CrucisSt. Hedwig
St. Hedwig of Silesia was born around 1174 at Andechs in Bavaria, and died on 15 October 1243 at Trzebnica (in modern Poland). Married young to Henry I the Bearded, Duke of Silesia, she was a devoted wife and the mother of seven children, and used her position to work tirelessly for the good of her people, founding hospitals, monasteries, and charitable works throughout the duchy. She was an aunt of St. Elizabeth of Hungary.
A woman of deep prayer and austere personal life amid worldly splendor, she bore great sorrows, including the deaths of her children and the burdens of war, with faith and patience. After her husband's death she withdrew to the Cistercian convent of Trzebnica, which she had founded, living there in humble service of the sick and poor until her death. Canonized in 1267, she is honored as a patron of Silesia and is venerated in both Poland and Germany.
Selected quotes
“Serve the poor with your own hands, for in their faces the King of heaven looks upon you.”
“Build hospitals for the sick and shelters for the stranger, that Christ may be housed among you.”
“What you give to the leper and the beggar you place into the wounds of Christ.”