St. Matilda

Month of Saints - Day 10

Since it is late and I am tired, I'm going to try to keep this brief tonight.  With that in mind, I have chosen for reflection a medieval Saint because we tend to know less about them.

St. Matilda was the wife of King Henry I of Germany. She was the daughter of a Count and had received the best possible education in a convent where her Grandmother (also named Matilda) was Abbess.  Matilda and Henry had five children, Otto (who later became King Otto I, the great), Gerberga (whose second husband was King Louis IV of France), Hedwig, Henry (later the Duke of Bavaria) and Bruno (later archbishop of Cologne). When her husband died after 23 years of marriage, Matilda begged her children to practice fear of the Lord, fidelity to the commandments and to maintain harmony and peace among themselves.  Unfortunately, that did not happen.

Matilda favored her younger son for succession to his father's throne, which caused a rift between the brothers - to the point that Henry started an armed uprising against his brother.  The queen-mother had to do a severe penance for favoring the younger son, and she said many prayers and shed many tears before succeeding in reconciling the brothers.  Not long after this, the two sons turned on their mother, accusing her of wasting her possessions on unworthy individuals.  She was forced out of the royal court and fled to a convent.  The family eventually reconciled and Matilda was returned to the court where she again devoted herself to works of charity and piety.

Matilda is the patron of parents of large families (although, by my standards, 5 children does not a "large family" make).  Her feast day is March 14.