St. Emma
Written and researched by Margaret Odrowaz-Sypniewski
St. Emma's feast day is June 29th. Emma was the benefactress of the poor. Emma was a young girl in the late 10th century in Germany. She lived in the court of Emperor Henry II and his wife Cunegunde, daughter of Sigfrid, 1st Count of Luxembourg. Cunegunde was barren, because she had made a vow of celibacy before her marriage, so she had time to train Emma and arranged her marriage to William of Friesach, a wealthy count. William and Emma had two sons. However, both of Emma's sons were murdered by their father's mine workers. The mine workers were angry at their family because of the poor working conditions in the mines. So they decided to kill the sons as payment for their mistreatment of workers. William had put his sons in charge. It is unknown whether conditions were better under William's control. However, William was so angered by the murder of his sons, that he wanted to execute the rebels and their families, in turn. "An eye for an eye."
However, Emma persauded her husband that this would not be the correct way to go. She convinced William to wait and find out who actually killed their sons. They should be held accountable, not the rest of the workers. So Emma and and her husband turned to prayer and asked for God's help in finding the murderers. All the men were pardoned, except the leaders of the rebellion.
After this event, Count William of Friesach decided to make a pilgrimage to Rome, and on his return, he fell ill and died.
After William's death, Emma's entire family was gone and she was obviously heartbroken by these events. Emma turned to God for his support in her time of need. She gave money to the poor and founded several churches and monasteries near her castle in the Austrian town of Gurk. In 1045 Emma died. She was beautified in 1938. Sources:
Butler's Lives of the Saints (on CD-ROM) USA: Harmony Media, Inc., 1996. Their Website
Hoever, Rev. Hugo. Lives of the Saints. New York: Catholic Books Publishing Co., 1989. 353.
Jöckle, Clemens. Encyclopedia of Saints. London: Alpine Fine Arts Collection Ltd., 1995, 52-53.
Kelly, Sean and Rosemary Rodgers. Saints Preserve Us. New York: Random House, 1993, 31.
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This page was last updated on October 1, 2004
