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Icon of Our Holy Father
Ludger, first Bishop of Münster, Westphalia (+809)
Feast: Mar. 26
Born of noble Frisian
parentage, Ludger saw St. Boniface the apostle in 753 and was deeply
impressed. Propelled into the course of serving God, he studied at the
Utrecht school and was made a deacon. When the first wave of
missionaries in this area was martyred, St. Ludger "cleaned up" after
the pagans, restored the desecrated places of worship, and himself
assisted in the destruction of heathen places of worship. When
Widukind, the Saxon leader, drove out the missionaries from his area,
Ludger, now a priest, travelled to Rome and dwelt for a time at Monte
Cassino, at the famed monastery of St. Benedict. Then he was appointed
missionary bishop to the districts at the mouth of the Ems, a fiercely
pagan region. With energy and boundless confidence in God, he set to
work. Knowing the local peoples well, he was particularly able to work
amongst them. At Heligoland (Fossitesland), where St. Willibrord had
preached, he destroyed the vestiges of pagan deceptions and made its
"well of the gods" his baptismal font. He healed the blind bard Berulef
of blindness, and the bard became a devout Christian. The emperor
Charlemagne wished to make Ludger a bishop, but he fled from the
honour. Evangelising next the Saxons, he dwelt at the abbey of Leuze
following the Holy Rule of St. Chrodegang (rule for canons). He founded
churches, monasteries, and convents. Finally, around 803, he was
consecrated bishop. He reposed in the evening of Passion Sunday (5th
Sun. in Lent) in 809. His relics rest at Werden. Holy Father Ludger,
pray to God for us!
Icon from the St. Michael's
Parish website, Göttingen, Germany. Thanks to Fr. Hieromonk Benedikt,
Moscow Patriarchate, for making this icon available.
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