Saint Judith

I was heavily influenced by the life of Elisabeth of Hungary, the Duchess of Thuringia. I married a nobleman when I was fifteen. My husband and I had seven children and we raised our children in a mystical form of Christianity.My husband died while while on one of the Crusades to Jerusalem. Each of our children eventually entered a monastery or convent upon reaching ten years old, leaving me more time to follow my spiritual calling.I gave away and sold all of my property and lived the rest my life in contemplation and in caring for the poor and the sick. I resided at a derelict building at Bildschön near Kulmsee. This was an area controlled by the Teutonic Knights, whose Grand Master, Anno von Sangershausen, was a distant relative. The knights sheltered me. Pretty soon visitors came to me to receive counsel and prayers.My teachings were that there were three things that can bring one near to God: painful sickness, exile from home, and poverty voluntarily accepted for God. I lived on the frontier of Christian Europe, and dedicated my final days to praying for the non-Christian population of the region.I died in 1260, and a cultus developed around me immediately.In the Roman Catholic Church, I am the patron saint of Prussia, and my feast day is May 5.Born: 1200 A.D.Died: 1260 A.D.Aliases: Jutta of Prussia; Jutta of Kulmsee; Judith Kulmsee; Jutta of Sangershausen; or Jutta of Thuringia.