Saint of the Day † (March 26) ✠ St. Ludgar ✠

 † Saint of the Day †

(March 26)

✠ St. Ludgar ✠

Apostle of Saxony:

Born: 742 AD

Zuilen near Utrecht, Netherlands

Died: March 26, 809

Billerbeck, district of Coesfeld, region of Münster, Germany

Venerated in:

Roman Catholic Church

Eastern Orthodox Church

Feast: March 26

Patronage:

Groningen, Netherlands, Deventer, East Frisia; Diocese of Münster, Germany, Werden

Saint Ludger was a missionary among the Frisians and Saxons, founder of Werden Abbey and first Bishop of Münster in Westphalia. Following in the footsteps of the English missionary St Boniface, Ludger, who was a native Netherlander, brought the faith to the people of Frisia in Holland and the Saxons of north-west Germany.

A Frisian of noble descent:

Ludger was born at Zuilen, near Utrecht, in the Netherlands about 742. His parents were wealthy Christian Frisians of noble descent. When he was eleven years of age, he saw the English missionary St Boniface and this made such an impression on him that he became a disciple of St Gregory of Utrecht (friend of St Boniface). He later wrote a Life of St Gregory. He then went to England to study under Alcuin at York for some years (767-771). While there he developed a friendship with Alcuin which lasted through life and was ordained a deacon.

Difficulties preaching the gospel among Frisians and Saxons:

In 775 Ludger was sent to revive the work at Deventer in the Netherlands begun by St Lebuin (an Englishman and monk of Ripon, who died 773). He restored the chapel and recovered the relics of St Lebuin. But because of conflict between the Frisians and the Saxons he withdrew and went to teach at Gregory schools in Utrecht. He was ordained a priest at Cologne in 777. Subsequently, he preached the gospel at Dokkum in Friesland, where St Boniface had been put to death.

To Rome and Monte Cassino:

Driven out by the Saxons about 785, Ludger went to Rome where he met with Pope Adrian I. He spent the next two years in Monte Cassino, planning to found a Benedictine monastery of his own.

Charlemagne in Friesland and Saxony:

At this time Charlemagne was forcefully converting the Frisians and Saxons to Christianity, with the Saxon leader Widukind providing serious opposition. When Ludger returned to the area in 787, Charlemagne entrusted him with the evangelization of the Saxons in Westphalia. His preaching of the gospel had more success than Charlemagne’s repressive measures. He is reported to have cured the blindness of, and thus caused the conversion of, the blind pagan bard Berulef.

Canons regular at Münster:

Ludger made his headquarters in the place now called Münster, meaning “monastery”. Here in 795, he founded a community of canons regular, following the Rule of St Chordegang of Metz. In 799 he established a monastery at Werden on the Rhur and became its first abbot. Around 803 he was consecrated bishop of Münster. He was a gentle pastor who achieved much for Christianity by his patient persuasion.

Death and representation:

This great missionary died on Passion Sunday 809 while on a preaching tour, and he was buried at the Benedictine monastery of Werden. To avert a dispute, relics were taken to the monastery at Münster. He is variously depicted as a bishop reciting his breviary, or as a bishop holding a cathedral (as above), or a bishop with a swan on either side.