St. Mildred

Mildred was the daughter of Merewald, an Anglian ruler of the seventh century. Her mother was St. Ermenburga, a Kentish princess. Mildred was educated at the convent school in Chelles, near Paris. Following her stay in France, she was pursued by a young man who wished to marry her. Mildred rejected his overtures and entered a monastery that had been founded by her mother. The monastery was located on the Isle of Thanet, and St. Theodore of Canterbury received her into the community of which she eventually became abbess.

Mildred had reputation for great holiness and for generosity and compassion to the poor and rejected. She died about the year 700. Her Feast Day is July 13.