Saint Ludmila

Memorial

• 16 September

Profile

Daughter of a Slavic prince. Duchess of Bohemia, married to Boriwoi, first Christian Duke of Bohemia; the two were baptized by Saint Methodius in 871. They built the first Christian church in Bohemia, and tried to force Christianity on their subjects; they failed. Widow. Grandmother and tutor of Saint Wenceslaus of Bohemia. Gave a proper burial to Saint Ivan. Her daughter-in-law, Drahomira, jealous of the influence which Ludmilla wielded over her grandson, Wenceslaus, had her murdered.

Born

• 860 at Mielnik (in modern Poland)

Died

• strangled by hired assassins at Tetin, Czech Republic on 15 September 921 on orders of her daughter-in-law due to her influence over Saint Wenceslaus
• relics at Saint George’s Church, Prague, Czech Republic

Canonized

• Pre-Congregation

Patronage

• against in-law problems
• Bohemia
• converts
• Czech Republic
• duchesses
• widows

Additional Information

• Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
• Catholic Online
• New Catholic Dictionary
• Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
• Wikipedia

MLA Citation

• “Saint Ludmila”. Saints.SQPN.com. 14 February 2010. Web. 18 June 2013. <http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-ludmila/>