Lutgarde d'Aywières
1182-1246 13th century Feast day: June 16
The exchange of hearts: giving one's own, receiving another's.
Who was Lutgarde d'Aywières?
Placed at twelve in a monastery near Sint-Truiden, she moved on to the Cistercian nuns of Aywières, in French-speaking country, whose language she never learned: forty years among sisters she barely understood, and who barely understood her. She fasted for long stretches on other people's behalf rather than her own. Eleven years before her death, she lost her sight. Her friend Thomas of Cantimpré wrote her life soon afterwards.
In their own words
What good is it to me to understand the psalter, if I gain nothing by it? Take back this gift, and give me your heart.