Wilburgis

Who they were

This recluse's story recalls extreme forms of penance that the modern mind finds hard to understand. Blessed Wilbirg (Vilburga) was born in the thirteenth century near St Florian, in present-day Austria. Orphaned of her father Henry, who died on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, she was raised by her mother and a governess.

At sixteen she made the long and courageous pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela with her friend Matilde. On returning home, rather than making another pilgrimage as Matilde wished, Wilbirg chose a more complete renunciation of the world: on Ascension Day 1248 she had herself solemnly enclosed in a cell by the church of the Augustinian Canons Regular of St Florian, where she lived as a recluse for forty years until her death on 11 December 1289.

The miracles

The source does not describe the miracles approved in the cause.

Why that counted as sanctity

Recluse enclosed at the church of the Canons Regular of St Florian in Austria for forty years, from 1248 until her death on 11 December 1289.

The cause