LUDDBI
415
LUBLAlk
nople in 1204, the French fomid some of the relics in
that city, and the Doge of Venice secured them for the
monastery of St. George at Venice. In the year 1513
the Venetians presented to Louis XII of France the
head of the saint, which he deposited in the cathedral
church of Bourges. Another account, however, states
that the head was brought to Bourges from Rome
whither it had been transferred during the time when
the relics rested in Corfinium.
The lives, by Be AUGRAifD (Paru, 1882, It. tr., Mantua. 1896) ; by Cbdbbicoki (Ck>rtoiia» 1888} ; by Siuonbllx (Caserta, 1803) ; BiGEUCAZRinBucHBEBOBR, K%reMich€aHandlex.,8. v. Luciail).
James Bridqe.
jjodden, Patrick A. See Syracuse, Diocese of.
Ludger (Lt)DiGER or Liudoer), Saint, missionary among the Frisians and Saxons, first Bishop of Mtin- ster in Westphalia, 'b. at Zuilen near Utrecht about 744; d. 26 March, 809. Feast, 26 March. Repre- sented as a bishop reciting his Breviary, or with a swan at either side. His parents, Thiadgrim and Liafbure, were wealthy Frisians of noble lineage. In 753 Ludger saw the great apostle of Germany, St. Boniface, and this sight and the subsequent martyr- dom of the saint made deep impressions on his youth- ful mind. At his urgent request he was sent to the school which St. Gregory had founded at Utrecht, and made good progress. In 767 Gregory, who did not wish to receive episcopal consecration liimself, sent Alubert, who had come from England to assist him in his missionary work, to York to be consecrated bisho|>. Ludger accompanied him to receive deaconship and to study under Alcuin, but after a year returned to Utrecht. Some time later he was granted an oppor- tunity to continue his studies in the same schooly and here contracted a friendship with Alcuin which lasted throughout life. In 773 a friction arose between the Anglo-Saxons and the Frisians, and Ludger, to provide for nis personal safety, left for home, ta^ng with him a number of valuable books. In 775 he was sent to Deventer to restore the chapel destroyed by the heathen Saxons and to find the relics of St. Lebwin (Liafwin), who had laboured there as missionary, had built the chapel, and had died there. Ludger was successful in his undertaking, and then taught in the school of Utrecht. He and some others were next sent north to destroy the heathen places of worship west of the Lauwers Zee.
and built a Christian temple. The well onoe saored i^
the heathen gods became his baptismal font. ^ On hia
return he met the bUnd bard Berulef, cured his blind-
ness, and made him a devout Christian.
In 793 (Hist. Jahrb., I, 282) Charlemagne wished to make Ludger Bishop of Trier, but he declined the honour, while declarmg himself willing to imdertake the evangelizing of the Saxons. Charlemagne gladly accepted the offer, and North-western Saxony was thus added to Ludger's missionary field. To defray necessary expenses the income of the Abbey of Leuce, in the present Belgian Province of Hainaut, was given him, and he was told to pick his fellow-labourers from the members of that abbey. As Mimigemaford (Mimigardeford, Miningaidvaixl) had been designated the centre of the new district, Ludger built a monas- tery (jnonaaterium) there, from which the place took its name MUnster. Here he lived with nis monks according to the rule of St. Chrodegang of Metz, whidi 789 had been made obligatory in the Frankish
m
After Ludger had been ordained at Colog^^i^s^v . >
the missions of Ostergau (Ostracha, i. e., EsAt^i Frie&-
land) were committ^ to his charge, anid Dokkum, the
place of the martyrdom of St. Bcvniteuoe, was made the
centre. During each autumn he came to Utrecht to
teach ab the cathedral school. In this manner he
toiled for about seven years, imtil Widukind, the in-
domitable leader of the Saxons, induced the Frisians
to drive out the missionaries, bum the churches,
and return to the heathen gods. Ludger escaped with
his disciples. In 785 he visited Rome, was well received by Pope Adrian, and obtained from him good
counsel and special faculties. From Rome he went
to Monte Cassino, where he lived according to the rule
of St. Benedict, but did not bind himself by vows.
The news of Widukind's submission, and the arrival of
Charlemagne at Monte Cassino in 787, put an end to
liud^er's peaceful retirement. He was appointed
missionary to the five districts at the mouth of the
Ems, which was still occupied almost entirely by
heathens. With his usual enei^gy and unbounded
confidence in God he began his work; and, knowing
the language and habits of the people, he was able to
turn to advantage many national traits in effeetins
their conversion . H is zeal knew no bounds ; the islana
of Bant, long since swallowed by the sea, is mentioned
as the scene of his apostolic work. He visited Heligo-
land (Fossitesland), where St. WiUibrord had preaehed ;
he destroyed the remaining vestiges of heathenism,
territories (Schmitz Kallenberg, Monasticon West-
phaliie"^ MQnster, 1909, p. 62, places the date of
foundation between 805 and 809). He also built a
chapnel on the left of the Aa in honour of the Blessed
Virgin, besides the churches of Billerbeck, Coesfeld.
Herzfeld, Nottuln, and others. Near the church of
Nottuln he built a home for his sister, St. Gerbur^,
who had consecrated herself to God. Many pious vir-
gins soon gathered about her, and so arose the first
convent in Westphalia (c. 803). At the request of
Charlemagne, Ludger received episcopal consecration
some time between 13 Jan., 802, and 23 April, 805, for
on the first date he is still staled abbot, while on the
latter he is called bishop (Hist. Jahrb., I, 283). His
Sincipal care was to have a good and efficient clergy, e, to a great extent, educated his students personal^, and generally took some of them on his missionary tours. Since his sojourn at Monte Cassino Ludper had entertained the idea of founding a Benedictine monastery. During the past years he had been ac- quiring propertjr and looking for a suitable location. At lengtn he decided upon Werden; but it was only in 799 that building began in earnest, and in 804 that he consecrated the church.
On Passion Sunday, 809, Ludger heard Mass at Coesfeld early in the morning and preached, th^ TPirent to Billerbeck, where at nine o clock he again /preached, and said his last Mass. That evening he '*^U^ired peacefully amidst his faithful followers. A dilute arose between MOnster and Werden for the possessioti of his body. His brother Hildegrim being appealed to, after consultation with the emperor, decided in favour of Werden ^ and here the relics nave rested for eleven centuries. Portions have been brought to MUnster and Billerbeck. From 22 June to 4 July, 1909, the Diocese of MUnster celebrated the eleventh centenary. Bishop Hermann Dingelstad, the present successor of the apostle, celebrated the Jubilee, uniting it with the golden jubilee of his own priesthood. A most touching scene was witnessed when thousands of men, who had come from far and near, after a stirring sermon of the orator-bishop of Treves, Mgr Felix Korum, renewed their baptismal vows at t& same well from which St. Ludgerus had baptized their forefathers. A Benedictine abbot and eleven bishops, among them the archbishop of the saint's Frisian home, Utrecht, and Cardinal Fischer of Cologne, took part in the sacred oelebr^tions " ("America", 1, 381).
BcTLKR, Lives of the Saints; Revue Benedictine^ III. 107; Vll, 412; &i\i>\XRjHeuioenlex.\ ScBWAm'm Kirchenlex.: Oeaehiehtt' quellen der Dioaeee MOnaier. IV: PmosMAMN, Der hi. Ludotnu (FreibuiKi 1879); BteER, Am Cfrabe dee hi, Ludger (MOnstei; 1906).
Francis Mebshman.
Ludluiiy Robert, Vensrablb. See Garuci:^ Nicholas, Venerable,
