Born in 1174 as Duchess of Bavaria, Germany, St. Hedwig, our saint today, was an illustrious child and grew up more distinguished for her virtues and holiness of life. At age 12, her parents gave her in marriage to Henry, Duke of Poland, whom she influenced to a life of holiness. She loved the Eucharist and the Scripture. During mealtime, she had the Scripture read aloud for the entire household. She prayed, fasted, ate simple food, and was simple in her clothes. She was a dedicated wife and mother, however, she also spent much of her time to serving the poor, the sick, and expectant mothers. She would bring some sick people in the castle and personally attended to them. She sent money to prisoners and to poor debtors who could not pay their debts. Her husband, Henry the Duke, meanwhile, met oppositions from his close relatives, who were enviously after the throne. At a certain encounter, the Duke was seized by his rival and narrowly escaped death. Only the pleadings of Hedwig led to his release. This event widened the reign of her husband, who afterwards was promoted as Duke of Greater Poland and the High Duke of Krakow, following a 1138 Testament of Seniority. After the birth of their sixth child, Hedwig persuaded her husband to make the vow of chastity. They made the vow in the presence of a Bishop. Henry and Hedwig faithfully lived this vow and they supported each other’s projects for the poor. He donated a building for the Augustinians and also founded a Cistercian convent, and other monasteries and hospitals at Trebnitz. He died in 1238, and was buried at a Cistercian monastery of nuns, the one he had established in 1202 at Hedwig’s request. After Henry’s death, Hedwig continued to help the needy. She established hospitals for the sick and the lepers. She donated all her fortunes to the Church and lived a truly poor life. A story was told that she went barefoot in visiting some sick persons and it was reported to the Bishop. When the Bishop told her to use slippers, she brought a pair but carried them in her hands. Years later, she moved into a monastery, · of nuns. She assumed the religious habit of a lay sister, but she did not take the vows. She invited many German women and other settlers in Silesia to join them. Hedwig died on October 15, 1243, and was buried in Trzenica Abbey with her husband. A few of her relics are kept at Andechs Abbey and in St. Hedwig’s Cathedral in Berlin. Hedwig was canonized in 1267 by Pope Clement IV, a supporter of the Cistercian Order. She is patron saint of Silesia, and of Andechs, the Catholic Diocese of Wroclaw and Gorlitz. St. Hedwig was devoted to the Virgin Mary, and would bring her statue to bless the sick, some of whom were healed. She was buried with this statue and tradition says that when her tomb was opened years later, the fingers holding the statue were incorrupt. Lately, Bishop Andrzej Siemienieswski Jacek Kicinski, current auxiliary Bishop of Wroclaw, Poland, commented that St. Hedwig showed the world that Germans and Polish could live together harmoniously as members of one Church.
