St. Hedwig

ST HEDWIG OF SILESIA
From Butler’s Lives of the Saints 4
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Hedwig was born in Bavaria about the year 1174, the daughter of
Berthold, count of Andechs. When she was only twelve she was married to
Henry, duke of Silesia. Together they founded a large number of religious
houses, the best known of which was a convent for Cistercian nuns at Trebnitz,
near Breslau in modern Poland, the first convent for women in Silesia. These
foundations helped both to develop the religious life of the people and to spread
a common German culture throughout their lands. They also established
hospitals and a house for lepers. Their seventh and last child was born in 1209,
and Hedwig persuaded her husband to take a mutual vow of chastity. They lived
apart, with Hedwig taking up residence close to the nunnery at Trebnitz, and
often sharing the austere life of the nuns. She recommended fasting to those
who wanted to live holier lives, saying that it could “master concupiscence, lift
up the soul, confirm it in the paths of virtue, and prepare a fine reward for the
Christian”.

Much of the rest of Hedwig’s life was spent in trying to keep peace
between her warring sons Henry and Conrad and in attempts to make peace
between her husband and his enemies. When Henry died in 1238, she
comforted those who mourned him with the words, “Would you oppose the will
of God? Our lives are his; our will is whatever he is pleased to ordain, whether
our own death or that of our friends.” She took the habit at Trebnitz but did not
take any religious vows, remaining free to administer her property for the good
of the poor. We are told that she took great care to instruct the uneducated in
their religion, on one occasion having an old woman share a room with her so
that they could go through the Our Father together whenever there was a free
moment. After ten weeks of patient teaching, the old woman could repeat and
understand the prayer.

When her son Henry II was killed in 1240 fighting the Tartar invaders,
Hegwig knew of his death three days before a messenger arrived from the
battlefield. Other miracles were attributed to her; she cured a blind man, for
example, and had the gift of prophecy, foretelling her own death in October
1243. She was canonized in 1267, and her feast was extended to the Western
Church in 1706.

4
Butler’s Lives of the Saints – New Full Edition – October – The Liturgical Press – Collegeville, MN – 1997.