BL. LUFTHILDIS, VIRGIN AND HERMITESS

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY

Saints celebrated on the 22nd of January

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

BL. LUFTHILDIS, VIRGIN AND HERMITESS

Blessed Lufthildis (Lufthelberga, Luchthildis, Luthildis, Linthildis) was a virgin and hermitess in the diocese of Cologne, Germany. Up to this day her abode on the Luftlberge (Mount Luftl) can be visited, which is not far from the little town of Rheinbach.

A FAITHFUL SERVANT OF THE LORD

Nothing certain can be said about her parentage, the times of her life and death. They are placed in the 13th century. 

She was a faithful servant of the Lord, ever praying and doing works of mercy, an example of virtue and piety to all. 

GRAIN FOR BREAD FOR THE POOR

The faithful, who venerate her and make pilgrimages to the mountain and the nearby church which also contains an altar with her image, make gifts of grain there, which is distributed to the poor. 

PATRONESS OF THOSE BITTEN BY DOGS

Many miracles happened through her intercession. Thus, the abbess Gertraud von Hoven (Cistercian) was suddenly healed of her severe eye pain in a miraculous way after Bl. Lufthildis had appeared to her in a white robe and touched her eyes. She is also honoured as the patroness of those bitten by angry dogs. 

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858)