St. Ludmila of Bohemia

 

Today is the feast day of St. Ludmila the Martyr of Bohemia. She was born in Mělník around 860 AD to a Slavic prince named Slavibor. St. Ludmila was the grandmother of St. Wenceslaus, who is known to Orthodox faithful as Good King Wenceslaus.

St. Ludmila was married to the Czech prince Bořivoj I. She and her husband were baptized by St. Methodius, in 871. By her zeal for the Orthodox Christian faith, she brought many from paganism to the Church.  

After becoming Christians, St. Ludmila and Bořivoj took care of the education of the true faith for their subjects, building churches and invited priests to perform their worship services. But Bořivoj died young, at only 36 years old having one son - Ratislav. 

St. Ludmila, being a widow, kept a strict and pious life, and continued to take care of the Church in the reign of her son Ratislav, which lasted 33 years. Ratislav was married to a girl named Dragomira. Together, they had a son named Wenceslaus. Entrusted with the care of Wenceslas, Ludmila brought him up as a Christian. After Ratislav’s death, Wenceslaus, (who was only 18 years old), took the throne. Dragomira made use of the inexperience and youth of her son, and began to implant pagan morals and manners in the country. St. Ludmila stood up against this. 

 In 921, after St. Ludmila moved away to the city of Techin, her daughter-in-law Dragomira sent two boyars in secret to murder her. St. Ludmila was praying at the time, and the two assassins entered the house and carried out Dragomira's orders and strangled in her old age. 

St. Wenceslaus buried his grandmother's body in the Church of St. George in Prague. Many miracles are said to have occurred over her holy relics. 

St. Ludmila is the patron saint of Bohemia, Czech Republic, duchesses, and in-laws.  

 

St. Ludmila is buried in St. George's Basilica, which is the oldest surviving church building within Prague Castle. A Gothic style chapel within the basilica (which holds the tomb of the saint) is dedicated to St. Ludmila of Bohemia. 

Sadly, Orthodox believers are only allowed to hold a religious service in front of the miracle-working relics of St. Ludmila only once a year - on her feast day! Her tomb is closed to the public.

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Fr. Václav Míšek prays in front of the chapel where St. Ludmila is buried in St George's Basilica.

 

Orthodox believers venerating the relics of St. Ludmila in St George's Basilica.

 

Singing the Akathist Hymn to St. Ludmila in St George's Basilica.

  One thing we try and do on the feast day of St. Ludmila is make Czechoslovakian food in her honor: Halushki, soups, pork, ham, peas, stuffed eggs, stuffed cabbage and anything with paprika! Of course, koláče is a must!

 You can also read about The Lives of St. Wenceslas, St. Ludmila and St. Adalbert

Or watch this video about her life (this is from a Catholic source but has interesting information about her life)