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Saint Wiborada of Gall

detail from a coloured pen-and ink-drawing c.1433; it is the oldest known portrayal of Saint Wiborada; it is found in a book written for the nuns in the Benedictine convent of Saint Georgen near Saint Gall; manuscript written and perhaps painted by the monk Friedrich Kölner from Hersfeld Also known as

Guiborat
Viborada
Weibrath

Memorial

2 May

Profile

Born to the Swabian nobility. Her brother, Hatto, was a priest and provost of Saint Magnus church. Wiborada turned her home into a hospital for the sick poor people that her brother brought to her. Pilgrim to Rome, Italy. Benedictine nun at Saint Gall’s monastery, where she worked as a bookbinder.

Subject of virulent criticism, she eventually withdrew further from the world, becoming an anchoress first near Saint Gall’s, then near her brother’s church. Noted for her austerity, and a gift of prophecy, she drew many visitors and would-be students. One of her prophecies involved the Hungarian invasion of her region; her warning allowed the priests and religious of Saint Gall and Saint Magnus to escape, but Wiborada refused to leave her hermit‘s cell and was found by the invaders. Martyr.