14 APRIL

Lydwina of Schiedam is honored on this day. She had some remarkable mystical experiences and, if I remember correctly, she was one of the “Amazing Mystics” that Montague Summers found so fascinating. She was never formally canonized but her cultus was approved by Pope Leo XIII. She ought, therefore, to be styled “Blessed” but in the few places where she is listed it is usually as “Saint”. She is certainly remarkable enough in that her biography was written both by Thomas a’ Kempis and by J.K. Huysmans. That doesn’t happen every day.

This is also Monday in Holy Week. The Gospel reading at Mass in the traditional Roman rite is that from St. John’s Gospel [12: 1-9]which records Judas whingeing about the cost of the ointment used to anoint Our Lord when it could have been sold and the money given to the poor. A useful passage to remember in the face of those who de-nude our churches of the splendor designed to honor Our Lord.