![[Saint Ludger of Utrecht]](saintl52.jpg "kb jpg drawing of Saint Ludger, date unknown, artist unknown; please do not write to ask about the image")
Apostle of Saxony Liudger of Utrecht Ludiger of Utrecht
Returned to the Netherlands in 773 as a missionary. Sent to Deventer in 775 to restore a chapel destroyed by pagan Saxons, and to recover the relics of Saint Lebwin, who had built the chapel. Taught school at Utrecht. Destroyed pagan idols and places of worship in the areas west of Lauwers Zee after they were Christianized. Ordained in 777 at Cologne. Missionary to Friesland, mainly around Ostergau and Dokkum, from 777 to 784, returning each fall to Utrecht to teach in the cathedral school. Left the area in 784 when pagan Saxons invaded and expelled all priests.
Pilgrim to Rome in 785. Met with Pope Adrian I, and the two exchanged counsel. Lived as a Benedictine monk at Monte Cassino from 785 to 787, but did not take vows. At the request of Charlemagne, he returned to Friesland as a missionary. It was a successful expedition, and he built a monastery in Werden to serve as a base. Reported to have cured the blindness of, and thus caused the conversion of the blind pagan bard Berulef.
Refused the bishopric of Trier in 793. Missionary to the Saxons. Built a monastery at Mimigernaford as the center of this missionary work, and served as its abbot. The word monasterium led to the current name of the city that grew up around the house - Münster. Built several small chapels throughout the region. First bishop of Münster in 804, being ordained at Westphalia.
His health failed in later years, but he never reduced his work load. No matter how busy or dangerous his outside life, Ludger never neglected his time of prayer and meditation. The man's life can be summed up in two facts: he was reprimanded and denounced only once during his bishopric - for spending more on charity than on church decoration; and on the day of his death, he celebrated Mass - twice.
in the evening of Passion Sunday, 26 March 809 of natural causes buried at Werden, Germany relics also at Münster and Billerbeck, Germany
Deventer, Netherlands East Frisia Münster, Germany, diocese of Werden, Germany
bishop holding a cathedral bishop holding a church and a book bishop reciting his Breviary bishop with a swan on either side
Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate Kirken i Norge - norwegian Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints, by Matthew Bunson, Margaret Bunson, and Stephen Bunson