Mar 14th - Matilda of Saxony

I do not often concentrate on the patronage of saints but I thought that I would list a few of Matilda's:
    • disappointing children
    • falsely accused people
    • large families
    • death of children
    • second marriages
    • widows
    • people ridiculed for their piety
    • queens
The last one seems like a very exclusive group but the first one intrigued me and I thought it would be a good exercise to think about her life from the patronages she has instead of the other way around.
There is so many family issues over which her intercession is entreated, as well as for the obvious pull of the world in the demands of royalty or any leader or parent, and just trying to live a holy life amidst the pressures of those with other agendas who constantly surround us.
A queen in her own right; the mother of Otto (became Holy Roman Emperor), Henry the Quarrelsome (Duke of Bavaria - love that name), Saint Bruno the Great (Archbishop of Cologne), Gerberga (wife of King Louis IV of France), and Hedwig, mother of Hugh Capet - the last Carolingian king. Obviously involved with the powerful politics of the time, she also paid dearly for those connections when her son Otto turned on her, yet she was able to eventually reconcile even with him.
She is the patron of these things because they all happened to her, and yet she kept a heart of charity and piety. She never let go of God and God granted her a full life as well as one full of sorrow and conflict. Let us rely on the saints who relied on Christ to intercede for us and remember that they all point to Christ as the source of all good gifts, even in times of trouble.

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Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance; Who does not persist in anger forever, but delights rather in clemency, And will again have compassion on us, treading underfoot our guilt? You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins; You will show faithfulness to Jacob, and grace to Abraham, As you have sworn to our fathers from days of old.

-- Micah 7:18-20
(also recommend the Gospel: Luke 15:1-3, 11-32)