Saint Lutgardis, also known as Lutgardis of Aywieres, was born in Tongeren (Tongren) and entered monastic life at the age of twelve. She is a saint from the medieval Low Countries. She is considered as one of the leading mystics of the 13th century.
She was admitted into the Benedictine monastery of St. Catherine near Sint-Truiden at the age of twelve. She lived in the convent for several years without having much interest in religious life. She could come and go and receive visitors as she pleased.
She was visited with a vision of Jesus Christ showing her his wounds, and at age twenty she made her solemn vows as a Benedictine. Over the next dozen years, she had many visions of Christ, Mary and St. John the Evangelist. Accounts of her life state that she experienced ecstasies, levitated, and dripped blood from her forehead and hair when entranced. She refused the honor of serving as abbess. However, in 1205, she was chosen to be prioress of her community.
Saint Lutgardis was one of the great precursors of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The first recorded mystic revelation of Christ’s heart is that of Saint Lutgardis. During this time she is known to have shown gifts of healing and prophecy, and was an adept at teaching the Gospels. She was blind for the last eleven years of her life, and died of natural causes at Aywières. According to tradition, she experienced a vision in which Christ informed her of her forthcoming death. She died on June 16, 1246, the day after the Feast of the Holy Trinity, at the age of 64.
