Saint Hedwig

As she had always held in her heart a great distaste for all the vanities of the century, she did not seek the vain ornaments of the body, for which ladies ordinarily have such violent passions; but she was content to satisfy the propriety of her condition, according to the rules of Christian modesty. She went even further after her vow of continence; for, then, rejecting even the slightest ornaments of the century, she would no longer wear anything but gray clothes of a very common fabric. Her desire to practice humility more perfectly led her to leave her palace and, having settled with few people near the monastery of Trebnitz, she often retreated there to be freer in her devotional exercises. She even took the religious habit there, but without any commitment, so as to always have the freedom to assist the poor of Jesus Christ. Her life was so perfect that she surpassed all the sisters in the exactitude of her silence, in the observation of the laws and regular constitutions, and in the austerity of her penances. However, she considered herself only a sinner; and, although her conscience was very pure before God and before the angels, and her life was, in the eyes of men, an admirable model of virtue, she had such horror of herself that she spoke of it only with extreme contempt. It is by this sentiment of humility that she did not want to wear new clothes, but was content with those that had already served one of the sisters, and sometimes she even wore them so long that they had lost their original shape. She had such advantageous sentiments for religious persons that she would kiss on her knees the places where she had seen them say their prayers, taking, for this, the time when they had left the choir. One of the sisters wanted to know one day what she was doing there, and she saw that after having practiced these acts of humility, she prostrated herself to the ground before a cross, and that then the Crucifix, detaching its right hand, gave her its blessing and said to her intelligibly: "Your prayer is answered, and you shall have what you ask for." It is probable, adds the historian of her life, that she was asking God for the grace of perseverance for the spouses of Jesus Christ whom she honored with such profound respect, and to be herself made a participant in their good works.

She also kissed the hand towels and napkins that they had used; and, taking the water in which they had washed their feet or hands, she washed her eyes, face, and head with it. She did the same to her grandchildren, persuading herself that what had thus served these holy religious women would not contribute a little to attracting the blessings of heaven upon her and her family.

This high esteem led her to take all the monasteries under her protection: she visited them from time to time and generously opposed the violence that people wanted to do to them. She looked upon the bread they ate as the bread of angels; she bought back with money the pieces that had been distributed to the poor, and she only ate them after having given them several kisses with incomparable devotion. She maintained two beggars so that they would bring them to her to make them the most delicious dish of her table, and making a holy application of the words of the Canaanite woman, she said that she was still too happy to feed on the crumbs that fell from the table of her masters: this is what she called the religious; for she looked upon them as being no less elevated above her by their profession than masters are in the world by their riches above their servants. She bore the same respect to the poor, out of regard for the poverty of Our Lord; she always wanted to have some with her, especially during her meals. Before sitting down, she gave them food with her own hand, and, by a prodigious humility, she knelt to serve them and only drank after the sickest and most disgusting had drunk from her cup. When they had left, she would affectionately kiss, in secret, the places where they had sat. Often she washed their feet and hands and gave them great alms without omitting anything that could satisfy and console them. On Holy Thursday, she washed the feet of some lepers and gave them new clothes out of respect for Jesus Christ, who was willing, for the love of us, to be considered a leper.

Her patience was no less admirable than her humility. She never became angry nor did she answer anyone with harshness; on the contrary, she treated everyone with such civility, and used such gentle and obliging words, that she satisfied all those who had the honor of approaching her. If someone had caused her any displeasure, she would only answer them with gentleness in these terms, or others similar: 'Why have you done this? I pray God that He may forgive you.' One of her servants, named Stanislas, who later became a religious of Saint Dominic, having lost three of his finest silver cups, which he had in his care, the Saint, instead of giving him a harsh reprimand, contented herself with saying to him, without any sign of emotion: 'Go and search with care for what your negligence has caused you to lose,' and she pronounced these words with such moderation that they caused no sadness to the one who had committed this fault, as he himself later confessed. In the unfortunate accidents that befell her, she showed an invincible constancy and displayed as much serenity on her face as in the greatest prosperities. When she received the news that the Duke, her husband, had been wounded in a battle and taken prisoner of war by Conrad , Duke of Kirne, le duc, son mari Husband of Saint Hedwig and Duke of Poland. she replied without being moved: 'I hope that God will soon deliver him and that he wil Conrad, duc de Kirne Duke who took Hedwig's husband prisoner. l be perfectly healed of his wounds.' This conformity, however, to the will of God, did not prevent her from working hard to procure his freedom, and, as the victor would not accept any of the proposals she had made to him, however reasonable they were, and as upon this refusal, the prince, her son, had assembled a large army to withdraw his father by force from the hands of this arrogant man, she resolved, to spare the blood that was about to be shed, to expose herself alone for the salvation of all the others, and to go and find the one whom so many solicitations had not been able to sway. She had no sooner appeared before him than he found himself seized with such great fear as if he had seen an angel of God. Stripping away that pride which had until then made him inflexible, he made peace and returned the prisoner. Thus, one can say of Saint Hedwig that, after having tamed within herself, by the efforts of her virtue, all the movements of impatience and anger, she had this marvelous power to tame them also in others.

Her patience was no less when she learned of the death of her husband, which occurred in the year 1238. All the nuns of Trebnitz were moved to tears by the loss of such a powerful protector; but the Saint, although extraordinarily touched by the loss of such a virtuous husband, whom she loved, and whose eminent virtues made him supremely dear to his people and his State, stifled all her sorrows to make them a sacrifice to the will of God, and, trying to console those who appeared so afflicted by this misfortune, she said to them: "Why do you trouble yourselves in this way? Do you wish to resist the divine will? Does the Creator not have the right to dispose of His creatures as He sees fit, and must we, when He does so, let ourselves be overwhelmed by sadness? Are we not indebted to Him for our lives? Why then not find our consolation in the fulfillment of what He ordains for us and for those who belong to us?" She showed the same constancy at the death of Henry, surnamed the Pious, her son, who was killed while fighting for the altars and for the fathe Henri, surnommé le Pieux Son of Saint Hedwig, died in battle against the Tatars. rland against the Tartars. She had received a revelation that he was to d ie in this war; but contre les Tartares Conflict during which Henry the Pious met his death. the sight of this event was not capable of inspiring feelings of cowardice in her. She did not for that reason turn the prince away from going on campaign; on the contrary, she exhorted him with all her power to oppose the fury of these infidels, and thus sacrificed her own son to the defense of religion and the State, against the cruel and irreconcilable enemies of both. When his death was announced to her, she was neither cast down nor troubled, but she fortified herself against the pain she felt by a generous abandonment to the orders of heaven: "God has disposed of my son as He willed," she said, "we must want everything that He wants, and everything that pleases Him must also please us."

This marvelous strength of soul was sustained by continuous mortification, which led her to treat her body with extreme rigor. She fasted every day, except for Sundays and some of the greatest feasts of the year. She never ate meat while in health, and this great abstinence lasted for four years, without the Bishop of Bamberg, her brother, who spoke to her about it several times, being able to make her change her conduct. During a great illness, William, Bishop o f Modena, legate of the Hol Guillaume, évêque de Modène Legate of the Holy See in Poland. y See in Poland, commanded her to consume all kinds of food. She obeyed, but she later asserted that this delicacy had caused more pain to her spirit than her illness, however violent, had caused her body to suffer.

On Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, she ate fish and dairy products; on Mondays and Saturdays, dried vegetables; and on Wednesdays and Fridays, she fasted on bread and water. But as her fervor increased, she lived for a long time only on these dried vegetables and coarse bread, with a little boiled water which served as her drink. Her abstinence was even more rigorous during Advent and Lent and on the vigils of several Saints: for then she did not give her body as much of this simple food as it needed to survive. Although she was of a very delicate constitution and subject to great infirmities, she wore against her bare skin a rough hair shirt, made of horsehair, to which she had sewn serge sleeves, in order to piously deceive the eyes of those who saw her. She also wore on her loins a belt made of the same material with knots, which attached itself in such a way that her ladies could only remove it with difficulty when it was necessary to clear away the bruised and corrupted blood that gathered there. She walked barefoot in the snow and ice, and often prayed in this state; the fire of charity that burned in her heart made her despise the cold she felt outside. By dint of walking thus on the bare ground, the soles of her feet were all hardened and cracked. Sometimes even, during the cold, blood would flow from them without her noticing. Her hands were in the same state, and they were seen several times all covered in blood, because she always kept them exposed to the rigor of winter. Her bed was suitable for the rank of such a great princess; but instead of using it, she would lie on boards or on spread-out skins when, after her long evening or night prayers, she was obliged to take a moment of rest. If it happened that, being extremely weak or ill, she was obliged to treat herself a little more gently, she would sleep for some time on a straw mattress covered only by a coarse sheet; but however indisposed she was, she never wanted to use a mattress. Her vigils were extraordinary and beyond human strength; for, although she often rose before Matins were rung, she did not go back to bed after they were said, but, spending the rest of the night in prayer, she purified her spirit with the tears she shed, and her body with the blows she gave herself until she bled with a very harsh discipline. She was so emaciated by all these austerities that one saw nothing of her but skin, dry and discolored; which made Princess Anne, her daughter-in-law, say: "I have read the lives of many Saints, but I have never seen anything in them more austere than what I observe every day in the Duchess, my mother-in-law."

Her charity was incomparable: she gave large alms to various monasteries. She visited the hermits and cloistered nuns herself, as much as she could, in order to know their needs and provide for them abundantly; she sent to those who were too far away clothing, food, and all the things she judged necessary for them. She assisted the religious in the matters they had before the Duke, her husband, and took care to have them treated well during the time they were obliged to stay at court; then, when they returned, she had them given what was needed for their journey. She had an incredible tenderness for all the afflicted, and her heart seemed to melt with the compassion she showed them. She visited prisoners, and when she could not do so herself, she sent others to visit them; she had them provided with clothing to protect them from the cold; linen, for fear they might be inconvenienced for lack of a change of clothes; and light to diminish the horror and darkness of their prison. In short, she forgot nothing to relieve them in their miseries. She exercised the same charity toward prisoners of war, for whom she very often procured freedom. She delivered those who were detained only for their debts by paying their creditors for them. She made herself the advocate of those who had the misfortune to incur the prince's disgrace, and, by kneeling before him, she prayed for them with tears until he had granted their pardon. She was the mother of all the wretched and particularly of widows and orphans, for whom she herself took care in their necessities and in all their affairs. The poor, who continually received the effects of her charity, followed her everywhere, and she always had a sum of money placed in the church before her to distribute to them, without her servants daring to prevent them from approaching her. Wherever she went, she always had thirteen infirm poor people in her retinue whom she fed in honor of Jesus Christ and the twelve Apostles. She had them transported in wagons, and her first care upon arriving was for them. She gave them the delicate meats that were served to her, and took only vegetables for herself; which made the courtiers say that they would have preferred to be treated like the Duchess's poor than the way she treated herself. Besides these, she fed a great many others, for whom she had a kitchen and special officers, so that they would be given, according to the various times, all the food that was necessary for them. She protected her subjects from the vexations of legal officials, and, for fear that the judges might be too severe, she often attended their trials in person; and then, it was not the judge, but one of her chaplains who pronounced them, so that the parties would be treated more gently. She sometimes prayed with tears to her steward, named Ludolph, to use humanity and gentleness toward everyone, and not to demand with rigor what was owed to her. Finally, the goodness of this holy princess was like a public fountain, where she wanted everyone to come to draw water, without any of those who approached it failing to have some. Thus, everyone having recourse to her, if it happened that she could not assist someone, she addressed her prayers for him to the liberality of the Almighty, and obtained for him through miracles what she could not give him herself.

All these virtues had their origin in the intimate union she had with God. She never lost sight of Him. She spent entire nights in prayer, where she received foretastes of the celestial delights enjoyed by the Blessed; she was often in such an abstraction of all the senses that she appeared insensible. Some even saw her body raised in the air and entirely surrounded by light. She would not suffer anyone to speak to her during the divine office, and she said that it was treating the majesty of God unworthily to mingle the conversations of creatures with those of their Creator. Although she did her utmost to hide what passed between her divine Spouse and herself, she was nevertheless often betrayed by the groans, sighs, and tears that the greatness of her love and the tenderness of her devotion did not allow her to restrain. She was never seen to pray sitting; but after standing for some time, she would place herself on the ground, with her knees bare: which caused large calluses to form, which made her suffer greatly in winter. She sought retired places to perform her prayers, so as to satisfy herself without hindrance or distraction with the consolations and sweetnesses with which God favored her. Yet she never wished, as great princes sometimes do, to have the divine office that is said publicly recited in her palace or in her chamber; but she always went to church with her household, attended vespers, mass, and other offices, and had them sung solemnly in her presence; neither the distance of the places, nor the difficulty of the roads, nor the cold, nor the snow, nor the rain, nor other inconveniences were capable of preventing her. She heard several masses, during which she prayed on her knees, or entirely prostrate, and rarely leaning. She did not blush to kiss the earth, and she remained in this state for so long that it would have been impossible for her body, so weak and delicate, to resist it, had it not been sustained and fortified by the fervor of her devotion and by an extraordinary grace. She went to the offering at all the masses she attended, or sent someone in her stead. She always prayed the priest to lay his hands upon her head and to give her holy water, believing she received thereby some particular help and relief in her illnesses, as happened several times. When she approached the holy Table to receive the body of Jesus Christ, she shed so many tears and prayed with such fervor, on her knees and prostrate against the ground, that the ardor of her devotion imparted itself to those who watched her. She had several images and several relics of the Saints, which she had placed before her in the church, so that this sight might recall more vividly to her mind the merit of their virtues, and that she might further inflame her piety through the confidence she had in their intercession and their prayers. She had a singular affection for the Blessed Virgin, and she always carried a small image of her, which she usually held in her hand so that she could look at it, and thus excite herself more and more to love her: this was so pleasing to God that sick people to whom she had it kissed recovered perfect health at that very hour. She meditated almost continually on the Passion of Our Lord, and she bore great respect for everything that had the slightest connection to it: when she encountered the figure of the cross, which chance had often formed rather than the artifice of men, she would kneel, adore it, and kiss it with a marvelous tenderness; then, lifting it from the ground, she would place it in a place where it would no longer be trampled under the feet of the world. She feared lightning and thunder extremely, because, she said, they brought before her eyes the terrible day of God's vengeance in His final judgment, which she could not even pronounce without trembling; but her apprehension ceased when a priest had laid his hands upon her head, as if to serve as a shield and assurance of divine protection; for then, fearing nothing more, she remained on her knees in prayer until the storm had ceased.

Several miracles are attributed to Saint Hedwig, which were as many evident marks of the great favor she held with God. She resurrected two men who had been executed as punishment for their crimes; the Duke, her husband, commanded that whenever she passed by the prisons, the prisoners she requested should be set free. She restored sight, merely by making the sign of the cross, to a nun who had lost it from excessive weeping. Having fallen asleep while reading a book, the candle she held in her hand fell onto the pages and burned down completely without scorching them. Water, which she wished to drink as penance, was found to be changed into wine, to appease the Prince, her husband, to whom this mortification was not pleasing.

She was favored with the gift of prophecy, and she predicted several things that indeed came to pass as she had foretold; among others, the time when she was to die. When she saw herself near this happy moment, she had the sacrament of Extreme Unction administered to her, without yet appearing ill, due to the assurance she had that she was about to become so. Immediately after, she fell into the illness from which she died. In this state, God made known to her several things she had never learned nor heard from anyone; and she was consoled and visited by Saint Magdalene, Saint Catherine, Saint Thecla, and Saint Ursula, who appeared to her visibly. Finally, after choosing her burial place in the church of Trebnitz, before the altar of Saint John the Evangelist, where two of her children, who died in the age of innocence, were already buried, she rendered her spirit to Our Lord, to be crowned with immortal glory. This was on October 15, 1243; and, twenty-four years later, the decree of her canonization was promulgated by Pope Clement IV. As this Sovereign Pontiff had been married before be coming an eccle pape Clément IV Pope who promulgated the decree of canonization of Hedwig. siastic, he had a daughter who had become blind: while he was preparing for this august ceremony, he received an inspiration to ask God that, if Hedwig were a saint, it might please Him to heal his daughter through her intercession; he did so while celebrating Mass, and he immediately obtained the effect of his request. On August 17, 1268, her body was raised from the earth, and there issued from her sepulcher an odor so pleasant that it filled all those present with joy and astonishment; her flesh was found entirely consumed, except for three fingers of the left hand, which were still whole and held that small image of the Blessed Virgin of which we have spoken. She had it at the hour of her death, and she clutched it so tightly with these three fingers that, being unable to remove it from her, they were obliged to bury it with her.

Her memory is marked in the Roman Martyrology on the 15th of this month; but her feast is only celebrated on the 17th, the day on which Pope Innocen t XI permitted t pape Innocent XI Pope who authorized the office of Saint Hedwig on October 17. he office to be held.

She is represented: 1st, kneeling before a crucifix. Jesus Christ detaches one of His hands from the cross to bless His pious servant; 2nd, standing, holding a basket of flowers; 3rd, caring for the sick in a hospital and feeding them.

Taken from her Life found in the collection of Surius. — Cf. Fr. Matthieu Raderus in his *Buxa Sanctorum*.