September 17--Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Virgin, Abbess, and Doctor of the Church

St. Hildegard, photograph by Bobo Kubrak, licensed under CC0 1.0.

What would a “Renaissance woman” be? Perhaps a woman who was a writer, composer, philosopher, scholar, scientist, healer, consultant to popes and emperors, mystic, visionary, and saint! Perhaps, St. Hildegard of Bingen! She lived from 1098-1179 in Germany. She was placed in the convent at the age of seven after it was discovered that she experienced visions, which were known only to a few. After the abbess died she was unanimously elected the new abbess at the age of 38. “Hildegard's works include three great volumes of visionary theology; a variety of musical compositions for use in the liturgy, as well as the musical morality play Ordo Virtutum; one of the largest bodies of letters (nearly 400) to survive from the Middle Ages, addressed to correspondents ranging from popes to emperors to abbots and abbesses, and including records of many of the sermons she preached in the 1160s and 1170s; two volumes of material on natural medicine and cures; an invented language called the Lingua ignota (‘unknown language’); and various minor works, including a gospel commentary and two works of hagiography.” Finally, Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed her a saint and Doctor of the Church in 2012, one of 37. “He called Hildegard ‘perennially relevant’ and ‘an authentic teacher of theology and a profound scholar of natural science and music.’”

St. Hildegard was a “Renaissance woman” and an amazing person in all regards! God raises special people to bring his message to the world. In the Church he sends saints, like St. Hildegard. She wrote, in the voice of God: “I am the breeze that nurtures all things green. I encourage blossoms to flourish with ripening fruits. I am the rain coming from the dew that causes the grasses to laugh with the joy of life.” St. Hildegard, pray for us!

February 25--St. Walburga, Abbess

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Not many know that some women in the Catholic Church were in charge of double monasteries, which is an institution of both men and women religious in separate facilities. They were founded so that the spiritual needs of the nuns could be attended to by the priests of the male community. St. Bridget of Ireland established one in Kildare and Sts. Cuthberga and Quimburga established one at Wimbourne in England where today’s saint was educated. St. Walburga became abbess over the double monastery at Heidenheim, Germany her brother, St. Winibald, founded after he died.

St. Walburga had sainthood in her genes. Her father was St. Richard, an under-king of the West Saxons of Britain; her uncle was St. Boniface, Apostle of Germany; and her two brothers, St. Willibald, who became a bishop, and St. Winibald, both missionaries to Germany. She was known for miraculous events, including being able to walk through fierce guard dogs, calming seas, and healing. She wrote a biography of St. Winibald and an account of St. Willibald’s travels in the Holy Land, thus earning her the honor as the first female author of England and Germany. She spent much of her life at Wimborne but was called to Germany by St. Boniface to continue their missionary work by her prayers. Even after her death in AD 779 her bones exuded an oil that has miraculous powers, which continues to today.

“According to the nuns at her shrine, Walburga’s genius was in being ‘open to God, to his calling, to his guidance, to his demands so as to be ready in every situation to accept his plan.’” Humility and obedience to God’s will requires prayer and acceptance of God’s will. We can follow St. Walburga by giving ourselves over to God, especially by receiving the sacraments of reconciliation and the Eucharist.

*https://live.staticflickr.com/5763/21387598916_1d8a1dcb9e_b.jpg

July 9—St. Veronica Giuliani, Abbess

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI wrote one way we can combat scandal is through a greater reverence for the Eucharist: “The way people often simply receive the Holy Sacrament in communion as a matter of course shows that many see communion as a purely ceremonial gesture. Therefore, when thinking about what action is required first and foremost, it is rather obvious that we do not need another Church of our own design. Rather, what is required first and foremost is the renewal of the Faith in the Reality of Jesus Christ given to us in the Blessed Sacrament.” 

Today’s saint spoke of the joy of communion about 300 years ago! St. Veronica Giuliani was a holy woman who became novice mistress and abbess of her convent. She also received the stigmata of Christ, which caused her humiliation. However, she experienced a profound communion with God and shared that in her diary: “While I was about to go to Holy Communion, I seemed to be thrown wide open like a door flung open to welcome a close friend and then shut tight after his entry. So my heart was alone with him—alone with God. … Love makes the heart leap and dance. Love makes it exult and be festive. … Love possesses it and gives it everything. Love takes it over completely and dwells in it. But I am unable to say more because if I wished to relate all the effects that my heart experiences in the act of going to Holy Communion and also at other times, I would never finish saying everything. It is sufficient to say that communion is a … mansion of love itself.”

Jesus blesses us with his presence and brings us to holiness by giving us himself! Would that we remember what that really means! We would be focused on Jesus, joy, and holiness, rather than scandal.

February 1--St. Brigid of Ireland, Abbess

Ireland is blessed with not one, not two, but three patron saints: St. Patrick and St. Columba, and today’s saint, Saint Brigid. Much of what we know about her comes from legend and folklore. She was the daughter of a Christian slave mother, Brocca, who was baptized by St. Patrick, and a chieftain of Leinster, Dubthach in the 5th century, dying in A.D. 525. As slaves, she and her mother were sold to a druid. She then returned to her father’s household and gave away his belongings as acts of charity. He took her to the king of Leinster, who was Christian, to sell her. As Dubthach spoke to the king, St. Brigid gave his sword to a beggar. The king convinced her father to free her because of her holiness. She eventually became the founder and abbess of a convent in Ireland at Kildare, as well as a men’s monastery, having authority over both and being considered the chief authority of all convents in Ireland.

St. Brigid is not only patroness of Ireland, but also patroness of children whose parents are not married, dairy workers (for her work as a youth), and scholars. She is called Mary of the Gaels, meaning Our Lady of the Irish. St. Brigid is portrayed with a reed cross, which she used to convert a man to Christianity on his deathbed, or an abbot’s crozier, for her ministry as abbess of Kildare.

St. Brigid is a blessing to us for her strength, her faith, her tenacity, her spirit, and her love of God. She is a gift to the Irish and through them to the United States, which benefitted greatly from the influx of Irish immigrants in the 19th century. St. Brigid of Ireland, pray for us.

March 3--St. Katherine Drexel, Abbess

The Omaha Archdiocese has a connection with St. Katherine Drexel.  She founded St. Augustine Mission in Winnebago, Nebraska in 1909 at the request of Bishop O’Connor to serve the Native American people of the Omaha and Winnebago tribes.  She also founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament to serve both Native Americans and African Americans.  She also founded Xavier University in New Orleans.  By the time of her death in 1955 there were over 500 sisters teaching in 63 schools throughout the country.

St. Katherine Drexel did all this instead of living the life of a rich heiress, which she was.  She had money equivalent to $250 million today.  But she dedicated her life and her fortune to those who were the outcasts of American society.  She gave real meaning to the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

We too are called to live the works of mercy in our daily lives as we can.  It might mean donating time to the Francis/Siena House or clothing to Undie Sunday or helping the RCIA program as a sponsor or joining the Knights of Columbus and assisting in their good works.  It also might mean something as simple as giving a ride to someone or visiting a neighbor or playing cards with someone in a nursing home.  Ultimately it may mean being nice when someone is mean to us and forgiving instead of griping.  Jesus calls us to remember that we will be judged by how we serve him in others.