Saint Mechtilde (Mathilde) of Diessen

One could see nothing more perfect than her obedience. She did nothing of her own accord, and she had such deference for her superior that she undertook nothing against her order, neglected none of her commands, and did not delay their execution for a single moment. Often she left an unfinished task or a half-written letter to go as soon as possible where she was called, whether by the bell for the offices or by an order from the superior. She triumphed over the demon with invincible courage, resisting him with all her might, which placed her above his temptations; she triumphed over those who persecuted her or envied her by patiently suffering their insults and showering them with favors and benefits. It could not be denied that she was the noblest of all the sisters, since she was a cousin of the emperor and daughter of the lord of the entire land. Moreover, she was the founder of the monastery, her father having given his castle to establish it. However, there was no one to surpass her in humility and modesty: she regarded herself only as the servant of others, and for this reason lowered herself to the vilest ministries of the house. Her silence was so exact that one would have said she was mute; and if necessity or charity obliged her to speak, she did so with such wisdom and sweetness that it seemed as if an angel were speaking.

She was so detached from all earthly things that even the visits of the princes, her brothers, were burdensome to her, and she could not bear that they should send her gifts, nor that they should come to show her friendship, respect, and deference. When she was forced to see people, she would end the conversation in a word, for fear that too long a talk might cause her to lose some of the purity of her heart, which she wished to keep entirely for her spouse. Singularity in living, clothing, and lodging was unbearable to her, and her status as a princess never made her accept or wish for anything special. As her soul was full of tenderness and charity for her sisters, she made all the evils that befell them her own out of compassion, and forgot nothing to relieve them. Thus, following the example of Saint Paul, she not only rejoiced with those who rejoiced, but she also wept with those who wept; she was sick with the sick, and the pain of others was a pain that tormented and consumed her herself. One saw, therefore, in this young girl all the virtues that one could have expected from the oldest: submission to her superiors, respect for the elders, love and deference for the sisters of her age and for the younger ones; sweetness and benevolence for the lay sisters and for the servants of the house, in a word, an admirable concert of all the qualities of a holy and perfect religious. Her nobility made the servants want to call her 'Madame'; but she absolutely forbade them to give her this name, and, preferring her state to all the grandeurs of the century, she never wished to be called anything other than 'my sister'.

However, as honor follows those who avoid it and in proportion to how they flee from it, the superior of the monastery having passed away, the entire community turned their eyes toward Mechtilde to elevate her in her place. Indeed, whom could they elect more capable than Mechtilde of consoling them in their sorrows, strengthening them in their temptations, and helping them advance in virtue? It was on this occasion that this incomparable nun showed for the first time resistance to what was being demanded of her. Until then, she had always obeyed without reasoning about what she had been ordered to do; but when it came to being superior, she defended herself against it with all her strength, and could only be persuaded to take on this charge by the command her prelate gave her, by virtue of holy obedience. She soon showed, however, that she was worthy of it and that she possessed all the qualities one could desire in a good abbess. Her conduct was a living rule that showed all her daughters what they ought to do. She was always found to be the first at prayer, the most fervent in mortification, the most exact in silence, and the most punctual in all regular observances.

She had watched much, fasted much, and prayed much during the time of her private life; but she believed she had still done nothing and that her new state obliged her to redouble all these exercises. She became another Mary, sister of Moses, to lead the people of God in the singing of hymns and canticles. She became another Judith, to fight Holofernes and cut off his head. She became another Esther, to destroy the tyrannical power of the proud Haman. Nothing distinguished her from her daughters, except that she lived more poorly than they did and that she was the most wretched of her community. One could read on her face a modesty, a sweetness, a humility, and a heavenly joy that delighted all those who had the happiness of conversing with her. Moreover, she took extreme care of both the spiritual and temporal affairs of her house, and she made it a true school of Jesus Christ, where the only study was to know Him, to love Him, and to please Him. If any discomfort befell the sisters, she immediately applied herself to relieving them. In a word, she fulfilled all her duties so perfectly that there was no one who complained of her conduct.

There was, in Swabia, at Edelstetten Edelstetten Swabian monastery reformed by Mechtilde. , between Ulm and Augsburg, a famous monastery composed of nuns of illustrious birth; it had been highly esteemed for its regular observance and for the great wealth it possessed; but it had fallen extremely far from regularity, and had subsequently lost a portion of its goods through the negligence of the abbess who had governed it. This abbess having died, those who had an interest in the restoration of such a distinguished house cast their eyes upon our Saint, whose reputation had spread in all directions. The bishop and the lords of the place, the founders, and the nuns themselves, who knew that they needed a superior who possessed much authority and virtue, elected her to this office with a unanimous vote, and deputies were sent to her, begging her not to oppose the will and glory of God. The nuns of Diessen, learning this news, were deeply afflicted. They represented that it was not just to deprive them of their mother to give her to daughters who were nothing to her; that their peaceful possession of several years should outweigh this new election; that in truth the convent of Edelstetten was more considerable than theirs, but that Mechtilde being the founder and a professed member of the latter, it belonged to her by right without the other being able to claim anything. The Saint, for her part, had much reluctance to leave a house where she had received so many graces from the liberal hand of God, and where, after the effort she had expended for the sanctification of her sisters, she was already enjoying the fruit of her labors. But the bishop, who was zealous for the reform of the abbey of Edelstetten, commanded Mechtilde, by all the power that his character gave him, to travel there as soon as possible to fulfill the functions of abbess.

When she had arrived there, he blessed her solemnly and placed the crosier in her hand to give her more authority and to draw upon her more ample blessings from heaven. The Saint, supported by this blessing, applied herself immediately to the proper regulation of this family. The example of her virtue, so different from that of the superiors who had preceded her, made a marvelous impression on their minds. The nuns, who had strayed from the paths of observance because they saw no one walking before them, returned to it with joy in the footsteps of their holy abbess; they were ashamed not to keep vigil with her, not to observe the fasts of the rule that she observed, and to neglect prayer while they saw her so exact and so assiduous in it. They did not keep enclosure: people entered their quarters, and they had the freedom to visit their relatives and friends. Mechtilde had difficulty in having the rule accepted on this point; but she demonstrated to them with such force and unction how important it is that nuns be enclosed, following this word from the Canticle: Hortus conclusus, fons signatus, soror mea sponsa: "My sister, my spouse, is a garden enclosed and a fountain sealed," that they finally yielded to her reasons and had themselves solemnly enclosed by the bishop. From that time on, this convent changed its face entirely, and one saw religious virtues shine there with such brilliance that it could be proposed as a model to all communities that wished to reform themselves. As for Mechtilde, the place she frequented most ordinarily was the choir, where she was found so detached from the senses, so absorbed in God and so occupied with His perfections, that one would have thought it an offense to His divine majesty to distract her from it for a single moment.

This occupation, nevertheless, did not prevent her from watching over the needs of her sisters and providing for them with a truly maternal charity. She slept only on a straw mattress, and she would even have willingly deprived herself of that to sleep only on the floor, had she not too much feared the esteem and praise of the world. But, for her nuns, she wanted there to be mattresses, bolsters, and even sheets on their beds, saying that this did not harm the soul, provided that one avoided superfluity. She also recommended cleanliness to them greatly, having as a maxim that one must be poor without being unkempt, and flee luxury without loving filth. One never saw a more merciful superior, nor one who sympathized more with the weaknesses and faults of her inferiors; she did not employ for their correction the severity of reprimands nor the rigor of punishments, but an abundance of tears that she shed at the feet of Jesus Christ crucified: this was always so effective that there was no sister whom she did not bring back to her duty by this means. She also wept very often for the crimes of the world, for the persecutions of the Church, for the misery of the poor, for the dangers of those who were tempted, and for the defense of all those who were in tribulation, striving to draw for them through her sighs and tears the help of heaven and a prompt deliverance from their pains. Finally, her smallest sins were for her a subject of many tears and groanings: which will appear by an example that it is not appropriate to pass over in silence. It happened that a sister came to present herself before her, carrying something in her hands; but, by oversight or negligence, she let this object fall; the abbess, without reflecting, said to her: "Step on it." Immediately she recognized that she had uttered a useless and too hasty word, and she was so penetrated by the magnitude of this fault that she wept for it no less, says the author of her life, than if she had broken the doors of the churches of Rome. She was not content to show her sorrow for it by streams of tears; she also punished herself for it by vigils, fasts, and other extraordinary austerities that lasted several days, continually placing before her eyes the words of the Son of God: "There is not an idle word for which one must not give an account on the day of the last judgment." What shall we say after an example so holy and so striking, we who speak so often against the reproaches of our conscience, who tear apart so easily the honor and reputation of our neighbor, who vomit so many blasphemies against God and so many insults against our brothers, and who, nevertheless, do not shed a tear to weep for such enormous crimes? Will there be another judgment for us than for these souls so touched by the regret of their faults? And if they could not avoid the rigor of the justice of God except by an inexorable severity against themselves, shall we avoid it by living as we live, and not producing more fruits of penance than we do?

After Saint Mechtilde had worked so usefully for the restoration of observance in her monastery, the obligation to recover the property it had lost during the time of disorder led her to make a journey to the court of Emperor Frederick. She did her utmost l'empereur Frédéric Emperor whose hand was requested for Rosana by an officer. to avoid this outing and to settle the matter through a proxy; but the prince, who was her cousin and who wished greatly to see her because of the esteem in which everyone held her, would not grant anything unless she were present, so she finally had to yield to necessity. She was received by him with great testimonies of friendship and honor, less for her nobility and because she was a princess of his blood, than for her eminent holiness. He lodged her in his palace, granted her everything she asked for, and ordered that she be treated magnificently. She did not refuse to eat at the table that had been prepared for her, but on the condition that, while the other guests would eat all kinds of delicious dishes and drink the most exquisite wines, she would eat nothing but vegetables, according to her custom, and would drink only water, which was the meal of the holy prophet Daniel. Indeed, the steward who was to serve her drink was warned to bring her only water; this he did. But when she tasted it, she found it to be excellent wine. She complained to him about it, and, returning the cup, she secretly begged him to bring her what she had ordered. The steward assured her that he had presented nothing else to her; and nevertheless, to satisfy her, he went again to fetch the same water. But when she tasted it, she found it to be wine again, because Our Lord, to honor his servant, wished to renew in her favor the first miracle he had performed publicly while on earth. The Saint, believing that she was being deceived, obliged the steward to taste for himself whether what he was presenting to her was not wine. He tasted it and was forced to admit that neither Bavaria, nor Austria, nor Alsace, nor France, nor Greece, and even the island of Cyprus produced better. To ensure one last time that there was no fraud, he went to draw the water himself and brought it to the abbess. Having tasted it, she found it to be wine of the same nature as the previous one. Thus, she recognized the miracle, and the whole company recognized it too and admired the goodness of God, who exalts the humility and mortification of those who strive to please Him.

The honors that this prodigy brought to Saint Mechtilde prompted her to return promptly to her monastery. No sooner had she arrived than a mute girl possessed by a demon, who made her perform an infinity of shameful and extravagant actions, was presented to her. The sisters had tried to deliver her in her absence; but they had not succeeded any better than the disciples of the Son of God when they tried to heal the deaf and mute demoniac, of whom it is spoken in Saint Mark, chapter ix. But the Saint, who was filled with the Spirit of Jesus Christ, having made her prayer, and having then commanded the demon to leave the body of this Christian woman, he was forced to obey and could not resist the power of the word of this incomparable virgin. This new miracle, while making her great merit known more and more, also served greatly to encourage the nuns and to inflame them with the desire for perfection. They all ran with their holy abbess to the "wedding of the Son of the King"; there were some who arrived earlier than she through a death precious before God and before men. As for her, not yet being very old, she had a revelation that her death was near, and that she must return to Diessen, the place of her birth and her profession, to await there the happy moment of her deliverance and her coronation.

She went there as soon as possible, was received as the mother and lady of the monastery, and devoted herself with renewed fervor to all the exercises that prepare a soul to appear securely before God. Having enough strength left, she gave a powerful exhortation to the sisters; rebuking them for the jealousies and disputes that still existed among them, she told them that "neither their fasts, nor their abstinence and vigils, nor their diligence in attending the divine offices, nor their promptness in obeying the commands of their superiors, nor the brilliance of their virginity would be of any use to them if they did not have charity and mutual love in their hearts, and did not show them in their actions." Then, having sent for her father and mother, she begged them earnestly that, since they had not given her a dowry, and she did not intend to inherit their great wealth, they would have the kindness to give to this convent of Diessen all the tithes that belonged to them around Diegen-sur -l'Issoire. She easi Diegen-sur-l'Issoire Place whose tithes were given to the monastery of Diessen. ly obtained what she wished, because her parents were pious and willingly gave a portion of their lands to the poor and to monasteries. By this means, the convent had enough to subsist honorably with the brothers who were destined for the spiritual assistance of the nuns.

The day they began to receive the revenues, Berthold, the Saint's father, gave an innocent feast to this holy community. Fearing that Mechtilde would not take part in it, and would content herself with bread and water and vegetables, the director commanded her for that day to eat meat and drink wine; which she had not done since her childhood. Nevertheless, sacrificing her judgment and her will to that of her spiritual father, she did what was commanded of her, and, upon leaving the refectory, as the nuns were going to the choir chanting psalms, a voice was heard from above, saying: "O blessed Mechtilde, know that you have been received today, not with Esau the reprobate, but with Elijah who was carried into the air." This word consoled her marvelously, and also gave sovereign contentment to all this assembly of holy daughters. They had no difficulty after that in granting her what she asked of them: it was that a portion of the revenues her father had given them should be destined to give alms to the poor and the needy, so that they would never be refused to anyone.

However, the time was approaching when this holy dove was to fly into the bosom of the Son of God; she first healed a girl who had pierced her eye with her awl. Being on her deathbed, she saw on one side the demons who were reproaching her for something: which made her appear a little sad; but, at the same moment, she saw the angels who were pushing back these infernal spirits, and who were waiting for her to carry her into heaven: which made her smile for the first time in her life. The Blessed Virgin also appeared to her with inestimable grace and beauty. This is what made her turn away the painting of the same Virgin that was being presented to her, because the image was useless where the truth appeared in itself. She had already received the sacraments that the Church gives to the sick to assist them at the important hour of death; but it is believed that she communicated again from the hand of the angels shortly before expiring, for she was seen to open her mouth and extend her tongue, withdraw it, and then swallow something, as one does when receiving the body of Jesus Christ, and she was also seen to do the same as a priest who drinks the precious chalice of his blood. This action was followed by an almost imperceptible breath, which made her enter into the clear and manifest enjoyment of the one she had received under the species of the Sacrament. This happened on July 6, around the year 1160.

Her funeral was conducted with the greatest solemnity; although her body was so thin that one could see only skin stretched over bone, her face was nonetheless beautiful, radiant, pleasant, and rose-colored. She was carried in procession, in the presence of a great gathering of nobles and commoners, into the church of Diessen, before the altar of Saint John the Baptist. The candles carried in this ceremony could not be extinguished, even though the wind was so impetuous that men themselves had difficulty standing. Several miracles occurred immediately afterward at her tomb. The hair of Saint Mechtilde of Diessen was of marvelous aid against thunder and storms, and it was enough to suspend it in the air to stop their fury. It is reported that this wonder was renewed so often in the region that there is no one who doubts it.

One must not confuse Saint Mechtilde of Diessen, whose life we have just recounted, with Saint Mechtilde of Spanheim, who was mentioned on February 26, nor with another Saint Mechtilde, honored on April 10.

Saint Mechtilde is represented: 1st on her deathbed; at her side, angels bring her the Holy Viaticum; 2nd healing, by a simple touch, one of her nuns who had lost her sight; 3rd with Jesus Christ depicted enthroned in her heart.

Acta Sanctorum Acta Sanctorum Monumental hagiographic collection by the Bollandists. .