St. Lydwine of Schiedham

"The truth is, care should be taken to keep such people from too much prayer and to persuade them, as far as possible, to take no notice of their fancies [visions and locutions]: the devil makes use of these weak souls to injure others, even if they themselves escape unhurt." (St. Teresa of Avila, The Interior Castle 3.3)

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I start off with that note because St. Lydwine (also called Lydia) of Schiedham is a visionary. Of the Ven. Thomas à Kempis's works, his biography of her life is claimed to be the least original and indeed, he even claims to be indebted to a previous work on the subject of this holy virgin's life in his prologue and claims it as an abridgement of that prior existing work. St. Lydwine, whom the Latins call Lydia, was a holy virgin, committed to refraining from marriage even at the age of twelve as many suitors sought her.

She experienced a severe injury at the fifteenth year of her life. Some might even call this the first historically documented example of an undiagnosed case of ALS. We don't quite know what her exact ailment was. But for the first fourteen years of her life, she was well and normal. As she was travelling with companions of her own, she started to walk very quickly along a patch of ice. Her companions attempted to reach her but she ended up falling into a pile of shards of ice. Christ seems to have chosen to rescue her from marriage through this accident because afterwards, no suitors would pursue her further. But she was never isolated from human affection though.

I had read The Imitation of Christ prior to reading through this work of Thomas à Kempis and I honestly did not get a lot out of reading through that work. I had never read it before having falsely believed it to be a human work, potentially containing error as the author was never canonized. But upon discovering the truth of the author behind this work, I began to develop a curiosity toward Thomas à Kempis. Reading this work about this lovely saint and holy virgin, I began to fall in love with St. Lydwine. It wasn't so much the trials she suffered that moved me toward falling in love with her but the example she set in following them. I have seen many saintly examples as of recent that have shown increasing relevance in my current life but this one struck me.

I have felt more and more isolated this past year. Some days, I have been unable to get to church due to my irregular sleep pattern. St. Lydwine's accident completely incapacitated her. It forced her to be bedridden her entire life from the age of fifteen until her happy death. She was ministered the Eucharist but once a year every Easter. But she still opened her home to the poor, the widows, travelers, etc. She was never alone because she was always with Christ. She was in communion with Christ until her death. Even with the loss of both parents and the tragic death of her niece.

The exact chronology is unknown and it is unclear whether Ven. Thomas à Kempis wrote the abridgement in a specific chronological order.  We do know she experienced prophetic visions on many occasions. On one such occasion, it was given to her that her father would repose on the Vigil of the Conception of the Virgin Mary. There was another vision she received where she appeared to have been raptured to Heaven and her breasts had been filled with milk. A widow staying at her home was there when this occurred and the saintly virgin had the widow draw milk from her breasts. Still another rapture had her receive a crown of flowers which she instructed her confessor to adorn Our Lady with. He obliged. Visions are given to people who need them and do not seek after them. They are also given to people who know how to distinguish them. She received vision from a devil boasting he had thrown her frail father into a ditch and had left him to die but this vision, not wanting to shock the virgin, was countered by the rescue that happened as her father was rescued.

St. Lydwine grew close to all who visited her and the magnitude of her losses were greatly increased by the isolation of the life she lived from her accident leaving her bedridden. But she grew in prayer and served the hungry of spirit by showing them great faithfulness and an example. On one such occasion a group of men with evil intentions visited her, molested her, beat her niece as she defended the holy virgin, and then left away. The magistrates wanted severely to punish the perpetrators and her niece died from the wounds experienced but the saint warned the magistrates against retaliation and forgave the men for what had happened. Only in forgiveness will we ever be led to Heaven.

It was on the Tuesday of the Octave of Easter of the year 1433 that she reposed. Her body was visited by many and it was discovered that this virgin was so pure that black spots developed whenever impure men touched it. Her body had to be placed in such a location that people would not touch it causing disruption to the purity of her body. St. Lydwine is the patron of the chronically ill, ice skaters, and the town of Schiedham in the Netherlands. It was due to the work of Ven. Thomas à Kempis that her cult was made known to the Church in the 19th century and on March 14, 1890, she was canonized by Pope Leo XIII. Her feast day is celebrated in the Roman calendar on April 14. May we all learn from St. Lydwine through our own trials and isolations and may she pray for all of us!