St. Wiborada

St. Wiborada was born in the late ninth century to Swabian nobility in what is now Klingna, Switzerland. The family was faithful and took care of the poor and sick. After a pilgrimage to Rome, Wiborada’s brother Hatto decided to become a Benedictine monk at the Abbey of St. Gall. After their parents died, Wiborada joined him, becoming a Benedictine nun, also at St. Gall.

She learned Latin, and one of her chores was binding the books in the monastery library. While there, she was charged with an infraction and subjected to a trial by fire. She was exonerated, but the ordeal led her to leave St. Gall and seek a life of solitude.

In 887, the bishop of Konstanz arranged for her to become an anchorite attached to St. George Church near the monastery. She lived there for four years and then in 891 moved to a cell attached to St. Magnus of Fussen Church nearby.

Wiborada became known for her gift of prophecy, and people would come seek her advice. In 925, she predicted a Hungarian invasion of the region. The priests at St. Magnus and the Benedictines at St. Gall heeded her vision and hid the books and wine before escaping to nearby caves. Wiborada was urged by her abbot to take refuge, but she chose to remain in her cell. 

On May 1, 926, the Magyars indeed invaded. They burned the church and broke the roof into Wiborada’s cell. An invader took a shepherd’s ax and cut her skull. She died the next day. Rachildis, a fellow anchorite and follow of Wiborada, had also stayed. She survived the attack and testified. Wiborada was declared a martyr.

St. Wiborada’s feast day is May 2. In Switzerland and Germany, she is the patron of libraries and librarians.