Lutgard of Tongeren
Lutgard von Tonger (e) n (also written Luitgard , Lutgard , Lutegarde ) (* 1182 in Tongern ; † June 16, 1246 in Aywières ) was a Flemish Cistercian and mystic . Lutgard is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church . Her feast day is June 16 .
Life
The life story of Lutgard is known from a medieval vita, written by the Dominican Thomas von Cantimpré . Thomas knew Lutgard personally and assures that he learned most of what he recorded in his biography directly from her. Lutgard was the age of twelve to the nuns of the Benedictine - Abbey of St. Catherine at Sint-Truiden in the diocese of Limburg passed to education. After a vision of Christ , she entered the novitiate there at the age of 20 . Only a year later, despite her youth, she was elected Prioress of the Convention . However, she followed the advice of a friend, St. Christina , and joined the Cistercian Sisters of Aywières near Brussels, as they had stricter religious rules . Lutgard lived here until her death, famous for her visions, an ascetic life of atonement and mortification . She went blind 16 years before her death.
According to her biographer, Lutgard had numerous mystical experiences, most often the apparitions of Christ, encounters with the poor souls as well as visions of the Mother of God and other saints . As a prominent representative of the incipient women's mysticism, she was one of the first Sacred Heart worshipers of the late Middle Ages . It is reported of her that she had the gift of healing the sick. Lutgard is the patron saint for a happy childbirth for the blind and disabled. In art she is often portrayed in a vision of Christ showing her his open side or being blinded by the splendor of the heart of Jesus .
literature
- Peter Dinzelbacher : Medieval woman mysticism . Paderborn, 1993, pp. 136-187.
- Kurt Ruh : History of Occidental Mysticism Volume II, Women's Mysticism and Franciscan Mysticism of the Early Period . Munich 1993, pp. 90-95.
- Thomas Merton OCSO: Chosen for sorrow and bliss. The life of the Flemish mystic Luitgard. Räber, Lucerne 1953.
- Ekkart Sauser: Luitgard (Lutgard, Lutgart) from Tongern. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 21, Bautz, Nordhausen 2003, ISBN 3-88309-110-3 , Sp. 871-872.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lutgard of Tongeren |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Luitgard of Tongeren; Lutgard of Tongeren, Lutegarde of Tongeren |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Religious, mystic, virgin, saint |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1182 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Tongeren |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 16, 1246 |
| Place of death | Aywières |