Portal:Catholic Church/Patron Archive/April 14

Lidwina (Lydwine, Lydwid, Lidwid, Liduina of Schiedam) (1380–1433) was a Dutch mystic who is honored as a saint by the Catholic Church. She is the patroness saint of the town of Schiedam, of chronic pain, and of ice skating.

Lidwina is also thought to be one of the first documented cases of multiple sclerosis. At the age of fifteen, she suffered a serious injury while ice skating and became progressively disabled. Hendrik Mande wrote for her consolation a pious tract in Dutch. She fasted frequently and acquired a reputation as a healer and holy woman. Upon her death in 1433, her grave became a place of pilgrimage. (Full article...)
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Patronage: chronically ill, ice skaters, town of Schiedam