St. Ludger

St. Ludger was born around 742 in Frisia, in the region of the modern Netherlands, and died on 26 March 809. Formed in learning under the great teacher Alcuin at York and ordained a priest, he devoted himself to the evangelization of his own Frisian people and of the still-pagan Saxons, preaching with patience and zeal, destroying idols, and building churches in lands only recently and uneasily brought under Christian rule.

So fruitful were his labors that he is honored as the Apostle of Saxony, and he founded the monastery of Werden as a center of faith and culture. Consecrated the first bishop of Münster, he governed that new see with gentleness, winning souls more by kindness than by severity and famously refusing to be hurried even by the emperor Charlemagne when at prayer. A model missionary and pastor, he died while still carrying out his preaching, and his memory is kept on 26 March.