ST HEDWIG OF HERFORD, ABBESS - 13 SEPTEMBER

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN SEPTEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 13th of September

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.

ST HEDWIG OF HERFORD, ABBESS 

Saint Hedwig, born in 810, was a daughter of Count Asig (Esiko) in the Saxon Hessengau, the namesake of the Esikonen, and thus granddaughter of Count Ekbert and Saint Ida of Herzfeld. Her brother, Count Cobbo the Younger, succeeded his father Asig as Count in the Saxon Hessengau.

SHE TOOK THE VEIL

After the death of her husband Amelung II, son of Bennid I and nephew of Count Cobbo the Elder, around 849, and their sons Amelung III and Bennid II, she became a religious. After the death of her aunt Addila, she succeeded her as abbess at Herford Abbey. St Hedwig died in 887. 

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858 - 📷 The Abbey Well, Herford)