Saint Lidwina of Schiedam
Lidwina of Schiedam was born on April 18th 1930 in Rotterdam (The Netherlands). Her family was poor. Lidwina was very dedicated to Our Lady of Schiedam. When Lidwina was 16, she had an accident during ice skating. A broken rib caused gangrene, which caused paralysis.
In spite of her paralysis and the pain she had because of this, she prayed a lot, was very dedicated to the Eucharist, and commited her suffering to God.
During her ecstasies, Lidwina had visions which showed her heaven and hell. She shared in the suffering of Jesus (stigmata) and had appearances of different Saints. Like many stigmatised ones, her nourishment was the reception of the Holy Communion.
She stayed a lot in bed, and a lot of miracles that appeared at her bed are written down. Several times it was said that she possessed. In the last seven years of her life, she was blind.
The last vision she had was Jesus, giving her the last sacraments.
She died in Schiedam on april 14th (easter) 1433.
On March 14th 1830 she was canonized by Pope Leo XIII
Patronage:
bodily ills; ice skating; prolonged suffering; roller skating; sick people; sickness; skaters; skating
dank voor de vertaling door Karen Meijer 24092006
translated by Karen Meijer
