death_date death_place birth_place feast_day venerated_in patronage birth_date titles image article_title name
may 12 1260 kulmsee , prussia state of the teutonic order sangerhausen , duchy of thuringia may 5 roman catholic church -lrb- germany -rrb- prussia ca. 1200 patroness of prussia obraz jpg juta von sangerhausen na stronie gmina chełmża-gm . jutta of kulmsee
 st. jutta of kulmsee , t.o.s.f.
jutta of kulmsee

saint jutta , t.o.s.f. , -lrb- -rrb- or jutta of kulmsee or jutta of sangerhausen or jutta of thuringia was born ca. 1200 at sangerhausen in thuringia -lrb- now sachsen-anhalt -rrb- and died in 1260 at kulmsee in the monastic state of the teutonic order -lrb- now chełmża , kuyavian-pomeranian voivodeship , poland -rrb- .
she was a german aristocrat , who became a hermit on the frontier of prussia and is honored as the patron saint of that region .
she imitated the life of st. elizabeth of hungary , who was the duchess of thuringia during her youth , and has also been canonized a saint .
she was married at the age of fifteen to a nobleman and bore children by him .
she convinced her husband of , and raised her children in a contemplative and mystical form of christianity .
he died while they were on a pilgrimage to jerusalem , and jutta became a single mother .
each child eventually entered a monastery upon reaching a suitable age , and this left jutta able to pursue a more austere religious way of life .
like her model , st. elizabeth , jutta became a member of the third order of st. francis .
she gave away or sold her property and lived the rest of her life in contemplation and in caring for the poor and the sick .
she became a figure of ridicule among her neighbors as she carried out her service to the poor of the region .
in her last years , jutta moved to the frontier of christian europe .
she chose as her base a derelict building in bildschön -lrb- now bielczyny -rrb- , near kulmsee in prussia , part of the monastic state of the teutonic order , the area governed by the teutonic knights , whose grand master , anno von sangershausen , was a relative of hers .
there the knights sheltered her .
visitors came to her to receive counsel and prayers , and she quickly established a reputation as a saint .
she said that there were three things that can bring one near to god : painful sickness , exile from home , and poverty voluntarily accepted for god .
she dedicated her final days to praying for the non-christian population of the region .
she died around 1260 .
in keeping with her wishes , archbishop friar heidenreich of kulm , o.p. , earlier archbishop of armagh , ireland , and now first bishop of kulm , had her buried at the cathedral .
a `` cultus '' developed around her immediately and the kulmsee cathedral became a destination for pilgrims .
in the roman catholic church , she is honored as the patron saint of prussia , and her feast day is observed on may 5 .
