Saint
Saint Hedwig of Silesia
- Country / origin
- Germany / Poland
- Life
- 1174–1243
- Feast
- 16 October
- Canonised
- 1267
Awaiting theological review
Who was this?
Born in Bavaria and married as a girl to Henry, later Duke of Silesia. With her husband she founded hospitals and the Cistercian convent of Trzebnica. She outlived most of her children, and after her husband's death spent her last years at Trzebnica in prayer and poverty, serving the poor.
Patron of
- Silesia
- the poor
- people in debt
- widows
When to ask for intercession
- debt and money worries
- for the poor
- grief over a child
A short prayer
Saint Hedwig, intercede for me in my difficulties, and teach me to trust in God and to share what I have with those in need.
Written for cento53 as a simple personal prayer of intercession — not a liturgical text.
What we know — and how
Tradition holds
In Brazil she is widely invoked as patroness of the poor and of people in debt; this patronage comes from popular devotion, not from a decision of the Church.
A saint for what you are living
- Poverty and volunteering
The next question