Matilda, daughter of Count Dietrich of Westphalia, Germany and Reinhild of Denmark, was born in 895 in Engern, Germany. She was raised by her grandmother, whose name was also Matilda, in Herford Abbey. In 913, she left the Abbey and married King Henry the Fowler of Saxony (Henry - I), who had received an annulment from a previous marriage.
Matilda gave birth to five children: Otto, who was crowned as the Holy Roman Emperor in 962; Henry, who was appointed Duke of Bavaria in 948; Saint Bruno the great, who was elected Archbishop of Cologne in 953 and Duke of Lorraine in 954; Hedwig, who married the West Frankish duke, Hugh the Great; and Gerberga, who first married Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine and later, the Carolingian King Louis IV of France.
Matilda founded several Benedictine Abbeys and was well known throughout the kingdom for her generosity. She taught the illiterate, comforted the sick, visited prisoners and was extremely pious, righteous and charitable. Matilda's two hagiographical biographies and ‘The Deeds of the Saxons’ serve as authoritative sources about her life and work.
After a long illness, Queen Matilda died on 14 March 968, in the convent of Quedlinburg and was buried in the Abbey, next to her late husband.
Matilda is considered to be the patron saint of death of children, disappointing children, falsely accused people, large families, people ridiculed for their piety, Queens, second marriages and Widows.
Other Saints of the Day
1. Saint Leobinus of Chartres
2. Saint Lazarus of Milan
3. Saint Alexander of Pydna
4. Saint Boniface Curitan
5. Saint Leo of the Agro Verano
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