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Saint Ludmilla

c. 860-921

Saint Ludmilla, c. 860-921

September 18

Saint Ludmilla was born around A.D. 860 in Bohemia, which is part of the Czech Republic today. She was a duchess and she and her husband built the first Catholic Church in Prague. It wasn’t easy to be a Catholic at that time. Many people hated Christians and Ludmilla and her husband were forced to leave their country for a while, but they were eventually able to come back.

Ludmilla had two grandsons. One was so bad he was called Boleslaus the Cruel. His twin brother, Wenceslaus, was just the opposite. He was so good he became a Saint himself! We remember him today when we sing the Christmas carol “Good King Wenceslaus.”

When Wenceslaus was just eight years old, he became King of Bohemia and Ludmilla helped him rule the country. Wenceslaus’s mother wasn’t a Christian and she didn’t like Ludmilla. She didn’t want Wenceslaus to learn about Jesus and she didn’t want Ludmilla to help Wenceslaus to become a just ruler, so she had some noblemen strangle Ludmilla. However, Wenceslaus never forgot what his grandmother taught him about God and Jesus. When he was grown up, he spread Christianity throughout Bohemia, where it remains a major religion today. Today Saint Ludmilla is venerated as one of the Patron Saints of Bohemia. Her feast day is September 18th. 

Discuss: Saint Ludmilla and her husband risked their lives in order to practice their faith. What about your faith is most important to you?

Activity
The Czech Republic
Verbal/Linguistic, Interpersonal

Encourage the young people to find out more about the Czech Republic. Be sure to share with them the following:

  • The Czech Republic consists of two major regions: Bohemia, which makes up two-thirds of the country, and Moravia, which accounts for the other one-third.
  • The Czech Republic has a population of 10.2 million, 38 percent of whom are Catholic.
  • The Czech Republic has an ancient history, dating back to the early Middle Ages, and its capital of Prague was an important cultural center of Europe.
  • The Czech Republic was part of the Republic of Czechoslovakia from 1918 through 1993 when it split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It was under the communist rule of the Soviet Union from 1948-1989.