Wiborada

Saint Wiborada was born to a wealthy Swabian noble family in what is now Switzerland, and from an early age showed tender charity, nursing the sick and welcoming the poor into her home. After her brother Hatto became a priest and later a monk at the Abbey of Saint Gall, Wiborada followed him there as a Benedictine nun. Hatto taught her Latin so she could chant the Liturgy of the Hours, and she served the community with humble, hidden labor—sewing, and helping bind and care for the monastery’s treasured books. After a painful public trial that tested her innocence, Wiborada withdrew from the world and embraced the life of an anchoress, enclosed in prayer beside the church near Saint Gall. Her austerity and reputed gift of prophecy drew many to seek her counsel, including the young Ulrich, whom she foretold would become a bishop. In 925 she warned of a Hungarian invasion, enabling the monks to save lives and safeguard precious manuscripts. When the attack came in 926, she refused to flee and was killed in her cell while praying, honored as a martyr. She is venerated as patron of librarians and libraries. Her feast day is May 2.