Monday, August 22, 2011

BLESSED ZDISLAVA VON LEMBERK

Born . 1220 Križanov, Czech Republic
Died 1252 Lemberk Castle, Czech Republic
Beatified 28 August 1907 by Pope Pius X

John Sarkander and zdislava Berka




Canonized 21 March 1995, Olomouc, Czech Republic by Pope John Paul II
Feast January 3

Zdislava Berka (also, Zdislava of Lemberk in 1220–1252) was the wife of Havel of Markvartice, Duke of Lemberk. She was a particularly austere and generous woman who founded a convent and was eventually recognized as a saint.

Biography

Zdislava was from a Moravian family, born in Križanov, in what is now the zdar nad Sázavou District of the Czech Republic. She was reportedly an unusually devout child, who at age seven ran away into the forest with the intention of living a hermit's life of prayer and solitude. She was forcibly returned by her family, and made to live a normal childhood from that point on. Later, her family arranged for her to marry Havel of Markvartice (also known as Gallus of Lämberg or Havel of Lemberk) of the prosperous Markwartiner family. He founded the towns of Gabel (Deutsch Gabel) and Habelschwerdt. Together they would have four children.
As a married woman, Zdislava continued to live a life of remarkable personal austerity, worked tirelessly in the care of the poor and dispossessed, and was, unusually for her era, a frequent recipient of the Eucharist. Tatar invasions of Eastern Europe were causing large numbers of people to leave their homes during this period, and a large number of refugees sought refuge at the castle of Gable, where Zdislava lived with her family and assisted these refugees as much as possible.
Her husband was concerned about what he considered the excessive degree of Zdislava's charity to these refugees. In one incident, he is reported to have gone to the bed Zdislava had given to a feverish beggar the night before, but to have found a figure of the crucified Jesus there instead. He is said to have been so impressed by this apparition that he would later allow her to found a Dominican convent in Turnov. Zdislava worked with this convent for the rest of her life, and was eventually buried there.

Veneration
Shortly after her death Zdislava is reported to have appeared in an apparition to her husband. In 1907, Pope Pius X confirmed her veneration for her native country. She was canonized a saint in 1995 with John Sarkander in a ceremony in Olomouc, Czech Republic, by Pope John Paul II. In artwork, she is commonly depicted as a Dominican tertiary with a crucifix wound around with roses, or lying in the place of a sick person in bed. As a patron saint, she is asked for her intercession in difficult marriages and for people ridiculed for their piety

links
http://www.vatican.va/js/indice.js

from vatican.va.
Zdislava von Lemberk (ca. 1215 -1252) 
Foto

Die Hl. Zdislava wurde um 1215 geboren und starb 1252 in Deutsch Gabel [Jablonné v Podještedí]. - Sie stammte aus einer mährischen Adelsfamilie der Herren von Krihanau [Krihanov] und heiratete wohl mit 17 Jahren um 1236 den nordböhmischen Adeligen Gallus v. Lämberg [Lemberk] (+ 1253). Aus dieser Ehe gingen vier Kinder hervor. Schon zu Lebzeiten und im späten Mittelalter war Zdislava wegen ihrer Wohltätigkeit, insbesondere für Kranke und Arme, von Legenden umwoben. Der bekannte böhmische Chronist, sog. Dalimil, erwähnte zu Beginn des 14. Jahrhunderts, sie habe fünf Tote zum Leben erweckt und viele Kranke geheilt. Um 1240 gründete sie mit ihrem Gemahl in Böhmisch Aicha [Cesky Dub] eine Johannitenkommende mit einem Spital und danach in Deutsch Gabel das Dominikanerkloster mit der Kirche des Hl. Laurentius. Die Dominikanerterziarin wurde nach ihrem Tode in der genannten Kirche bestattet. Die Adelsfamilie Berka von Dubé ließ 1699-1729 über ihrem Grab eine Barockkirche erbauen, die zum Wallfahrtsort wurde und strebte ihre Kanonisierung an. Ihr Kult wurde zwar 1907 bestätigt, nach 1949 bemühte sich der Bischof von Leitmeritz Štepßn Trochta um ihre Heiligsprechung, zu der es aber erst 1995 kam. Die Dominikaner gedenken Zdislava am 3. Januar, als böhmische Patronin der Kranken, Armen und der Familie wird sie am 30. Mai verehrt. Zu ihren Symbolen gehören Kreuz, Brotkorb, Krone und Kirchenmodell, manchmal mit einem von Rosen umgebenen Kruzifix (z.B. auf dem Hauptaltar der Klosterkirche in Dt. Gabel).

No comments:

Post a Comment