Venerable Wealdburg, Abbess of Heidenheim

Saint Wealdburg of Heidenheim

The name of Walpurgis is often associated with May Day celebrations in central and northern Europe; however, the occasion is based the celebration of a real saint – a nun and missionary, in fact – who lived in the eighth century. Wealdburg, the daughter of the saintly couple Richard ‘the Pilgrim’ of Wessex and Winna the sister of Saint Boniface of Fulda, herself sister to the saintly monks Willibald and Wynnebald, became a celebrated saint in her own right, particularly in the Teutonic world. Father Deacon Aaron (Taylor) has a litany to Saint Wealdburg posted on his blog, along with some materials related to the later traditions that adhered in continental Europe to the feast of Saint Wealdburg’s translation in May. (It’s somewhat ironic that Bram Stoker has one of his characters claim that the feast ‘doesn’t concern Englishmen’ given that the saint it commemorates is very English!)

Entrusted to Abbess Tetta at the cloister at Wimborne at the age of eleven, when her brother and father took monastic vows themselves and left on pilgrimage for the Holy Land, Wealdburg took to the demands of her new life without complaint. She gained a love of learning, becoming versant particularly in Latin. She became the first Englishwoman (that we know of) to put pen to paper and write a lasting work: a narration, in fact, of her brother Willibald’s pilgrimage.

Her uncle, Saint Boniface, wrote to her abbess requesting the aid of his niece and nephews in his mission work on the Continent. Thus at the age of thirty-seven, Wealdburg left her monastic home at Wimborne and travelled, along with her saintly brothers Willibald and Wynnebald and her cousin Saint Leofg‎yð, to Germany. Eventually she came to the Bavarian town of Heidenheim, where Saint Willibald (who had been appointed Bishop of the still largely-heathen district of Eichstätt) established a double Benedictine community: one for women and one for men. Saint Wynnebald served as the first abbot of the double monastery, after whose repose in 761 he was succeeded by Saint Wealdburg as abbess. From there the holy siblings aided their uncle in his missionary work among the peoples of Germany and the Low Countries.

Saint Wealdburg attained the reputation of a wonderworker in her own lifetime. Legend has it that as she and her brethren were crossing the English Channel at the start of their voyage to Germany, the Devil raised a tempest in the Channel that threatened to sink their ship. However, Saint Wealdburg prostrated herself on the deck of the ship and prayed to God to spare them, and the storm calmed so that they could cross in safety. She and her kin were said to have stayed at Antwerp on their journey further inland; she was said to favour praying in the garden at the church which now bears her name. She was greeted by her uncle at Mainz and spent some time under the rule of her kinswoman Saint Leofgyð at Tauberbischofsheim before proceeding to Heidenheim where she lived the rest of her life in service to the poor, gaining a reputation for sweetness, humility and kindness that endeared her deeply to the German people.

In 776, she assisted in the translation of the relics of her brother Saint Wynnebald, which were found to be incorrupt; shortly after this, she fell ill herself and reposed in the Lord, and was lain to rest beside her saintly brother. After her repose, her tomb became renowned for streaming myrrh, a fragrant and miraculous oil which could cure all number of maladies.

In the words of Frédéric Ozanam, the founder of the Roman Catholic Saint Vincent de Paul Society, spoke of Saint Wealdburg and Saint Leofgyð thus: ‘ Silence and humility have veiled the labours of the nuns from the eyes of the world, but history has assigned them their place at the very beginning of German civilisation: Providence has placed women at every cradle-side.’ Holy Mother Wealdburg, venerable Abbess, please pray to Christ our God that our souls may be saved!