Onomastics to celebrate today: the saints of Tuesday, March 14

Good deeds, deadly sacrifices, and even inexplicable occurrences arising from apparent divinity, are the reasons why different individuals have been beatified and canonized by the Vatican carry with him the name of saint.

Every daymarked on the calendar, commemorates the life and death of those beings, men and women, who have dedicated their lives to the same Catholic Church which has earned them the appointment.

It is the day of the saint Tuesday March 14.

Mathilde was a descendant of the famous Widukind, captain of the Saxons in their long struggle against Charlemagne, as the daughter of Dietrich, count of Westphalia, and Reinhild, scion of the royal house of Denmark. When the girl was born in the year 895, she was entrusted to the care of her paternal grandmother, the abbess of the convent of Erfut. There, without straying from her home, Matilde was educated and grew up to be a young woman who surpassed her peers in beauty, piety and learning, it is said.

In due course, she married Henry, son of Duke Otto of Saxony, nicknamed “the Hunter”. The marriage was exceptionally happy, and Matilde exerted a subdued but uplifting influence on her husband. Precisely after the birth of his eldest son, Otto, after three years of marriage, Enrique succeeded his father in the duchy. Around the beginning of the year 919, King Conrad died without issue and the duke was elevated to the throne of Germany. There is no doubt that his experience as a brave and skilful soldier served him well, as his life was a constant struggle in which he won many times in remarkable ways.

Henry himself and his subjects attributed their successes as much to the queen’s prayers as to their own efforts. She continued to live in the humility that had distinguished her in her childhood. To her courtiers and servants, she was more like a loving mother than their queen and mistress; no one who came to him for help was disappointed. Her husband rarely asked her for alms or resented her pious practices, absolutely sure of her goodness and trusting her completely. After twenty-three years of marriage, King Henry died of apoplexy in 936. When told that her husband had died, the queen was in church and she remained there, pouring out her soul at the foot of the altar. in fervent prayer for him. . Immediately he asked a priest to offer the holy sacrifice of the mass for the eternal rest of the king and, taking off the jewels he was wearing, he left them on the altar as a pledge that he renounced, from that moment , to the pumps of the world.

They had had five children: Otto, future emperor; Henry the Heckler; Saint Bruno, later Archbishop of Cologne; Gerberge who married Louis IV, King of France and Hedwige, the mother of Hugues Capet. Despite the fact that the king had expressed his wish that his eldest son, Otto, succeed him to the throne, Matilde favored her son Enrique and persuaded a few nobles to vote for him; however, Otto, was elected and crowned. Enrique did not voluntarily agree to give up his claims and promoted a rebellion against his brother, but was defeated and sued for peace. Otto forgave him and, through Mathilde’s intercession, made him Duke of Bavaria. Since then, the queen has led a life of complete self-sacrifice; her jewelry had been sold to help the poor, and she was so lavish in her gifts that she drew criticism and censure. His son Otto accuses him of having hidden a treasure and wasting the revenues of his crown; He demanded that he account for all he had spent and sent spies to monitor his movements and record his donations.

Her bitterest pain was to discover that Enrique incited and aided his brother against her. She bore it all with unwavering patience, noting, with a touch of pathetic humor, that it at least comforted her to see that her children were united, if only to persecute her. “I will gladly endure whatever you can do to me, provided you do it without sin, if it keeps you together,” he reportedly said.

To please them, Matilde renounced her inheritance for the benefit of her children and retired to the country residence where she was born. But shortly after his departure, Duke Henry fell ill and disaster began to rain down on the state. The general feeling was that such misfortunes were due to the treatment the princes had given to their mother; Edith, Otto’s wife, convinced him to go ask her forgiveness and return everything that had been taken from her. Without being asked, Matilde forgave them and returned to court, where she resumed her works of mercy. But although Enrique had ceased bothering her, his conduct continued to cause her great affliction. He turned against Otto again and subsequently punished an insurrection of his own subjects in Bavaria with incredible cruelty; not even the bishops escaped his wrath.

In 955, when Mathilde saw him for the last time, she prophesied his approaching death and urged him to repent, before it was too late. Indeed, soon after, Enrique died and the news caused very deep pain to the queen.

He undertook the construction of a convent at Nordhausen; he made other foundations at Quedlinburg, at Engern, and also at Poehlen, where he established a monastery for men. It is clear that Otto never again felt his mother’s resentment in spending the earnings on religious works, for when he went to Rome to be crowned emperor, he left the kingdom in Matilda’s care.

The last time Matilda attended a family reunion was in Cologne, Easter 965, when Emperor Otto “the Great”, her other children and grandchildren were with her. After this reappearance, he practically withdrew from the world, spending his time in one and the other of his foundations, notably in Nodhausen. As she was about to discuss an urgent matter that called her to Quedlinburg, a fever from which she had been suffering for some time worsened, and she realized that her last moment would soon come. She summoned Richburg, the young girl who had helped her in her charities and who was abbess at Nordhausen. According to tradition, the queen proceeded to an act of donation for everything that was in her room, until only the canvas of her shroud remained. “Give this to Bishop Wilhelm of Mainz (who was his grandson). He will need it before me.” Indeed, the bishop died suddenly, twelve days before the death of his grandmother, which occurred on March 14, 968. The body of Matilde was buried with that of her husband, in Quedlinbourg, where she is venerated as a saint. his death.

Butler’s Lives of the Saints, Volume I

With this character is other saints and martyrs which are also celebrated this Tuesday, March 14 as follows:

Saint Alexander of Pydna

Saint Lazarus of Milan

Saint Leobino of Chartres

Saint Paulina of Fulda

Beato Agno from Zaragoza

Blessed Eve of Mont Corneille

Blessed Jacobo Cusmano

Blessed Placido Riccardi

Saints are the group of people (women and men) who they are venerated by the Church when they are proclaimed saints or blessed on a certain calendar date.

On the path to canonization there are four stages: the first is to be named a servant of God, the second is to be venerable; the third step is to be blessed and finally the fourth step is to be a saint.

There beatification It can only be attained by the faithful who have died with the reputation of being saints in various places and this process can be achieved in two ways: by a cause of heroic virtues and the second is martyrdom, that is- ie if the person He died for his faith.

On another side, the process of becoming a saint This involves adding the name of the sanctified person in the canon (list of recognized saints) and with this the believing community is authorized to render public and universal worship to him, while a liturgical feast is assigned to him, altars, chapels and his power to intercede with God is recognized.

Although the Church has not given an exact figure, it is estimated that there are currently up to nine thousand recognized saints. According Roman Martyrologyupdated in 2005, the Catholic Church has at least seven thousand saintsalthough the martyrs are not counted, so many believe the figure could even be as high as 20,000.

In recent history, Pope John Paul II succeeded in canonizing 388 saints, while Pope Francis broke all records after that, to date, he canonized 898 saints, 800 of them at the same time.