Thursday, October 16 – Saint Hedwig, Widow, Duchess of Silesia – Saint Gerard Majella, Redemptorist lay brother – In Switzerland: Feast of Saint Gall, Monk, Hermit
Hedwig was born in 1373. She was the third daughter of King Louis the Great of Hungary. Her father had her crowned Queen of Poland when she was only 10 years old. In 1385, she married Grand Duke Jagellon of Lithuania, thus converting the Lithuanians to Catholicism. Her husband was baptized and became King of Poland under the name Władysław II. Together with her husband, she founded the Lithuanian bishopric in Vilnius and established a college at the University of Prague for the training of Lithuanian clergy. Churches, monasteries, and their residents benefited from Hedwig's generosity. The poor, orphans, and widows benefited especially, as she often cared for them herself. She died in Krakow in 1399, at the age of just 26. Her tomb is in Wawel, in the cathedral. The marriage ceremony between four-year-old Hedwig and eight-year-old William was performed on June 15, 1378, in Haimburg by Cardinal Demeter, Archbishop of Esztergom. The two children were then raised together in Vienna. When Hedwig turned six, she was brought back to Hungary to prepare for the actual marriage. Her father, Louis the Great, intended her to marry William and ascend the Hungarian throne, but after the king's death, Queen Elizabeth, the widow, and the nobles placed the older daughter, Mary, on the Hungarian throne, while Hedwig was assigned to the Polish throne. Hedwig arrived in Krakow in the fall of 1384 and was crowned on October 15, the feast day of her patron saint, Saint Hedwig of Silesia, by Archbishop Bodzanta of Gniezno. However, the Poles, who had chosen Hedwig as their queen, did not want to see Vilmos on the throne. Therefore, when Ladislaus Jagiellon sent envoys to ask for Hedwig's hand, they were welcomed and their request was heard, mainly because he promised that the entire Lithuanian people would be baptized and unite with Poland. The Habsburgs responded to the Polish plan by sending William to Krakow, who wanted to break into Wawel Castle. The marriage concluded in Haimburg did not require a new marriage ceremony, only that the betrothed confirm the previously concluded marriage contract. However, the Poles discovered the plan and expelled William from the country. Hedwig took the fate of the sick, orphans, the poor, and the disadvantaged to heart. She often visited hospitals and cared for the sick. She tried hard to alleviate the misery of the peasantry. She died in a state of sanctity. She was not buried in the crypt of Wawel Cathedral like the other kings, but under the main altar, in the belief that she would remain there only for a short time, until she was raised to the glory of the altar. As early as 1426, Archbishop Wojciech Jastrzembiec of Gniezno formed the first commission to investigate the sanctity of Hedwig's life. It can be assumed that the process was interrupted when Casimir Jagiellon married Elizabeth, the daughter of Albrecht Habsburg, whose grandfather was the brother of Prince William. With Elizabeth and her entourage, anti-Hedwig sentiment also found a home in Wawel. Despite the centuries-long interruption of the beatification process, the veneration and memory of Hedwig remained alive in the hearts of the people. This is evidenced by iconography, as she was depicted among the Polish saints and blessed. The destruction of the Holy Cross winged altar in Wawel, whose images are known only from a description from 1670, is an irreplaceable loss in this regard. On the outside of the altar cabinet were four figures: Hedwig of Silesia, Blessed Kinga, Saint Brigitta, and Blessed Hedwig, with the following inscription: "Blessed Queen Hedwig, wife of Ladislaus Jagiellon, died in 1399." In the picture, Hedwig is kneeling in front of the crucifix in royal robes, with a halo around her head. At its meeting in Czestochowa on September 29, 1933, the Polish episcopate unanimously decided to request the beatification of Hedwig—or, as the Poles say, Jadwiga. The process was resumed in 1950. Pope John Paul II canonized her in Krakow on June 8, 1997. Hedwig, who had been very faithful to grace since childhood, agreed to the new marriage even though her body and soul protested against it, because she saw God's will in it. László arrived in Krakow on February 12, 1386, and three days later he was baptized together with his siblings and entourage. The wedding took place on February 18. The Habsburgs, whose hopes had been dashed, began to spread false rumors about William and Hedwig's previous cohabitation. Hedwig publicly revoked her childhood marriage vow in Wawel Cathedral in the presence of the clergy and Archbishop Bodzanta. Pope Urban VI personally investigated the matter, not only on the basis of the report he received from the Poles, but also through his legate, Archbishop Maffiolo Lampugnano, whom he sent to Poland in 1386 for this purpose. Later, Cardinal Bonaventura of Padua also conducted an investigation. Convinced of the groundlessness of William's accusations (after William failed to appear in Rome at the canonical trial he had initiated), the pope issued a bull to Ladislaus Jagiellon on April 18, 1388. In it, he praises her conversion and speaks of her marriage, the validity of which is beyond doubt. Pope Urban VI maintained cordial relations with the royal couple, and his successor, Boniface IX, agreed to be the godfather of their unborn child. All this would have been unthinkable if there had been any doubt about the validity of the marriage. Hedwig was actively involved in the life of the state and did everything in her power to ensure the greatness and power of the country. Hedwig took an active part in the life of the state and did everything in her power to ensure the greatness and power of the country. Her activities were not limited to the usual duties of a queen: through her simple and pure lifestyle (which she did not easily submit to the customs and ideas of the time), her innate intelligence, and her wide-ranging education, she accomplished many memorable things during her short life. Above all, she achieved what neither law nor force could achieve: she led pagan Lithuania to the cross. As Lithuania's God-led apostle, he ensured the training of suitable individuals who understood the language, spirit, talents, and character of the baptized people: in 1397, he founded a college in Prague for Lithuanian theologians. He also worked hard to convert the separated Ruthenia. Knowing that the Ruthenians were attached to the Eastern language, he realized that he could only win them over to the Church if they were allowed to keep their language and rich rituals. Therefore, he turned to the Slavic Benedictines and asked them to open a novitiate in Krakow. In Rome, he obtained the Pope's permission to open a theological faculty at the University of Krakow. Boniface IX granted permission on January 11, 1399.
No, that is another Hedwig. The previous (commemorated on October 16) lived in the 13th c., contemporary with St. Hyacinth O.P. and was a wife of one of Polish princes (duke of Silesia, then also duke of Cracow) Henry the Bearded. The second one, living at the end of the 14th c., was of the House of Anjou and was crowned as the king of Poland (in regem Poloniae), then married Jogailla - Grand Duke of Lithuania, baptized as Wladyslaw (Ladislav)
@Noname Senki Peculiar times. People in an obvious error defend their position BTW, Hedwig of Anjou had never been a widow. The correct one - Hedwig of Silesia (commemorated on October 16) was not also "Arpad" but of House of Andechs (Bavaria) though her sister Getrude was a wife of king Andrew II of Hungary.