In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
When Blessed Marie of Oignies was about to die, she covered her head with Lutgardis' veil
and predicted: There is no woman in the world more effective in freeing souls from purgatory
and sinners than you. You now perform spiritual miracles, but after your death
you will perform bodily miracles. This has been realized during her life and after her death.
When Lutgardis' sister died, she went to purgatory.
Before knowing about the death of her sister, Lutgardis heard a very sad voice cry out: Mercy,
dear sister, have mercy on me and obtain for me the mercy that you have obtained for other souls.
The servant of God, prostrate on her knees, understood that her sister needed prayers
and asked the sisters of the community to help her with prayers and sacrifices.
When Santiago, bishop of Acre, cardinal of the Roman Curia, died, Lutgardis saw in an
ecstasy on the fourth day after his death that the bishop's soul was in paradise and said:
Most reverend father, I did not know that you had died. When was that? And he replied, “Today is the
fourth day. I have spent three days and two nights in purgatory ”. And Saint Lutgardis replied:
"And why haven't you told me of your death to free yourself from the pains of purgatory?".
"The Lord has not wanted it, but that now you be comforted by my liberation and my glory."
The Lord also communicated these events to a Dominican friar
on the fourth day of his death. Friar Bernard knew it, because Lutgardis told him.
A german nobleman who was highly educated in reading and writing named Simon, entered the
Cistercian Order and very soon became Abbot of Foigny. However, with his subordinates he was
overzealous and did not treat them well. He died shortly after. He had highly admired Lutgardis
for her sanctity of life. She was very sorry for his death and asked the Lord to deliver him from
purgatory. The Lord replied: Console yourself, because thanks to your prayers I will help him.
She replied: All the consolation you give me, give it to this soul in purgatory. I will not
stop crying and I will not be consoled until the one for whom I pray is released from purgatory.
And the Lord appeared to her one day and took the soul freed from purgatory and said to her :
Console yourself, my beloved, here is the soul for whom you intercede.
Lutgardis prostrated herself with her face to the ground and blessed the Lord
for the liberation of that soul. And that radiant soul thanked the pious Lutgardis.
Pope Innocent III died after having celebrated the Lateran council. He appeared to Lutgardis. He
was surrounded by flames and she asked him who he was. He replied: I am Pope Innocent. She replied:
How is it possible that you suffer such great torment; being the Father of us all? He said:
There are three causes that make me suffer in this way and made me worthy of going to hell.
But I will be tormented by severe penalties until the last judgement. The mother of mercy has
obtained for me from her Son, to be able to come and ask for help. And he disappeared right away
without further explanation. Lutgardis made known to her sisters the death and needs of
the late Pope so that they would pray for him. She herself offered prayers and sacrifices. And
Thomas of Cantimpré adds: Note that I have spoken of three causes for which the Pope was suffering
so much and Lutgardis let me know, but I keep them silent out of respect for such a great Pontiff.
Father Juan de Liro had agreed with Lutgardis that the first of the two to die would appear to the
other. When this priest died, at the very moment of his death he visibly appeared to Lutgardis,
who was in the cloister of the convent. She believed he was alive and beckoned him into
the parlor to talk. He said: I am dead and I have appeared to fulfill the agreement that we made.
She prostrated herself on the ground and asked him: What does the triple dress that you wear with
so much glory mean? He exclaimed: The snow-white dress means the innocence of my virgin flesh,
which I have kept without spot since my birth. The red dress means the trials that I have
endured for justice and truth. The blue dress means the perfection of the spiritual life.
And saying this he disappeared. She told this vision to her sisters, but wept with grief. And
Jesus said to her: Why are you crying? Am I not better than ten children to you? She understood
and did not cry again for the deceased, but instead blessed the Lord for his death. The
Duchess of Brabant, daughter of Philip, King of France, was seriously ill. She loved Lutgardis and
asked her to pray for her. After praying, she told her that she would never be able to get up again,
but she should prepare for a general confession and wait for the Lord with great confidence. Soon,
as Lutgardis had predicted, the Duchess died. After her death she appeared to Lutgardis and told
her that thanks to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, whom she had loved very much in this life,
she had been able to free herself from the pains of purgatory. One day, singing The Te Deum,
when saying "Tu ad liberándum susceptúrus hóminem, non horruísti Vírginis úterum"
meaning "When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man : thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb" the
Virgin Mary appeared and thanked her for her love. Lutgardis understood how pleasant this was to the
Virgin Mary and told to Thomas of Cantimpré this vision and begged him as her beloved son to say
this always with the greatest devotion possible, bowing the body, in honor of the Virgin Mary.
Lutgardis had the habit of receiving Communion on Sundays. Despite being very weak, no one helped
her to approach the altar, some saw two angels hold her between them and carry her to the altar.
Once again it was the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Baptist who accompanied her to receive
communion, but this happened a long time later, when the day of her death was near.
One day in prayer thinking of Saint John the Evangelist, who had reclined on Jesus' chest
at the Last Supper, this apostle appeared to her under the figure of an eagle. It had bright
feathers of such splendor that it could have illuminated the whole earth. Then she saw that
the eagle placed its beak on her lips and filled her soul with radiance, with an unspeakable light.
Something like this happened to Moses, to whom the Lord said: No one can see my face and stay alive.
Blessed Jordan of Saxony, Master General of the Order of Preachers, had wished to visit the Holy
Land and, returning by sea with a large number of men and two sisters of his Order, they were
shipwrecked. Immediately it was seen that a great column of fire lit by God for five hours reached
the sea from the sky, which shone and was seen in the night. His holy body was taken to the beach.
The light of heaven shone on him for the third time and the fourth time on his companion,
Brother Gerald. The witnesses were Catholic Christians, schismatic Greeks, and pagans. We,
Cantimpré affirms, have heard it from the brothers, who deserved to see this event
with their own eyes, but we have read these same testimonies in Venice in the letters of
the Prior to the Dominican friars. On the day of Blessed Jordan of Saxony's death,
Lutgardis felt in darkness, she did not know what was happening to her. And suddenly, in the eyes of
her intelligence a glorious spirit appeared that she did not recognize by its great radiance. He
said to her: I am Jordan of Saxony, Master of the Order of Dominican friars. I have died and shine
in a sublime way in the choir of the apostles and prophets. I have been sent to you to comfort you.
I know about your reward, because the time is drawing near when you will be crowned by the Lord.
And he disappeared, leaving her very comforted. Lutgardis had loved this
man very much and he trusted her more than all the other nuns. And he considered her to be the
mother of the entire Order of preachers and their nurse. We, Cantimpré affirms,
have seen that she was very needed with these religious more than with those of other Orders. A
man desperate because of his crimes was brought to Lutgardis to at least comfort him with her words.
When he sat next to her and began to listen to her words, he saw an immense clarity around her.
He was glad and comforted with the hope of forgiveness and left. A priest came to the
French monastery of Jouarre. He prayed at night in the crypt where the bodies of the saints lay.
Suddenly he opened the tomb of a saint. He could not read her name or her merits. He later asked
Lutgardis to pray to the Lord to reveal her name. The saint appeared to Lutgardis and said:
My name is Osanna, virgin, daughter of the King of Scotland. I was taken to France and here I had a
holy life. When I died I was buried solemnly. But the inhabitants of this place forgot me over time.
Lutgardis told the priest to pray for the Lord to confirm to him about this saint.
He believed that he was not worthy of so much, but Lutgardis prayed to the Lord for it and one
night the saint appeared to the priest three times in a dream and told him that her name was Osanna.
One day when the feast of All Saints was being celebrated, a multitude of
saints from heaven appeared to Lutgardis. She was filled with glory and happiness.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen