Blessed Lidwina of Schiedam

Before her birth, a miracle occurred in her favor: a merchant, who had brought to Schiedam a wooden statue representing the Blessed Virgin to go sell it in Antwerp, had l oaded Anvers Place of printing for an edition of the sermons in 1546. it onto a ship to transport it; the ship remained motionless, and the statue became so heavy that twenty of the strongest men could not lift it; everyone ran to see this miracle, and everyone concluded that this Virgin must be left in the city. The merchant was asked to consent to it; and, after having paid him the money for it, it was placed in the church of Saint John the Baptist, where, ever since, it has been held in great veneration and was one of the objects of our Lidwina's devotion.

At the age of seven, she began to consecrate her body and soul to Our Lord and to reject the amusements of her companions; at twelve, her beauty was admired by everyone, and her father, wishing to marry her off, was dissuaded by her, as she assured him that she would never take a mortal man as a husband, and that, if he importuned her further on the matter, she would pray to her heavenly Spouse to make her ugly enough that no one would have the courage to look at her. Her father let her be, and God took pleasure in testing her through sorrows and illnesses to propose her to His Church as an excellent mirror of patience and perseverance in His love.

At the age of fifteen, a fall on the ice broke a rib: this reduced her to remaining in bed for the last thirty-eight years of her life. For seventeen years, she could move only her head and her left arm slightly. Her stomach could tolerate almost no food; she finally became so weak that she took absolutely nothing: this lasted until her death, that is to say, nineteen years. We spare the reader the description of illnesses whose very names make one shudder. The most frightful seemed to have gathered in Lidwine's body, to make every part suffer the pain of which it is capable. Add to this that she was deprived of all human help, almost abandoned, although her body exhaled a pleasant odor, despite her wounds. God Himself at first refused her heavenly consolations, until she had learned to rely on Him alone. But from that time on, she found great relief for her pains in the meditation of the Passion of Jesus Christ: which she practiced day and night. As it was seen that the Body and Blood of Our Lord also strengthened her greatly, she was permitted to receive them every fortnight, and, towards the end of her life, four or five times a week. Her spirit thus acquired new strength as her infirmities grew; and she sometimes asked God to increase them. A horrible plague, a kind of leprosy, was ravaging the region: Lidwine prayed to her heavenly Spouse to deliver this poor country, to gather all His wrath upon her. Instantly, she felt herself struck by the contagion and suffered the most acute pains. Her mother, being near death, asked her daughter to recommend her to God: our Saint was not content to pray for her; but she ceded to her the merit of all her wounds, all her pains, all her torments, all her vigils, and all the other exercises of virtue that she had practiced since she had been on earth. Thus Petronilla, enriched by the treasures of her daughter, had a very beautiful end; but the Saint, seeing that after having ceded her treasure to her mother, she was obliged to work anew, added mortification to illness, and surrounded herself with a large belt of rough and prickly haircloth, which she did not take off until death.

She showed no less charity toward the poor; for her mother having left her some furniture, she sold it all and gave them the money. She also distributed the alms given to her by pious persons, among others, John, Duke of Bavaria, and Margaret, Count ess of Holland. It w Jean, duc de Bavière Duke who gave alms to Lidwina. as a thing worthy of admiration to se Marguerite, comtesse de Hollande Countess who supported Lidwina through her alms. e a girl overwhelmed on all sides by pain, forgetting and neglecting herself; and, moreover, being so careful and vigilant to provide for the needs of others. Her heavenly Spouse wished to make known, through miracles, how pleasing these liberalities were to Him. She had been given a quarter of beef to distribute to the poor; she had it cooked and shared it with thirty families, without the meat diminishing in the least. She gave a little wine to an epileptic woman, and the vessel in which it was held was found filled with an exquisite wine. One of her brothers had died burdened with children and debts; Lidwine, having alms to settle them, put them in a purse, and told one of her relatives, named Nicholas, to take the money needed to pay her brother's debts. He paid them with the coins from this purse, which was thereafter called the Purse of God, and although she had only put eight francs in it, there remained, after the payment, more than forty, which she then had given to the poor.

Her humility and patience in suffering insults made her no less admirable. One of her companions reproached her a thousand times: the Saint was asked why she endured all these indignities; she replied that she did so for three reasons: 1st, because she hoped to correct her through her patience; 2nd, because these persecutions helped her to become virtuous; and 3rd, because she feared that her reprimands might cause her to fall into greater outbursts and violence that would do more harm to her conscience. She had a docile spirit and was very far from murmuring. She exhorted religious souls to obedience and perfect submission of spirit, because this virtue, she said, is very pleasing to God: He became man to teach it to us and made Himself obedient even to the death of the cross. She also said that the place does not always make the man holy, because, wherever he goes, he carries himself with him; that is why she did not approve of the changes of certain religious, when these changes came from their own will. She exhorted seculars to the fear of God and to faithfulness in keeping His commandments and those of His Church. She was very content in her poverty and misery. She was asked if she had what was necessary for her to live. She replied that she had more than enough; but, those who knew her needs replying that she could not say that truthfully: "Forgive me," she said, "for he who is content with what he has, always has more than enough."

This great consolation in the midst of so much pain, and this peaceful life among so many bitter deaths, proceeded from a celestial grace that filled her soul with the sweetness of eternity. The presence and continual help of her guardian angel, who appeared to her often, also contributed not a little to banishing the anguish of her afflicted heart. She said that the most horrible torments were light to her, and that she no longer felt them as soon as she enjoyed the sight of this spirit of light. He revealed several secret things to her, and predicted those that were to come. He sometimes transported her in spirit to Jerusalem, t o make he Jérusalem Holy city where the Cross was lost and subsequently recovered. r see and adore the holy places consecrated by the Passion of Our Lord. At other times, he made her see the pains of the damned and those that the souls in Purgatory endure. She had a particular feeling of devotion for the latter; she delivered several who had recommended themselves to her prayers and who have thanked her since; she suffered horrible torments for this.

Other angels also appeared to her in human form; she spoke to them, called them by their name, and knew the persons they had in their care. She was even favored with the sight of her celestial Spouse, who appeared to her in person to imprint His sacred wounds upon her; but to avoid vanity and the reputation of a Saint, she prayed to Our Lord to make these stigmata invisible: which was granted to her. This signal favor happened to her in the seventeenth year of her illness.

Another time, her dear Spouse presented her with a crown of flowers that was not entirely filled, saying to her: "My daughter, this garland must soon be completed." Four soldiers came a moment later to her home, insulted her, and even subjected her to all sorts of mistreatment. Thus was the garland of flowers completed. Some people, hearing it said that she was consoled by celestial favors, spoke to her about them. She was obliged to admit that her weak life could not have been sustained for long, had she not fed on the crumbs that fell from the table of her Lord.

She was extremely affected by the death of one of her brothers, and this sensitivity caused her to lose some divine consolations; but a holy hermit, having had a revelation of this, warned her, and from then on, she bore this sorrow by resigning herself more to the will of God. This shows that Our Lord wants his servants and handmaids to be purified of affections that are too tender by nature, even though in themselves they are just and Scripture does not condemn them.

The divine spirit, to which she was unceasingly united, made her know the interior of those who visited her. She read their thoughts and their hearts as if she were guiding their very springs; she also knew things to come, and made very famous predictions. With ships ready to set sail, she advised a sailor, who visited her on the point of his embarkation, not to leave the port that day, despite the insistence of the others to depart. He obeyed; the others mocked him, reproaching him for letting the good weather pass, and put to sea; but they were met by pirates and stripped of their belongings. He, not leaving the port until the next day, took his route without danger and returned home laden with riches. She declared to a girl, who boasted of being very wise, that she was behaving badly. She revealed to a woman of illustrious condition the enormous sins with which she was stained: the latter confessed them to her with tears and corrected herself. Many came to find her to ask for some remedy for their ills. A regular canon had begged her to pray to God that He might take away from him what displeased Him most in him, and what hindered his salvation. She did so, and he became hoarse and unable to sing as soon as she had finished her prayer for him, because he had a very beautiful voice, which gave him cause for vanity when he sang: not knowing where this cold came from, he had himself treated; but when the doctor had learned what had passed between Lidwine and him: "If it is so," he said, "Hippocrates and Galen will never succeed in this cure."

Finally, God made known to her the moment of her death. She prepared for it with all possible devotion. On the eve of Easter, Our Lord appeared to her with His most holy Mother and the choir of the Apostles, and anointed her with a balm so precious that the next day a truly celestial odor was sensed near her. On the Wednesday after Easter, her vomiting having resumed, she began to pray; and, in the ardor of her prayer and her elevation to God, she rendered her soul to her celestial Spouse, in the manner she had desired, that is to say, alone and without any witness other than a small child who had been left with her, and who was her nephew. After her passing, the hair shirt of which we have spoken was found on her, which has since served to drive out unclean spirits from the bodies of the possessed.

Her body, deformed during her life and covered with ulcers, became healthy and very beautiful. She was buried in the town of Schiedam, in the parish church of Saint John the Baptist, where Our Lord has performed several miracles since her death, which occurred on April 14, 1433, and in the fifty-third year of her age.

A marble mausoleum was erected for her in the parish church of Schiedam, which took her name in 1434. Her father's house was turned into a monastery for the Grey Sisters of the Third Order of S sœurs grises du Tiers Ordre de Saint-François Secular order joined by Jeanne before the foundation of the Visitation. aint Francis. The Calvinists demolished the chapel and converted the monastery into an orphanage. The relics of Blessed Lidwina were taken to Brussels and enshrined Bruxelles City near the monastery where the court of the Count of Brabant resided. in the Collegiate Church of St. Gudula. The Infanta Isabella had half of them placed in the church of the Carmelite monastery, of which she was the founder.

Saint Lidwina is depicted receiving a branch of roses or a flowering bough that an angel presents to her to give her a foretaste of the delights that would follow her horrible sufferings.

A beautiful engraving by J. Valdor depicts her crowned with roses, holding a branch of similar flowers and a long cross. At other times, she is shown embracing the tree of Salvation.

See the lives of Blessed Lidwina, provided by John Gerlac, her relative, John Walter, her confessor, and John Bruchman, provincial of the Franciscans, all three of whom had known her personally: See also the abridgment of her life by Th omas à Kempis; Thomas à Kempis Spiritual author and Augustinian monk, famous for The Imitation of Christ. Papabrock, ad 14 April. t. 12; Molanus, and a life of Saint Lidwina in French by Father Guil. Thiérsault, Jesuit; Paris, 1637, in-12.