Saint Ludger

Saint Ludger
Saint Ludger from an illuminated manuscript
Apostle of Saxony
Born	742 AD Zuilen near Utrecht, Netherlands
Died	26 March 809 Billerbeck, district of Coesfeld, region of Münster, Germany
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church
Feast	26 March
Attributes	Bishop holding a cathedral; reciting his Breviary; with a swan on either side
Patronage	Groningen, Netherlands, Deventer, Netherlands; East Frisia; diocese of Münster, Germany; Werden, Germany

Saint Ludger (Latin: Ludgerus; also Lüdiger or Liudger) (born at Zuilen near Utrecht c. 742; died 26 March 809 at Billerbeck) was a missionary among the Frisians and Saxons, founder of Werden Abbey and first Bishop of Münster in Westphalia.

St Ludger's parents, Thiadgrim and Liafburg, were wealthy Christian Frisians of noble descent. In 753 Ludger saw the great Apostle of Germany, Saint Boniface, which, together with the subsequent martyrdom of the saint, made a deep impression on him. At his own request he was sent to the Utrecht Cathedral School (Martinsstift), founded by Saint Gregory of Utrecht in 756 or 757, and made good progress. In 767 Gregory, who did not wish to receive episcopal consecration himself, sent Alubert, who had come from England to assist him in his missionary work, to York to be consecrated bishop. Ludger accompanied him to be ordained into the diaconate (as he duly was, by Ethelbert of York) and to study under Alcuin, but after a year he returned to Utrecht. Some time later he was granted an opportunity to continue his studies in the same school, when he developed a friendship with Alcuin which lasted throughout life.

In 772 friction arose between the Anglo-Saxons and the Frisians, and Ludger - for the sake of his personal safety - left for home, taking with him a number of valuable books. He remained in the Martinsstift until the death of Gregory in 775, in honour of whose memory he wrote the biography Vita Gregorii. He was then sent to Deventer to restore the chapel destroyed by the pagan Saxons and to find the relics of Saint Lebuinus, who had worked there as missionary, built the chapel, and died there in c. 775. Ludger succeeded, and returned to teach in the Martinsstift, after which he and others were sent north to destroy pagan places of worship west of the Lauwers Zee.