Saint Hedwig of Silesia

Nicely detailed statue of Saint Hedwig of Silesia.  Hand crafted and painted - fine details may vary. Her cloak color may be black, brown, or purple. Measures 8.5" tall with a 4.25w by 3" deep base. Imported from Columbia and made of plaster. 

Saint Hedwig, the daughter of Count Berthold IV of Andechs and his second wife Agnes of Wettin and was born in 1174 and at the age of twelve, married Henry I the Bearded, son and heir of the Piast duke Boleslaw I the Tall of Silesia.

In 1238, upon his death, Henry was buried at a Cistercian monastery of nuns, Trzebnica Abbey (Kloster Trebnitz), which he had established in 1202 at Hedwig's request. The widow moved into the monastery, which was led by her daughter Gertrude.

Hedwig and Henry had lived very pious lives, and Hedwig had great zeal for religion. She had supported her husband in donating the Augustinian provostry at Nowogród Bobrzanski (Naumburg) and the commandery of the Knights Templar at Olesnica Mala (Klein Oels). Hedwig always helped the poor and donated all her fortune to the Church. According to legend, she went barefoot even in winter, and when she was urged by the Bishop of Wroclaw to wear shoes, she carried them in her hands. On 15 October 1243, Hedwig died and was buried in Trzebnica Abbey with her husband, while relics of her are preserved at Andechs Abbey and St. Hedwig's Cathedral in Berlin

Hedwig was canonized in 1267 by Pope Clement IV, a supporter of the Cistercian order, at the suggestion of her grandson Prince-Archbishop W?adys?aw of Salzburg. She is the patron saint of Silesia, of Andechs, and of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wroclaw and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Görlitz. Her feast day is celebrated on the General Roman Calendar on 16 October. A 17th-century legend has it that Hedwig, while on a pilgrimage to Rome, stopped at Bad Zell in Austria, where she had healing waters spring up at a source which today still bears her name.