St. Hedwig of Silesia, Social leader that taught real Justice only arrives from Perfect Love

The Peace of God to all that belong to the Light
Dear Readers,

This October 15th and 17th, depending if you want to see this from the religious or secular point of view were the festivity and the anniversary of the death of Heilige Hedwig von Andechs (1174 – 1243 AD), a Bavarian princess who became through Marriage great duchess of Silesia, in Poland.

This remarkable woman was forced to marry at just 12 years old Henry I the Bearded, son and heir of the Piast duke Bolesław I the Tall of Silesia,and became widow still so much young.

No doubt Hedwig was a sort of combination of Mahatma Gandhi, Princess Diana and Mother Teresa of her time. She is famous for her charity, she got rid of almost all her fortune to found hospitals, support monasteries and help the poors to finally retire from the public life in the mystical life.

Hedwig of Silesia, who was made Saint by the Roman Apostolic Catholic church is honored as the St patron of difficult marriages, of widows, and also of Hospitals and Charity foundations.

St Hedwig, also known as Edwigis, is an example that Nobility is a virtue that remains in the heart, not just in pedigrees or aristocracy, that Patience for all and leadership in solidarity is its essence. How interesting are these ideas in our time in which the wild & furious permanent competition for concentration of the economic and political power that characterizes the era of the global economy has eroded so much the value we assign to the human life.

Hedwig of Andechs also gave us an example of Forgiveness when she decided to dissuade her family to take revenge for the death of her son in the hands of Tartars that attacked Poland in her time. In this sense She anticipated the power of the passive resistance that latterly was revived by Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King in the XX Century.

www.catholictradition.org...

One of Hedwig of Silesia famous quotes that reveal her Social Philosophy is :

"The greater one is by birth, the greater one must be in virtue, and the more distinguished we are in station, the more we must distinguish ourselves by our conduct, in order to be a bright example to others.

"http://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com/St.%20Hedwig.html

How many grave events and sad things that Poland and Germany, the two nations that are linked to the story of Hedgwig Andechs, suffered along the XX century could be prevented if her legacy would have respected and imitated by the subsequent leaders of her land.

For Germany and Poland in modern History it turns out that Nazism and Communism appeared as the two sides of the same coin that represent the terrible moral illness, the social cancer, that Hedwig denounced and tried to cure with her example of perfect love for all.

Nevertheless, this Story repeats periodically in History and we can see that the same can be said of the conflict in between all kind of fundamentalisms that we see right now bringing so much violence to the world in our epoch.

We see this either when a member of an ethnic minority is brutally killed for abuse of force in the streets of any of the American cities or when police members are murdered by whom decides to take revenge of such actions.

Also this same fight among opposite extremisms is present when the European, Russian and American imperialist ambitions send a country like former Yugoslavia or current Ukraine to civil war, as well when Islamic fundamentalism kill civilians that represent religious minorities in any street of middle east or when the arm forces of Israel exterminate Palestinian children, women or elders.

zephyrinus-zephyrinus.blogspot.com...

The virtues of that ruled the life of St. Hedwig, her so important legacy to follow and imitate, are unfortunately absent in nations that have faced devastating consequences of extreme social polarization, disintegrated by the walls of hatred, and confrontation among social sectors.

Charity is lacking where ever communism, fascism, falangism, segregation, racism, classism, rule of circles of power or mafias are darkening the peace of nations that as part of the Christian civilization must enjoy when they remain solidly based on the rule of Love, that is the great lesson of St Hedwig for our time.

archive.wf-f.org...

The thread is open to whoever feels compelled to remember the legacy of this so interesting woman, as always bounded by the norms of mutual respect and decorum that must prevail in the communication and posting in the forum.

Thanks,

The Angel of Lightness

a reply to: The angel of light

She is one of many examples that Peace begets Peace.

There are no examples where War begets lasting Peace.

SnF

a reply to: Isurrender73

Except for martyr's

originally posted by: nonjudgementalist
a reply to: Isurrender73

Except for martyr's

MLK and Ghandi both ended as martyrs. They may not have brought the world to peace, because they were not in the position to do so. But many people still follow their ways of peace. And they will likely be examples for many generations to come.

If we could get Nation leaders to believe that Peace begets Peace we might actually find some Peace.

This may sound weak, but don't let my Peace fool you. I am not one to turn the other cheek at this point in my life. Jesus forgive me.

a reply to: Isurrender73


I pay more attention to the intention behind the words than how they sound.
I say that in your defence as much as I say it for my own as I know a lot of the time my words probably sound ... "blubbery"?

a reply to: Isurrender73

Well Dear Isurrender, I see what you meant, and I am agreed. Since the days of WWII the politicians have told the people that war is able to create Peace.

They said the same when came Korea conflict, when LBJ sent Navy ships to the Tonkin bay just to create a clear provocation incident that exploded Vietnam War, when the six days war, when NIcaragua and Salvator civil wars, when Angola war, also the same when lebanon civil war.

This was not so much different when Iraq was invaded with false premises of presence of massive destruction weapons that of course never existed and when Afghanistan was invaded to remove from power the Talibans that were years ago supported by the west to take control of that region when the USSR was the demon to fight against in the the cold war.

It is also curious that almost the same politicians, in every case, rejected any possibility of negotiation with the contraries under the argument that they don't talk under pressure or intimidation of any kind, but the fact is that the conflicts they have pushed make appear those pressures as a mere game of children.

We are seeing every week how ISIS is expanding more and more its radius of influence in North Africa, on countries that became absolutely unstable thanks to the civil wars irresponsible politicians boosted to undermine governments that in the past were able to maintain that part of the world under control and in peace, but even with that we see how this administration insist to help to fire a civil war in Syria that only ISIS clearly is going to win if we continue dividing the people that oppose them.

Every new war didnt put us really in the path of the real Peace, to the contrary made the world more instable than it was before and fuel more hatred in between nations.

If only somebody may appear right now, genuine leaders, like President JFK, H.H. John XXIII or Premier N.Khrushev on the Soviet Missiles crisis on Cuba of 1962, thinking to give the opportunity to peace to exist, instead to continue this madness for violence that only can escalate to much worst violence.

It is not difficult to understand that the forces that oppose Peace in the world are so powerful than they removed the politicians that were opposing their interests, even from the white house if it was needed.

We have seen a President that 8 years ago promised to end useless wars that were suffocating the economy giving a turn of 180 degrees in those promises to not only maintain the support to the conflicts already existed before him, but moreover to involve America in the civil wars of Syria and Ukraine, not happy with all the terrible consequences we have paid in our conflict with the islamic fundamentalism to be now willing to push us in confrontation with Russia, knowing that there are thousands of nuclear heads ready to be used in case we don't stop this madness on time.

It is better to pray to God for inspiration and guidance with the intersession of St Hedwig of Silesia, now that we are still on time, before the things turn even worst because there is a visible mad man heading the polls to be next President of the USA, and chances are that he is the one that eventually will have the nuclear button in his hand!.

Thanks,

The Angel of Lightness