born: Tongeren, 1182

died: Abby of Aywieres, june 16, 1246

Jesus appeared to her when she was a young girl. She was one of the first to venerate the Holy Hart of Jesus. Ludgardis was one of the great many holy virgins, all saints are.

Some of the nuns identified so strongly with Mary that they slept with a little Jesus doll and fed it. They would actually feel pregnant with the Lord.

The denial of lust could cause the lives of saints to be completely dominated by desire. To take the mind of such things they would inflict pain on themselves. But it was also accepted for nuns that were afflicted with the 'furor uterinus' to use false penises or candles. The 'godemiché' or 'plaisir des dames' was a 21,5 cm long object covered with drawings and equipped with two balls filled with milk that could serve as the ejaculation. In 1780 there even was a factory for these things in Paris.

Ludgardis had many visions and sometimes levitations, which made her famous, even abroad. The last 11 years of her life she was blind.

Wingspan: 1,67m

Weight (approx): 88kg

Range and distribution: Belgium

Color: black and white tunic

Special features: hart