April 19
Emma (†1045)
wife
Emma was descended from the famous Witikindo, king of the Saxons, who resisted Charlemagne for ten years.
Biography
The French emperor had to undertake thirty-two campaigns to defeat his bitter enemy. He was finally captured and baptized. The joy at the conversion was so great that Pope Hadrian I ordered three days of processions throughout Christendom. Less fortunate than Charlemagne, Adela's husband never managed to get rid of his evil wife, who they said was an unbearable woman. Luckily he found relief from his marital disappointments in his virtuous daughter Emma. Emma married Count Ludgerio, a man as pious as she was. From their union two sons were born, one of them, Imad, would succeed his maternal uncle, Saint Meinwerk, in the bishopric of Paderborn, Westphalia. Widowed at a very young age, Emma dedicated the last forty years of her life to helping the needy and building monasteries and churches. Of all, the diocese of Bremen benefited the most from his generosity. As for the most famous abbeys founded by her, there are that of Gurk, Austria, and that of San Ludgerio to which she gave the name of her beloved husband. In this last abbey she was buried after her death. When her grave was later opened, our saint's body was found reduced to ashes minus the right hand, which had done so much good.
Practical advice
In the midst of your ordinary work, seek to reconcile two people without increasing the conflict, putting the result in God's hands.