Saint Matilda

Saint Matilda was Queen of Germany. Born around 895, she married Henry, King of Germany. She visited the sick and cared for them, served the poor, gave them alms and comforted them, and spent her nights in prayer.

Her heart was detached from earthly things… When the king her husband died, he left her three sons: the eldest became king, the second a duke, and the third was elected Archbishop of Cologne. The duke quarrelled with his brother the king and challenged him for the throne, and strife broke out between them. But the two joined forces against their mother, Queen Matilda, and humiliated her, accusing her of ruining the kingdom with her almsgiving, and they took all her jewels. Later they were reconciled with each other and with their mother, and gave back everything they had taken from her.

She then began giving it away to the poor, built five monasteries and many churches, and spent her life in devotion and works of mercy.

She guided the poor, the uneducated and her servants, and taught them to pray well. She often visited a convent of nuns; on one of her visits she fell ill there. As her death drew near, she made her confession to the Archbishop of Mainz, a son of one of her sons. A few days later, out of humility, she publicly confessed all her sins in the presence of the priests and nuns of the convent. Then she received the sacraments of the Church, lay down on sackcloth, sprinkled ashes on her head and peacefully gave up her soul to God on March 14, 968.

Prepared by Rita, of the Sawt el Rab team