Heroes of the Faith: Saint Lidwina of Schiedam
Saint Lidwina (1380–1433) is one of the more remarkable figures in Catholic hagiography (the writing of the lives of saints), recognized as the patron saint of ice skaters and chronic pain. Her life is defined by extreme physical suffering, which she transformed into a spiritual calling. Today is her feast day.
Early Life and the Accident
Lidwina was born into a poor family in Schiedam, Holland. Lidwina family was humble but a respected household. Her father, Peter, was a night watchman in Schiedam, and her mother, Petronella, was known for her piety. Lidwina was the only girl among nine children. Even in her youth, she was described as being particularly focused on her faith, though her family initially had more traditional plans for her. Her parents probably wanted her to marry into a good house.
Records point out that Lidwina was very pretty. This led to several early marriage proposals. Even at 12 or 13, she reportedly resisted the idea of marriage. When her father pressured her to accept a suitor to improve the family’s financial standing, she famously prayed that God would make her so "unattractive" that no man would want her. She was far from being a recluse. She was active and social. Her participation in the ice skating outing on the Schie River shows she was an integrated part of the youth culture in Schiedam.
She was known for her extraordinary kindness toward the poor in her neighborhood, often giving away her own food. This early altruism served as the foundation for the spiritual influence she would later wield from her sickbe, as the community already held her in high regard before she became a "living relic."
In the winter of 1395, at the age of 15, her life changed forever. While ice skating with friends on a frozen canal, she was bumped and fell, breaking a rib on her right side. This injury never healed. In the medical understanding of the 14th century, it was described as a catastrophic internal rupture, but modern historians and medical researchers often point to her symptoms as one of the first recorded cases of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic, often unpredictable disease of the central nervous system (CNS), which consists of the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. It is widely considered an autoimmune disorder, where the immune system mistakenly attacks the body's own healthy tissue.
Ice skates on ice.
Life of Suffering
Following the accident, Lidwina spent the next 38 years bedridden and in a state of progressive physical decay. Her biographers record a grueling list of afflictions such as paralysis, physical deterioration, and the Stigmata. Lidwina was paralyzed to the point that she could only use her left arm. She was prone to seizures although they were called "falling sickness" at the time.
Despite her condition, she became a renowned mystic. People from all over Europe traveled to Schiedam to seek her advice and prayers. She was known for her "patient endurance," viewing her pain as a way to share in the suffering of others.
For the first few years, Lidwina and her family sought every possible cure. They consulted doctors and even traditional "healers," but nothing worked. Her condition worsened until she could no longer sit up. She reportedly went through a period of deep spiritual darkness and depression. She struggled to find meaning in her pain until a priest, Father John Pot, advised her to meditate on the Passion of Christ. This changed her perspective; she began to view her suffering not as a punishment, but as a "sacrifice" for the sins of others.
As her physical world shrank to the dimensions of her bed, her spiritual world expanded. Her biographers (including Thomas à Kempis) recorded a variety of mystical experiences. Lidwina claimed that her soul was frequently taken by her guardian angel to visit distant places. Places like Rome, the Holy Land, and even Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell. She would describe these places in vivid detail despite never having left Schiedam. It was frequently reported that her room, despite her physical ailments and the lack of sanitation in the 1400s, smelled like "extraordinary roses and lilies." This was often cited by visitors as proof of her holiness. Which is really cool. One of the most famous claims about her life is that for the last 20 years of her life, she ate almost nothing except the Holy Eucharist. While this is a common trope in medieval hagiography, it added to her reputation as someone who was "barely of this world." So this might not have been the case, but it might have also happened. She was said to have the gift of "seeing" into the souls of her visitors, often revealing their hidden sins or predicting future events in the town of Schiedam.
As for the Stigmata it was claimed that she had all the Stigmata. So she had all five wounds, the Crown, the Nails, the Side Wounds. The marks would sometimes fade away but the pain from them would be there all the time. The people who came to see her would see the wounds on Lidwina. But the wounds seem to have been apart of her life near the end of her life.
Interestingly, Lidwina was not isolated. Her bedside became a site of pilgrimage. People from all walks of life, from poor neighbors to high-ranking nobility, crowded into her small room to ask for advice. She became a counselor, a peacemaker in local disputes, and a spiritual guide.
The Final Days
Lidwina reportedly knew her death was approaching. In the weeks leading up to her passing, her physical condition reached a breaking point. Her biographers claim that her body was essentially "falling apart," yet she remained conscious and deeply focused on her spiritual visions.
Legend says that she had a final vision of Christ coming to her to administer the Last Rites Himself, which provided her with a sense of "heavenly joy" that masked her physical pain during her last hours.
She passed away on Easter Tuesday. The moment she died, the room was said to be filled with an overwhelmingly sweet fragrance, similar to fresh roses and lilies. This was a common sign in The moment she died, the room was said to be filled with an overwhelmingly sweet fragrance, similar to fresh roses and lilies. This was a common sign in medieval hagiography used to "prove" a person was a saint. used to "prove" a person was a saint. So that might have been the case, but we don’t know for sure. I’m going to trust that the medieval hagiography has no reason to lie to us.
She had a miraculous restoration. This is perhaps the most famous part of her death story. Witnesses claimed that as soon as she died, her body—which had been covered in ulcers, scars, and the marks of her 38-year illness—suddenly became smooth, white, and beautiful again. It was as if she had reverted to the 15-year-old girl she was before the accident on the ice. Which is also pretty cool.
Feast Day
Today is Lidwina’s Feast Day. In Schiedam, they usually mark the day with special services at her Basilica. There is also a special anointing for the sick. Sermons typically focus on her concept of "patient endurance," encouraging those suffering to find meaning and community in their struggle. This also might be a good day to go to an indoor ice-skating ring to learn how to skate.
Peddling
I am an Amazon Affiliate. This is how the blog makes money. I will link a few things about Saint Lidwina. It will be a list format. I might get paid if you click the links or buy anything from the links. I hope that you like the things that I found.
Know of my prayers for you. Please pray for you too. May God bless and keep you.
References
Primary Historical & Hagiographic Sources
Thomas à Kempis:Vita Lidewigis (The Life of Lidwina). Written by the famous author of The Imitation of Christ, this is the most widely cited spiritual biography of her life.
Jan Gerlach (John Brugman):Vita Altera (1456). A Franciscan friar who wrote a more detailed account that included the first formal mentions of her Stigmata.
The Schiedam Document (1421): A remarkable legal record issued by the town magistrates of Schiedam while Lidwina was still alive. It officially attested to her condition, her long-term fasting (inedia), and her reputation for holiness to protect her from accusations of fraud.
Medical & Scientific References
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Journals: She is widely cited in medical literature as one of the first documented cases of MS.
Reference:"Multiple Sclerosis: The History of a Disease" by T. Jimmie Murray (published in various neurological journals and the NIH PMC).
Reference:News-Medical.Net and other medical history archives list her 1395 accident as the "earliest accountable case" of MS symptoms.
Forensic Examination (1947): A physical examination of her relics was conducted, which confirmed limited mobility and bone degradation consistent with the historical accounts of her paralysis
Religious & Canonization Records
The Decree of Canonization (1890): Issued by Pope Leo XIII, which officially recognized her as a saint and confirmed her patronage of ice skaters and the chronically ill.
The Catholic Encyclopedia: Provides the standardized church history of her life, including her birth on Palm Sunday, her nine siblings, and her death on Easter Tuesday.
Acta Sanctorum: This massive scholarly collection of saints' lives (compiled by the Bollandists) contains the Latin texts of her original biographies and the testimonies of her miracles.
Cultural & Local Heritage
The Basilica of Saint Liduina (Schiedam): The official archive of the basilica maintains records of the return of her relics in 1871 and the history of the Lidwina Chapel and its eight narrative paintings.
The Woodcut of 1498: A famous artistic reference from an early edition of her biography. It is one of the oldest known depictions of ice skating in Western art, showing her fall on the ice.
Modern Literature
Joris-Karl Huysmans: Sainte Lydwine de Schiedam (1901). A famous biographical work by the French novelist that brought her story to a wider 20th-century audience, focusing heavily on the "mysticism of suffering."
