Saint Zdislava of Lemberk

Saint Zdislava of Lemberk was a thirteenth-century noblewoman, a wife, and the mother of four children. She became known for her care for the poor and the sick, and together with her husband she supported the first Dominicans in northern Bohemia. The Roman Martyrology commemorates her on January 1; in the Czech Republic and in Poland her memorial is kept on May 30.

She was born about 1220 at Křižanov in Moravia, the eldest of the five children of Přibyslav and Sibyl. Her father was one of the leading lords of Moravia, an official of King Wenceslaus I in Brno, and a founder of monasteries. Her mother came from Sicily and was a lady-in-waiting at the court of Queen Kunigunde. The family is described in the verse chronicle of the Cistercian Henry of the monastery of Žďár nad Sázavou, written about 1300. At home Zdislava learned piety, mercy toward those in need, and generosity toward the Church.

At about the age of twenty she married Havel of Lemberk, a nobleman loyal to King Wenceslaus I, and went to live on his estates in northern Bohemia, at Lemberk Castle near the town of Jablonné v Podještědí. She bore four children: Havel, Markéta, Jaroslav, and Zdislav. Pope Paul VI called her a model of marital fidelity and a pillar of piety in the home.

She did not stop at caring for her own household. She helped the wronged and served the poor and the sick, whom she nursed with her own hands, heedless of the danger of contagion. To this day she is remembered as a healer. The chronicle of the so-called Dalimil, from the beginning of the fourteenth century, relates that by the power of God she raised five people from the dead, restored sight to many who were blind, and healed the lame and lepers.

Together with her husband she took the recently founded Order of Preachers under her care. The couple founded churches with priories for the Dominicans at Jablonné and at Turnov. She herself, as a laywoman, joined the spiritual movement stirred up by the sons of Saint Dominic, which is why tradition calls her a Dominican tertiary.

She died in 1252, at a young age. She was buried in the Dominican church of Saint Lawrence at Jablonné, today the Basilica of Saint Lawrence and Saint Zdislava, and for centuries pilgrims have come to her tomb. As early as 1602 she was entered on the list of the holy patrons of Bohemia.

The veneration given to her from time immemorial was confirmed by Pope Pius X on August 28, 1907. John Paul II canonized her on May 21, 1995, in Olomouc, together with Saint John Sarkander. In his homily he called her a witness to the Gospel of the family and the Gospel of life, and asked her to guide the families of her homeland and of the whole world. In the Czech Republic she is venerated as the patroness of families.