Saint of the Day: St. Ludolph

(d. 1250)

His life

+ Ludolph was a Norbertine canon who was elected bishop of Ratzeburg, Germany, in 1236. Even after becoming bishop, he continued to observe the Norbertine way of life and later and built and endowed a Benedictine monastery of women in Rehna.

+ His commitment to the rights of the Church brought him into conflict with the duke of Sachsen Lauenburg, who eventually imprisoned and exiled Ludolph.

+ Saint Ludolph died in the city of Wismar, where he had been welcomed. Because he died as a result of ill treatment, he is sometimes regarded as a martyr.

+ Long celebrated as a saint by the Norbertines, the Holy See granted the concession for a special Mass to be celebrated in honor of Saint Ludolph in 1728.

For prayer and reflection

This is the steward, faithful and prudent, whom the Lord set over his household to give them their allowance of food at the proper time.—Entrance Antiphon from the Common of Pastors—For a Bishop

Spiritual bonus

On this day we also remember Blessed Jean-Baptiste Malo. A member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society and a missionary in Vietnam, he was martyred on March 29, 1954 in Yên Hội, Vũ Quang, Hà Tĩnh, Vietnam. He was beatified in 2016 with other martyrs of the Catholic mission to Laos.

Prayer

Almighty ever-living God, who chose blessed Ludolph to preside as Bishop over your holy people, we pray that, by his merits, you may bestow on us the grace of your loving kindness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal: Common of Pastors—For a Bishop)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.