Saint Walpurga
West Saxon saint
Feast: 25 February (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Walburga, daughter of St Richard and niece of St Boniface, sister of Sts Willibald and Winibald, was educated at the abbey of Wimborne in Dorset, where she spent twenty-six years; she later wrote a life of St Winibald.
In 748 she was sent with St Lioba to help St Boniface in Germany; on the voyage she calmed a storm by her prayer. She became abbess at Heidenheim and died there on 25 February 777.
The miracles
She is said to have been canonised by Pope Adrian II on 1 May; the Catholic Encyclopedia gives no year.
Why that counted as sanctity
An English nun who helped plant the Church in Germany.
Connected on this site
- Richard the Pilgrim Saint Father, Parent
- Willibald Saint Brother or sister
- Winibald Saint Brother or sister
- Wuna of Wessex Saint Mother, Parent
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Walburga
- Wikidata Q160686 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Saint Walpurga (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.