Saint Lydwina of Schiedam and Suffering Joyfully
Saint Lydwina of Schiedam (1380 – 1433) was one of the countless and glorious ‘victim souls’ in the history of the Church, those whose lives are filled with suffering, often of an unimaginable intensity, but who suffer joyfully.
She was a fifteen-year old Dutch girl, out skating one day, when she fell and broke one of her ribs. She was taken back to her bed to convalesce, a bed she was never again to leave. Lydwina developed mysterious symptoms, her body quite literally falling apart; her legs were soon paralyzed; she would cough up blood, which would stream also from her eyes and nose; her innards fell out, and what remained was often suppurating; but these gave off a sweet aroma; her vision became double and blurred. It is reported, with numerous eyewitnesses, that she never again slept, and lived only on the Holy Eucharist. It is claimed she was one of the first recorded victims of multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease affecting the myelin around the nerves, but this is pure speculation, and her ‘symptoms’ seem to go far beyond that.
I read a biography of Saint Lydwina years ago – based on a contemporaneous version was written by none other than Tomas a Kempis, of ‘Imitation of Christ’ fame – and you really do have to read it to believe. Everything was recorded in scientific detail, by physicians and priests. There were even guards posted at her bedside to see if she was ‘sneaking’ food. None.
Miracles abounded. Lydwina, always joyful, entered a mystical realm, with God taking her across the world in some form, and she had awareness of events far beyond her bedside. Some said that her body – which crumbled into three parts – was in part expiation for the current schism in the Church, with three Popes claiming legitimacy, causing untold scandal and mayhem. The schism ended with the Council of Constance in 1415. Many claimed the credit– the emperor Sigismund and bands of theologians – but we may wonder how much the hidden life of Lydwina had to do with the peaceful resolution.
Amazingly, Lydwina lived to the age of 52 in this state, and who knows how much merit she gained in the eyes of God. She died on this April 14th, 1433, with a widespread reputation for holiness. Pope Leo XIII granted her equipollent canonization on March 14th, 1890. Her relics reside in the church of Saint Lydwina and Our Lady of the Rosary, in her hometown of Schiedam, Holland, and she is the patron saint of the chronically suffering and of ice skaters, with no necessary connection between the two.
May Saint Lydwina intercede for all those who carry burdens that may seem too heavy, that they see that such, borne well, even joyfully, will lead them, and many others, to heaven. Pope John Paul II writes of this in his beautiful 1984 letter on salvific suffering, Salvifici Doloris.
A very joyful Easter to you all.
Saint Lydwina, ora pro nobis! +
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