This is a new translation of the Life of St. Lutgarde, a Cistercian nun and mystic from the bishopric of Liège, now part of Belgium. It was written shortly after her death in 1246 by her close friend, the Dominican preacher and theologian Thomas de Cantimpré. Early in life she received a series of startling visions and revelations, informing her of the special role that God had ordained for her. She found herself able to communicate with Christ in an intimate way, and his continual message was that she was to devote herself to prayer and penance, for the conversion of sinners and the deliverance of souls from purgatory. Lutgarde’s saintliness and the power of her prayer quickly became known throughout the region, and in spite of being a cloistered nun devoted to a contemplative life, she acquired considerable celebrity. She was close friends with many prominent religious figures, like Cardinal Jacques de Vitry and Brother Jordan of Saxony, the head of the Dominican Order. She also served as a compassionate adviser and tenacious intercessor for the many visitors who came to the convent at Aywières seeking her aid and comfort.

Saint Lutgarde was fortunate in her biographer. Thomas de Cantimpré is a bright and lively storyteller with a keen feel for the dramatic. As in his earlier Life of Christina the Astonishing, he relates the story as a series of short and telling episodes, at times creating an effect similar to a film montage. Thomas Merton, in his study of Lutgarde titled What Are These Wounds?, calls Thomas’s work “a minor masterpiece. . . . fresh and full of life. Every page furnishes us with vivid little details that stamp his whole record of the saint’s life with authenticity.”

The Latin text is based on De S. Virgine Lutgarde edited by Godfrey Henschen and published in Acta Sanctorum, Junii Tomus IV, 1867, 187-210.

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