke of Oppolen in Higher Silesia, Boleslas, Marquis
of Moravia, and other princes. He gave wonderful proofs both of his courage and
conduct in this memorable battle, and for some time drove the barbarians before
him: but at last, his horse being killed under him, he was himself slain not
far from Legnitz, in 1241. His corpse was carried to the princess Anne, his
wife, and by her sent to Breslaw, to be interred in the convent of Franciscans
which he had begun to found there, and which she finished after his death. The
grandchildren of our saint were preserved from the swords of these infidels,
being shut up in the impregnable castle of Legnitz. St. Hedwiges herself had
retired with her nuns and her daughter-in-law, Anne, to the fortress of
Chrosne. Upon the news of this disaster she comforted her daughter the abbess,
and her daughter-in-law the princess, who seemed almost dead with grief.
Without letting fall a single tear, or discovering the least trouble of mind,
she said: “God hath disposed of my son as it hath pleased him. We ought to have
no other will than his.” Then, lifting up her eyes to heaven, she prayed as
follows: “I thank you my God, for having given me such a son who always loved
and honoured me, and never gave me the least occasion of displeasure. To see
him alive was my great joy: yet I feel a still greater pleasure in seeing him,
by such a death, deserve to be for ever united to you in the kingdom of your
glory. Oh, my God, with my whole heart, I commend to you his dear soul.” The
example of this saint’s lively faith and hope most powerfully and sweetly
dispelled the grief of those that were in affliction, and her whole conduct was
the strongest exhortation to every virtue. This gave an irresistible force to
the holy advice she sometimes gave others. Being a true and faithful lover of
the cross, she was wont to exhort all with whom she conversed, to arm
themselves against the prosperity of the world with still more diligence than
against its adversities, the former being fraught with more snares and greater
dangers. Nothing seemed to surpass the lessons on humility which she gave to
her daughter-in-law Anne, which were the dictates of her own feeling and
experimental sentiments of that virtue. Her humility was honoured by God with
the gift of miracles. A nun of Trebnitz who was blind, recovered her sight by
the blessing of the saint with the sign of the cross. The author of her life
gives us an account of several other miraculous cures wrought by her, and of
several predictions, especially of her own death. In her last sickness she
insisted on receiving extreme unction before any others could be persuaded that
she was in danger. The passion of Christ, which she had always made a perpetual
part of her most tender devotion, was the chief entertainment by which she
prepared herself for her last passage. God was pleased to put a happy end to
her labours by calling her to himself on the 15th of October, 1243. Her mortal
remains were deposited at Trebnitz. She was canonized in 1266 by Clement IV.,
and her relics were enshrined the year following. 6 Pope
Innocent XI. appointed the 17th of this month for the celebration of her
office. 7
The constancy of this saint at the loss of friends
proceeded not from insensibility. The bowels of saints are so much the more
tender as their charity is always more compassionate and more extensive. But a
lively apprehension of eternity, and of the nothingness of temporal things
makes them regard this life as a moment, and set no value on any thing in it
but inasmuch as God, his love or holy will, and our immortal glory may be
concerned in it. Lewis of Granada tells us, in the life of the venerable servant
of God, John of Avila, that the marchioness of Pliego, when she saw her eldest
son delight in nothing but in retirement and devotion, used to say, that no
other pleasure in this world can equal that of a mother who sees a dear child
very virtuous. The same author mentions another lady of quality, likewise a
spiritual daughter of that holy man, who, when she lost her most pious and
beloved son, said she was not able to express her joy for having sent so dear a
saint before her to heaven. If our grief on such occasions is ungoverned, we
have reason to fear that our faith is weak, which makes such slender
impressions on our souls.
Note 1. Chromer, (l. 7,) Baillet, and some
others, style him Duke of Carinthia, Marquis of Moravia, &c. But Moravia,
which, as appears from Bertius, (Rerum German.) was at that time possessed by
another family, is substituted by mistake for Meran. The town of Meran,
situated near the castle of Tirol, from which that name was afterwards given to
the county, was a famous principality created before the reign of Frederic
Barbarossa; by failure of heirs male, its dominions were afterwards divided
between the Venetians, the dukes of Bavaria and Austria, the lord of Nuremberg,
and other neighbouring princes. The castle of Andechs (now called the Holy
Mountain, on account of the great number of saints’ bodies there interred) is
situated opposite to Diessen, (probably Strabo’s Damasia,) now famous for a
monastery of Regular Canons of St. Austin, in part of the ancient Vindelicia,
now in Bavaria. The most religious and illustrious family of the counts of
Andech is famous in the Martyrologies of Bavaria and Austria for the great
number of saints it has produced: as, B. Rathard, a most pious priest, who
first built the church of St. George at Diessen, in the reign of Lewis
Debonnaire, in 850. Batho, now called Rasso, count or governor of Eastern
Bavaria or Austria, celebrated for his extraordinary piety and devotion, a
pilgrimage to Jerusalem, many religious foundations, and several glorious victories
over the barbarians, who from Pannonia invaded the eastern and southern
provinces of Germany. He died on the 17th of June, 954. St. Otho, bishop of
Bamberg, who, by his zealous preaching and missions, converted a considerable
part of Pomerania to the faith. He died on the 5th of July, 1189. (See his life
written by one who was his contemporary, in Canisius, Antiq. Lect. t. 2, and
Gretzer, l. de Sanctiis Bambergensibus.) This saint was son to Bertold II.
count of Andechs. His sister St. Mechtildes was abbess of Diessen. (See her
life by Engelhard, abbot of Lanchaim, in Canis. Lect. Antiqu. t. 5; also
Chronicon Andescense, et Chronicon Hirsaugiæ.) St. Hedwiges and St. Elizabeth
of Hungary (Nov. 19) are of this family. Bertold III. is called by some authors,
marquis, by others, count of Maran; the title of margrave or marquis, for a
governor or prince of marshes or frontier provinces, was at that time seldom
made use of. [back]
Note 2. See Lazius and Raderus, t. 3,
passim. [back]
Note 3. Prov. xxx.
10, &c. [back]
Note 4. Whence this distich:
In solâ missâ non est contenta ducissa;
Quot sunt presbyteri, tot missas optat haberi.
[back]
Note 5. Chromer, l. 6; Dlugoss. l. 7, ad an.
1241, p. 677. [back]
Note 6. Dlugoss, Hist. Polon. l. 7, pp. 781, 783,
t. 1. [back]
Note 7. Another St. Hedwiges, daughter of Lewis
king of Hungary, (who was also elected king of Poland,) was chosen sovereign
queen of Poland, in 1384, and was eminent for her immense charities to the
poor, her liberality to churches, monasteries, and universities; her humility
and aversion to pomp or gaudy apparel; her meekness, which was so wonderful
that, in so exalted a station, she was utterly a stranger to anger and envy.
She read no books but such as treated of piety and devotion; the chief being the
Holy Scriptures, Homilies of the Fathers, Acts of Martyrs and other Saints, and
the meditations of St. Bernard, &c. She married Jagello, grand duke of
Lithuania, in 1386, on condition he should be baptized, and should plant the
faith in his duchy, which became from that time united to Poland. She died at
Cracow in 1399. On her miracles see Dlugoss, (l. 10, p. 160,) Chromer, and
other Polish writers who gave her the title of saint, though her name is not
inserted in the Martyrologies. [back]
Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume X:
October. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/10/171.html
Engelhartszell ( Upper Austria ). Engelszell monastery
church ( 1754-64 ) - Altar of the Guardian angel: Statue of Saint Hedwig by
Johann Georg Üblhör.
Engelhartszell ( Oberösterreich ). Stiftskirche
Engelszell ( 1754-64 ) - Schutzengelaltar: Statue der heiligen Hedwig von
Johann Georg Üblhör.
Weninger’s
Lives of the Saints – Saint Hedwig, Widow
Article
An example of all virtues, especially worthy to be
imitated, is presented to us today, in the life of Saint Hedwig. Her father was
Berthold, Duke of Carinthia and Count of Meran. Her mother, Agnes, was of
equally high birth. Already in Hedwig’s childhood it was visible that God had
gifted her with a mind far beyond her age. She possessed an innate inclination
to all virtues, and nothing of what usually delights the young touched her
heart. Just as little pleasure did she evince, in later years, in the honors,
riches and amusements of the world. Reading and praying were her only
enjoyments. All her books were devout works, and her prayers were said mostly
before an image of the Blessed Virgin, whom she loved and honored like a
mother. When scarcely twelve years old, she was given in marriage to Henry,
Duke of Poland and Silesia. Although married so early in life, her conduct was
so sensible and virtuous that every one was greatly astonished at it. Among her
maxims was this: “The greater one is by birth, the greater one must be in
virtue, and the more distinguished we are in station, the more we must
distinguish ourselves by our conduct, in order to be a bright example to
others.” She became the mother of three sons and three daughters, all of whom
she educated most piously. She was a little over twenty, and her husband thirty
years of age, when their sixth child was bom; after which, desiring to serve
God more perfectly, she made a vow before the bishop, in which her husband
joined, to live in future in perpetual continence. From that hour, Saint Hedwig
grew daily more and more perfect in all Christian virtues, occupying every
moment left her from the cares she bestowed upon her children, in prayers and
deeds of charity. She found especial comfort in assisting at Holy Mass; hence,
she was not satisfied with one, but went to as many as she could; and the
manner in which she conducted herself in church was a proof of her deep
devotion. Towards widows and orphans, her kindness was truly motherly, and many
of them she fed in her palace, serving them herself, sometimes on bended knees.
She frequently visited the sick in the hospitals; encouraged them to be
patient, and assisted them by rich alms. She never hesitated to wash the feet
of the lepers, or to kiss the sores of the sufferers. She persuaded the Duke,
her husband, to build a large convent not far from Breslau, for the Cistercian
nuns, which she made a home for poor children, who were educated there, and
afterwards provided for according to their station. Nothing could be more
modest and plain than the garments of the holy Duchess, and her example in this
respect induced others living at court to attire themselves with great
simplicity. In the midst of the dissipation of the court, the Saint lived so
austere a life, that it was more to be admired than to be followed.
To prove her virtue, God visited her with a great many
cares and sorrows. The enemy invaded the dominions of her spouse, who was
wounded in a battle and made prisoner. When this news was brought to her, she
raised her eyes confidently to heaven, saying: “I hope to see him again soon,
well and free.” She herself went to Conrad, the Duke who had made her husband
prisoner, and spoke so earnestly to him that he restored her husband to
liberty. Soon after, Henry became dangerously sick, and Hedwig nursing him most
faithfully, did everything to make his death happy. To those who pitied her
after his death, she said: “We must adore the decrees of the Almighty, not only
in days of happiness, but also in those of sorrow and bereavement.” Three years
later, she lost her first-born son, who was killed in a battle with the
Tartars; and this sad event found her as submissive to the will of Providence
as she had been on the death of her husband.
Soon after the burial of the Duke, the Saint had gone
into the convent, which, at her request, he had founded, to be further removed
from all temporal vanity, and to serve the Lord more peacefully and perfectly.
She observed most strictly the regulations of the Order, desiring to do the
meanest work and to be considered the least of the Sisters. In her austerity to
herself she had now full liberty to satisfy herself. She fasted daily, except
on Sundays and festivals; but her fasts were much more rigorous than those of
others; for she abstained from all meat and wine, and partook only of herbs,
bread and water. She wore, day and night, rough hair-cloth and an iron girdle
which she had already worn while at court. She went bare-footed over snow and
ice, and slept, when well, on the bare boards, and when sick, on straw covered
with a coarse cloth. Her sleep lasted hardly three hours before Matins; the
remainder of the night she occupied in prayer, which she only interrupted to
scourge herself to blood. So severe a life emaciated her body to a skeleton.
While working, she always raised her soul to the Most High by mental prayer,
and she was often found in an ecstasy, or raised high above the ground. Her
conversation was only of God, virtue and piety. Towards the crucified Saviour,
she bore the deepest devotion, and the mysteries of His bitter passion and
death were the objects of her daily meditations, during which she frequently
shed tears. Mary, the Blessed Virgin, was most ardently loved by her, and her
whole countenance glowed at the bare mention of her name.
So holy a life could only be followed by a happy
death, of which a severe sickness was the messenger. Before others became aware
that her life was in danger, the Saint asked for the last Sacraments, and she
received them with a devotion which drew tears from the eyes of all who were
present. Before her end, Saint Catherine, Saint Thecla, Saint Ursula, and Saint
Magdalen appeared to her, all of whom she had greatly honored during her life.
These heavenly visitors comforted her and accompanied her to the mansions of
everlasting bliss. Twenty-five years after her death, her holy body was
exhumed, as so many extraordinary miracles had taken place. On opening the
coffin, the whole church was filled with fragrance. The flesh of the whole body
was consumed, except that of three fingers on her left hand. With these she had
frequently held a picture of the Blessed Virgin, which she constantly carried
with her. While dying, she held this picture so fast, that after her death it
could not be removed, and it was buried with her. Pope Clement IV placed the
Duchess among the Saints on account of her many great virtues, of the miracles
which she had wrought while she lived, and of those which took place after her
death, through her intercession. The inhabitants of Poland venerate her as one
of their special Patrons.
Brandenburg an der Havel ( Germany ) . Saint
Catherine's church: Altar of Saint Hedwig (1457) - Central piece: Statue of
Saint Hedwig holding a model of Trebnitz monastery.
Brandenburg an der Havel ( Deutschland ). Katherinenkirche:
Hedwigsaltar (1457) - Schrein: Heilige Hedwig mit einem Modell des Klosters
Trebnitz.
Practical Considerations
• “We must adore the decrees of the Almighty not only
in happy days, but also in those of sorrow and bereavement,” said Saint Hedwig,
when God deprived her of her beloved spouse, by an early death. Equally heroic
was she, when by the will of Divine Providence, she lost her first-born son.
How do you act in similar painful circumstances? You will never possess peace
of mind, if you do not submit to the will of the Most High. And why should you
not do this? The decrees of God are all just, although they are incomprehensible.
Nothing that happens to you is unknown to the Almighty, or has not been
permitted by His wisdom. All that God permits or ordains, is intended for your
welfare. The true faith teaches you this. It also teaches you that you should
not, under any circumstances, oppose the will of God. Hence, there remains
nothing to do, but to make a virtue of necessity, to adore humbly the decrees
of Providence, to submit to them willingly, and to unite your will with that of
your God. In this manner you will be calm and contented in all adverse
circumstances of life, and, at the same time, you will gather a treasure of
merits for heaven. “Make of necessity a virtue,” writes Saint James of Nisibis,
“and as you cannot escape the hand of the Almighty, but must submit to so great
a Lord, humble yourself voluntarily under His overwhelming power.”
• Honor, riches, and the dissipation of this world,
were no objects of desire to the holy duchess, who strove only after heavenly
joys. To obtain these, she practised heroical charity to the poor and mortified
herself most austerely. O how wisely she acted! If she had done the contrary,
what profit would it be to her now? The temporal honors, riches and enjoyments
would long since have passed, and the heavenly ones would have been lost to
her. Take care that you do not become too much attached to what is worldly and
perishable, but endeavor, through the practice of good works, to obtain that
which is eternal. Remember the words of Saint Augustine: “No fortune can be
considered real fortune, but that which is eternal; no evil can be thought real
evil, but that which never ends.” If you, therefore, desire real fortune,
honors and joys, strive to obtain those which last for evermore, and be
unwearied in endeavoring to escape those evils which never end. It is to this
end that Saint Gregory admonishes you when he says: “At the last day of our
life, where will be all that we now seek with so much care, and which we gather
so diligently? Therefore, let us not strive after such honors and possessions
as we must so soon leave, but let us seek such as we shall have for ever. And
among, the evils we fear, let us fear and avoid those which the wicked suffer
for all eternity.” “For what does it profit you,” says Saint Peter Damian, “if
you glitter today in gold, silver and precious stones, or if, clothed in
purple, you have superfluity in all sensual enjoyments, and to-morrow are cast
poor and naked into hell?” what does it profit you?
MLA Citation
Father Francis Xavier Weninger, DD, SJ. “Saint Hedwig, Widow”. Lives of the Saints, 1876. CatholicSaints.Info. 11 May 2018. Web. 16 October 2021. <https://catholicsaints.info/weningers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-hedwig-widow/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/weningers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-hedwig-widow/
36.JPG)
Champions of Catholic Orthodoxy
Adapted from The Liturgical Year by Abbot
Gueranger
Saint Hedwig, Widow († 1243; Feast – October 16)
At the beginning
of the thirteenth century, the plateau of upper Asia poured down a fresh
torrent of barbarians, more terrible than all their predecessors. The
one fragile barrier, Ruthenia, which the Greco-Slavonian civilization could
oppose to the Mongols, had been swept away by the first wave of the invasion;
not one of the States formed under the protection of the Byzantine Church had
any prospect for the future. But to the west of this land, which had fallen
into dissolution before being conquered, the Roman Church had formed a brave
and generous people—so that when the hour arrived, Poland was ready. The
Mongols were already inundating Silesia, when, in the plains of Liegnitz, they
found themselves confronted by an army of thirty thousand warriors, headed by
the Duke of Silesia, Heinrich the Pious. The encounter was terrible; the
victory remained long undecided, until at length, by the odious treason of some
Ruthenian princes, it turned in favor of the barbarians. Duke Heinrich and the
flower of the Polish knighthood were left dead upon the battlefield (April
8, 1241). But their defeat was equal to a victory. The Mongols retired
exhausted, for they had measured their strength with the soldiers of the Latin
Christianity.
It is Poland's happy lot, that at each decisive epoch
in its history a Saint appears to point out the road to the attainment of its
glorious destiny. Over the battlefield of Liegnitz shines the gentle figure of
St. Hedwig, mother of Duke Heinrich the Pious. She had retired, in her
widowhood, into the Cistercian monastery of Trebnitz founded by herself. Three
years before the coming of the barbarians, she had had a revelation touching
the future fate of her son. She offered her sacrifice in silence; and far from
discouraging the young Duke, she was the first to animate him to resistance.
The night following the battle, she awoke one of her
companions, and said to her: "Demundis, know that I have lost my son. My
beloved son has fled from me, like a bird on the wing; I shall never see my son
again in this life." Demundis endeavored to console her—no courier had
arrived from the army, her fears were in vain. "It is but too true,"
replied the Duchess, "but mention it to no one."
Three days later the fatal news was confirmed.
"It is the will of God," said St. Hedwig. "What God wills, and
what pleases Him, must please us also." And rejoicing in the Lord: "I
thank Thee, O my God," said she, raising her hands and eyes to Heaven,
"for having given me such a son. He loved me all his life, always treated
me with great respect, and never grieved me. I much desired to have him with me
on earth, but I congratulate him with my whole soul, for that by the shedding
of his blood he is united with Thee in Heaven, with Thee his Creator. I
recommend his soul to Thee, O Lord my God." No less an example was needed
to sustain Poland under the new task it had just accepted.
At Liegnitz it had raised up again the sword of
Christendom, fallen from the feeble hands of Ruthenia. It became henceforth as
a watchful sentinel, ever ready to defend Europe against the barbarians.
Ninety-three times did the Tartars rush upon Christendom, thirsting for blood
and rapine: ninety-three times Poland repulsed them at the edge of the sword,
or had the grief to see the country laid waste, the towns burned down, the
flower of the nation carried into captivity. By these sacrifices it bore the
brunt of the invasion, and deadened the blow for the rest of Europe. As long as
blood and tears and victims were required, Poland gave them unstintedly; while
the other European nations enjoyed the security purchased by this continual
immolation (Dom Guépin, S. Josaphat et l’Eglise grecque unie en Pologne,
Intro.)
This touching page will be completed by the Church's
story, where the part played by the saintly Duchess is so well brought forward:
St. Hedwig was
illustrious for her royal descent, but still more for the innocence of her
life. She
was maternal aunt to St. Elizabeth, the daughter of the King of Hungary; and
her parents were Berthold and Agnes, Duke and Duchess of Moravia (and
Count and Countess of Andechs, her birthplace). From childhood she was
remarkable for her self-control, for at that tender age she refrained from all
childish games. At the age of twelve, her parents gave her in marriage to
Heinrich, Duke of Poland (Silesia). She was a faithful and holy wife and
mother, and brought up her children in the fear of God. In order the more
freely to attend to God, she persuaded her husband to make with her a mutual
vow of continency. After his death, she was inspired by God, Whose guidance she
had earnestly implored, to take the Cistercian habit; which she did with great
devotion in the monastery of Trebnitz. Here she gave herself up to divine
contemplation, spending the whole time from sunrise till noon in assisting at
the Divine Office and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. She utterly despised the
old enemy of mankind (Satan).
She would neither speak of worldly affairs nor hear
them spoken of, unless they affected the interests of God or the salvation of
souls. All her actions were governed by prudence, and it was impossible to find
in them anything excessive or disorderly. She was full of gentleness and
affability towards all. She triumphed completely over her flesh by afflicting
it with fasting, watching, and rough garments. She was adorned moreover with
the noblest Christian virtues; she was exceedingly prudent in giving counsel;
pure and tranquil in mind; so as to be a model of religious perfection. Yet she
ever strove to place herself below all the nuns; eagerly choosing the lowest
offices in the house. She would serve the poor on her knees and wash and kiss
the feet of lepers, so far overcoming herself as not to be repulsed by their
loathsome ulcers.
Her patience and strength of soul were admirable;
especially at the death of her dearly beloved son, Heinrich Duke of Silesia,
who fell fighting against the Tartars; for she thought rather of giving thanks
to God, than of weeping for her son. Miracles added to her renown. A child that
had fallen into a millstream and was bruised and crushed by the wheels, was
immediately restored to life when the Saint was invoked. Many other miracles
wrought by her having been duly examined, Pope Clement IV enrolled her among
the Saints; and allowed her feast to be celebrated on the fifteenth of October,
in Poland, where she is very greatly honored as a patroness of the country.
Pope Innocent XI extended her Office to the whole Church, fixing it on the seventeenth
of October. (In 1929 it was moved to the sixteenth of October, the
seventeenth being appointed for the feast of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.)
St. Hedwig, daughter of Abraham according to the
Faith, thou didst imitate his heroism. Thy first reward was to find a worthy
son in him whom thou didst offer to the Lord. Thy example is most welcome in
this month, wherein the Church sets before us the death of Judas Machabeus. The
death of thy son, Heinrich, was as glorious as his; but it was also a fruitful
death. Of thy six children he alone, the Isaac offered and immolated to God,
was permitted to propagate thy race. And yet what a posterity is thine, since
all the royal families of Europe can claim to be of thy lineage! "I will
make thee increase exceedingly, and I will make nations of thee, and kings
shall come out of thee" (Gen. 17: 6). This promise, made to the
Father of the faithful, is fulfilled once more on thy behalf, O St. Hedwig. God
never changes; He has no need to make a new engagement; a like fidelity in any
age earns from Him a like reward. Mayest thou be blest by all, O Mother of
nations! Extend over all thy powerful protection; but above all others, by
God's permission, may unfortunate Poland find by experience that thy patronage
is never invoked in vain!
SOURCE : http://www.salvemariaregina.info/SalveMariaRegina/SMR-186/Hedwig.htm
Sant' Edvige Religiosa e Duchessa di Slesia e di
Polonia
- Memoria Facoltativa
Andescj, Baviera, 1174 - Trzebnica, Polonia, 15
ottobre 1243
Nata nel 1174 nell’Alta Baviera, fu duchessa della
Slesia, sposa di Enrico I detto il Barbuto. La sua condizione nobile non le
vietò di vivere a fondo la propria fede, dando prova di profonda devozione ed
esprimendo in diversi modi la carità verso gli ultimi e l’intenzione totale di
porre tutta la sua persona a servizio degli altri. Provata da diverse sventure
familiari e addolorata dalla rivalità tra i due figli, seppe mostrare sempre la
mitezza e la saggezza di chi vive un profondo desiderio di pace. Stile che
applicò nella vita di corte e nella politica estera. Quando il marito fu fatto
prigioniero di guerra ne ottenne la liberazione. Si adoperò per migliorare le
condizioni di vita dei carcerati e usò gran parte delle sue rendite per i
poveri. Praticò un’austerità personale volta a una mortificazione offerta
come segno concreto per chi viveva chiuso nel peccato e nell’egoismo.
Principessa e penitente, sposa fedele e madre dolorosa, sovrana giusta e
benefica, Edvige morì nel 1243 e subito venerata come santa, sia dai fedeli
germanici che da quelli slavi. (Avvenire)
Etimologia: Edvige = ricca guerriera, o fortuna in
battaglia, dal tedesco
Martirologio Romano: Santa Edvige, religiosa, che, di origine bavarese e duchessa di Polonia, si dedicò assiduamente nell’assistenza ai poveri, fondando per loro degli ospizi, e, dopo la morte del marito, il duca Enrico, trascorse operosamente i restanti anni della sua vita nel monastero delle monache Cistercensi da lei stessa fondato e di cui era badessa sua figlia Gertrude. Morì a Trebnitz in Polonia il 15 ottobre.
(15 ottobre: Nel monastero di Trebnitz nella Slesia, in Polonia, anniversario
della morte di santa Edvige, religiosa, la cui memoria si celebra domani).
I genitori Bertoldo e Agnese, di alta nobiltà bavarese, la preparano a un matrimonio importante, facendola studiare alla scuola delle monache benedettine di Kitzingen, presso Würzburg. E a 16 anni, infatti, Edvige sposa a Breslavia (attuale Wroclaw, in Polonia) il giovane Enrico il Barbuto, erede del ducato della Bassa Slesia. Quattro anni dopo, Enrico succede al padre Boleslao e così lei diventa duchessa.
Questo territorio slesiano fa parte ancora del regno di Polonia, ma si sta germanizzando.I suoi duchi, già dal tempo di Federico Barbarossa (morto nel 1190) gravitano nell’orbita dell’Impero germanico; la feudalità locale è invece di stirpe polacca, come la maggioranza degli abitanti, ai quali però si sta mescolando una forte immigrazione di tedeschi. Edvige mette al mondo via via sei figli: Boleslao, Corrado, Enrico detto il Pio, Agnese, Sofia e Gertrude. E si rivela buona collaboratrice del marito nel difficile governo del ducato: guadagna la simpatia dei sudditi polacchi imparando la loro lingua, promuove l'assistenza ai poveri, come fanno e faranno molte altre sovrane; ma con una differenza: lei vive la povertà in prima persona, giorno per giorno, con le regole severe che si impone, eliminando dalla sua vita tutto quello che può distinguerla da una donna di condizione modesta. A cominciare dall’abbigliamento. I biografi parlano degli abiti usati che indossa, delle calzature logore, delle cinture simili a quelle dei carrettieri.
È poco fortunata con i figli, che non avranno rapporti affettuosi con lei, e che moriranno quasi tutti ancora giovani, tranne Gertrude. Suo marito, Enrico il Barbuto, muore nel 1238, e gli succede il figlio Enrico il Pio, che già nel 1241 viene ucciso in combattimento contro un’incursione mongola presso Liegnitz (attuale Legnica).
Disgrazie in serie, dunque. Ma i biografi dicono che lei le affronta ogni volta senza lacrime. Forse perché è tedesca.E fors’anche perché è molto legata all’ambiente monastico del tempo, con tutto il suo rigore. (Alle molte preghiere e pie letture, Edvige accompagna anche penitenze fisiche durissime). Eppure, quando si ritrova sola, non pensa di “fuggire dal mondo” subito, entrando in monastero. No, prima bisogna pensare ai poveri, come dirà alla figlia Gertrude, non per motivi di buona politica, ma perché i poveri sono “i nostri padroni”. E questo linguaggio richiama «la spiritualità degli Ordini mendicanti e in particolare quella dei Francescani, tra i quali Edvige, negli ultimi anni della sua esistenza, scelse il proprio confessore» (A. Vauchez, La santità nel Medioevo, ed. Il Mulino).
Entra infine nel monastero cistercense di Trebnitz (l’attuale Trzebnica) fondato da lei nel 1202. E qui vive da monaca. Anzi, da monaca superpenitente. Muore anche da monaca, chiedendo di essere sepolta nella tomba comune del monastero. Tedeschi e polacchi di Slesia sono concordi nel chiamarla santa: nel 1262, sotto papa Urbano IV, incomincia la causa per la sua canonizzazione, e nel 1267 papa Clemente IV la iscrive tra i santi. Il corpo sarà in seguito trasferito nella chiesa del monastero.
Autore: Domenico Agasso
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/74160
Den hellige Hedvig
av Schlesien (1174-1243)
Minnedag: 16.
oktober
Skytshelgen for
Polen, Schlesien, Wroclaw, Trzebnica og Kraków; for bispedømmet Berlin; for
hjemmearbeidende og brudefolk
Den hellige Hedvig (Jadwiga, Avoice; lat: Hedwigis)
ble født i 1174 på slottet Andechs ved Ammersee i Bayern som datter av grev
Berthold IV av Andechs og Agnes, datter av greven av Rotlechs. Faren var også
markgreve av Istria og hertug av Meran (Kärnten i dagens Østerrike). Slekten
Meran var berømt og aktet, allerede Hedvigs farfar Berthold III hadde kjempet
under Fredrik I Barbarossa (1152-90) og blitt helt i slaget om Milano. I Bayern
kalles hun ennå Hedvig av Andechs.
Hedvig hadde syv søsken, og av hennes fire brødre ble
to biskoper, Ekbert av Bamberg og Berthold av Aquileia. Otto etterfulgte sin
far som hertug av Dalmatia, mens Henrik ble markgreve av Istria. Av de tre
søstrene ble Mechthild abbedisse i Kitzingen, mens Gjertrud ble dronning av
Ungarn da hun giftet seg med kong Andreas II, og de ble foreldre til den
hellige Elisabeth
av Ungarn. Den tredje søsteren Agnes giftet seg ulovlig med kong Filip II
August av Frankrike da han forstøtte sin lovmessige danske dronning Ingeborg i
1196, men hun ble forstøtt i 1200 etter at pave Innocent III hadde lagt
Frankrike under interdikt.
Som femåring ble Hedvig sendt til benediktinerinnene i
klosteret Kitzingen i Franken, som den gangen hadde det ypperste ry for
skolegang og oppdragelse av unge jenter. Da hun var tolv år i 1186, ble hun av
maktpolitiske grunner giftet bort til den atten år gamle Henrik, som tilhørte
den polske kongefamilien Piast. Han etterfulgte sin far Boleslav i 1202 og ble
hertug Henrik I av Schlesien. Mot alle odds ble det et lykkelig ekteskap.
Allerede som 13-åring fikk hun sitt første barn, senere fulgte ytterligere
seks. Tre av dem døde tidlig, sønnen Boleslav og døtrene Sofia og Agnes. Sønnene
vokste opp til å bli kranglete adelsmenn og forårsaket stor sorg for sine
foreldre. Hedvig overlevde alle sine barn, unntatt datteren Gjertrud, som ble
abbedisse i Trebnitz, til tross for at hun opprinnelig hadde vært forlovet med
Otto von Wittelsbach. Men etter at han myrdet den tyske kongen Filip av
Schwaben i 1208, ble forlovelsen hevet og hun trådte inn i klosteret før 1212.
Etter den siste barnefødselen i 1208 (sønnen ble døpt
juledag) ba Hedvig mannen om at de fra da av skulle leve i avholdenhet, og den
fromme Henrik respekterte Hedvigs ønske. Fra den dagen barberte han seg aldri,
som cisterciensiske legbrødre, og ble derfor kjent som Henrik den Skjeggete, og
han bar siden aldri rike utsmykninger eller klær. Hedvigs kyskhet ble så
absolutt at hun bare snakket med sin mann når andre var til stede, men likevel
levde de i lykke og harmoni til Henriks død i 1238. Han oppmuntret og hjalp
henne i hennes tallrike karitative foretak. Han startet Helligånd-sykehuset i
Breslau i 1214, og hun grunnla et sykehus i Neumarkt for kvinnelige spedalske.
På grunn av sin store hengivenhet for Eukaristien
hadde Hedvig en særlig ærbødighet for prester og ville assistere ved så mange
messer som mulig. Hertug Henriks og Hedvigs statskunst og grunnleggelser ble
viktige i historien til Schlesien gjennom den voksende tyske innflytelsen som
de brakte til landet ved å tilkalle tyske eksperter for å lære bøndene moderne
jordbruksmetoder. I deres regjeringstid ble det grunnlagt tolv storbyer og
mange mindre byer i Schlesien.
Hedvig viet seg hele livet for sitt folks vel og
fordypning i den kristne tro. Ved siden av mange hospitaler grunnla hun også
det berømte cistercienserinneklosteret Trebnitz (Trzebnica) nord for Breslau (i
dag Wroclaw), som var det første kvinnekloster i Schlesien. De første nonnene
kom fra Bamberg og tok klosteret i besittelse tidlig i 1203. Det ble senere
moderkloster for Borromeus-søstrene. Etter Henriks ordre ble det bygd av
straffanger mellom 1203 og 1218. Det hadde plass for hundre nonner og rom for å
utdanne 900 unge kvinner.
Henrik og Hedvig var rundhåndet overfor
cistercienserklosteret i Leubus, premonstratenserklosteret St. Vincent og
grunnleggelsen av augustinerkannikene i Breslau. De grunnla også klostrene
Naumburg ved Bober for augustinere i 1217, senere flyttet til Sagan,
cistercienserklosteret i Heinrichau i 1227 og augustinerkorherreklosteret i
Kamenz i 1210. Hedvig åpnet også veien for at andre ordener kunne slå seg ned i
landet, og hun brakte dominikanerne til Bunzlau og Breslau, fransiskanerne til
Goldberg (1212) og senere til Krossen. Tempelherrene etablerte et hus i
Klein-Oels.
Henrik var innblandet i kriger, særlig i 1227-28 mot
Svatopluk av Pommern og Konrad av Masovia (Mazowsze) om landet til Ladislas av
Sandomir, som hadde blitt drept i et slag. Henrik triumferte og etablerte seg i
Kraków, men han ble kidnappet under messen og tatt med av Konrad til Plock. Da
fulgte Hedvig etter og opptrådte som fredsmegler. De to hertugene ble forsonet
og Hedvigs to barnebarn ble giftet bort til Konrads sønner.
Hedvig måtte også tåle mange lidelser: Hennes brødre
ble avsatt og fratatt all eiendom etter beskyldninger om forræderi og
hjemslottet Andechs ble fullstendig ødelagt. Søsteren Gjertrud av Ungarn ble
myrdet i 1213. Hennes andre søster Agnes ble forstøtt av sin ektemann Filip
August av Frankrike da ekteskapet ble erklært ugyldig, og hun døde ensom og
forlatt. En smertefull broderstrid mellom sønnene Henrik og Konrad fikk ikke en
slutt før Konrads tidlige død rundt 1214, etter at han hadde falt av hesten.
Henrik døde i 1238 og deres eldste sønn Henrik II den
Fromme, som var den enste av sønnene som hadde gledet foreldrene, ble drept i
1241 i slaget ved Wahlstadt mot de invaderende tatarene, som ble slått tilbake
til tross for at hertugen døde. Ved profetiske evner visste Hedvig om
dødsfallet tre dager før budbringeren kom fra slagmarken og kunngjorde det, og
Hedvig trøstet sin datter og svigerdatter: «Det er Guds vilje, og vi må være
tilfreds med det som behager Gud og som er Hans vilje». Henrik II den Fromme
regnes blant de salige.
Hedvigs yndlingsresidens lå like ved klosteret i
Trebnitz. Etter sønnens død trakk hun seg tilbake til klosteret, hvor hun levde
resten av livet uten noensinne å avlegge løftene, så dermed var hun aldri nonne
i egentlig forstand, selv om hun har denne tittelen i Missale Romanum. Hun
spiste aldri kjøtt, pisket seg til blods og gikk barbent om vinteren – og da
hun i lydighet mot sin skriftefar kjøpte et par nye sko, bar hun dem under
armen. Hun vasket og kysset de fattiges føtter, brukte sin formue til almisser
og hadde kraft til å helbrede syke, blant annet helbredet hun en blind nonne.
Hun forutså sin egen død, gikk frisk til sengs, mottok
den siste olje og døde i cistercienserklosteret i Trebnitz den 15. oktober
1243, knapt 70 år gammel. Noen kilder sier at hun hadde grunnlagt dette
klosteret sammen med sin mann. Legenden forteller at vannet som hennes lik ble
vasket med, hadde helbredende egenskaper, og ut fra hennes munn ség det en
salig duft. Hun skal ha skrevet en selvbiografi som ennå i dag leses.
Den 7. november 1262 ble hennes helligkåringsprosess
innledet, da eksaminatorene, blant dem biskop Wolimir av Wloclawek, begynte
gjennomgangen av hennes dyder og de undrene som ble tilskrevet hennes forbønn.
I august 1264 avla en delegasjon under ledelse av erkediakonen i Kraków,
magister Salomon, et besøk i Roma for å fremme helligkåringen. Også lederen av
katedralskolen i Kraków, magister Nikolas, ble sendt til Roma i samme ærend.
Pave Klemens IV helligkåret henne allerede den 26. mars 1267, søndag Laetare,
i dominikanerkirken i Viterbo nord for Roma. Pavens preken er bevart. Hennes
legeme ble høytidelig skrinlagt den 25. august 1267.
Hennes navn står i Martyrologium Romanum. Hennes fest
ble tatt inn i den romerske kalenderen i 1689 og festen utvidet til hele Kirken
i 1706. Hennes minnedag i den gamle kalenderen var 15. oktober. Siden 1929 har
hun vært feiret den 16. oktober, ettersom 15. oktober er festen for den
hellige Teresa
av Ávila. Hun har også en translasjonsfest den 25. august i bispedømmet
Görlitz, som minnes translasjonen i 1267. Hennes grav i Trzebnica er ennå et
godt besøkt valfartssted.
Hedvig fremstilles som cisterciensernonne med
fyrstekappe og krone ved siden av seg, med kirkemodell eller Mariabilde i
hendene, ofte barbent med skoene i hånden som tegn på ydmykhet. I Danmark
fortsetter hennes karitative arbeid for syke, gamle og barn hos Hedvig-søstrene
som virker på flere steder. Etter andre verdenskrig samler tyskerne som ble
fordrevet fra det nå polske Schlesien, seg stadig i klosterkirken i Andechs for
å minnes sin skytshelgen og trøster. Noen av hennes relikvier kom snart til
Andechs og oppbevares der på «det hellige fjell» ved Ammersee.
SOURCE : http://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/hedvig
Św. Jadwiga przy Moście Tumskim, Wrocław
Voir aussi : https://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/2014/10/soles-of-st-hedwig.html
