St. Walburga

  St. Walburga (d. 779) was born in England of a family of the local

aristocracy.   At an early age, she was entrusted to the care of the Benedictine nuns in Wimbourne (present-day Dorset) where she eventually made monastic profession.  When her relative St. Boniface, a missionary monk and bishop who worked for the evangelization of Germany, asked for help from other Anglo-Saxon monasteries, St. Walburga became part of a group of nuns from Wimbourne who answered the missionary call.  Eventually she became abbess of the monastery at Heidenheim, a double monastery of men and women founded by her brother St. Wunibald, who served as its first abbot.  The tenth-cetury legend of her life tells stories of her gentleness, humility and charity, as well as her power to heal the sick through prayer.

This statue by Dee Toscano stands near the entrance to the monastery to welcome our guests.  It was a gift of  George and Placide Shriever.

Many years after her death, her bones were taken from Heidenheim, then in ruins, to the town of Eichstatt, Bavaria, which had been founded by her brother St. Willibald, who served as its bishop.  Her relics were entrusted to the care of a community of Benedictine nuns founded for the purpose of maintaining her shrine. To everyone's surprise, her bones began to produce a clear liquid, called oil for want of a more accurate word, which people began to use as a tool for prayer for the sick.  Countless numbers experienced healing of body or spirit through her intercession.  St. Walburga's oil continues to flow every year from about October 12 to February 25, two of her feast days.  It seeps from her relics through a thick slab of stone where it is collected and distributed by the nuns of the Abtei St. Walburg.

Monastic life has continued without interruption at the Abtei St. Walburg from 1035 AD to today.  In 1935, nuns from that monastery were sent to Colorado to found the community which has become the Abbey of St. Walburga in Virginia Dale.

Novena to St. Walburga

O God, come to my assistance.

O Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory be to the Father...

Psalm 23 or other psalm of trust (62, 91) may be recited

Holy Walburga, you dwell in the glory of heaven, gazing upon the face of the Triune God in the company of all the saints.  I turn to you, full of trust in the words of Jesus Christ, "Amen, amen I say to you, the one who has faith in me will do the works I do, and greater far than these" (Jn 14:12).  God has granted you the gift of healing; help me in my need, which I bring before you (mention petition).  Beg God to grant healing, consolation and strength to me and to all those for whom I pray.  Implore Him to let me recognize His love and know His presence, whatever He may have in store for me.

Ask this for me through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns in the unity of the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.  Amen

At the close of the Novena:

Lord give me light, that I may see your way.

Lord, give me strength, that I may follow your way.

Lord, give me love, that I may do your will.

Prayer for Using the Holy Oil:

All-powerful God, creator of the heavens and the earth, I believe that you hold the world in your hands.  Helpless I stand before the mystery of evil, suffering, and illness.  I entrust myself to your wisdom. 

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for our sake your Sond took upon himself all the suffering of the world.  In  obedience to you he suffered death to set us free.  I open my heart to the grace of his redemptive death.

Kind Father, your Son promised us the Paraclete, the Comforter.  The Holy Spirit teaches me the right way to call upon you and to love you.  I entrust myself to your love.

Merciful God, you give us saints as witnesses of your presence in this world.  In a miraculous way, St. Walburga was enabled to become, through the sign of the holy oil, a wellspring of healing for the distressed, the needy, and the sick.  I entrust myself to her intercession.

Glory be the the Father...

After Using the Holy Oil Pray in your own words or in the following form:

Father of mercy and God of all consolation, I praise you:

Our Father...

Triune God, who pour yourself forth in love, I praise you:

Glory be to the Father...

Mary, Mother of God, powerful intercessor and refuge of all who suffer, pray for me:

Hail Mary...

St. Walburga, by your blessed life of love,

God blessed you with the power to heal,

to make whole the soul as well as the body. 

Beg for us what we cannot obtain for ourselves,

and heal our world of sickness and sorrow. 

May God hear you, who lived so graciously for His glory,

and send us the healing grace we need,

through your powerful intercession. 

Amen

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