Early English Saints

This intended to be a non-discussion thread.
It is just some history for those that are interested.
Please respect my wished on this

Regarding the title - by early I mean up to the Norman Invasion (1066)

Introduction​

There were Christians in the British Isles quite early. It’s difficult to know how early but the first martyr that we know of was St. Alban who was executed around 287 at Verulanium (now called St. Albans). Three English bishops attended the Council of Arles (in France) in 314, which formally condemned the heresy of Donatism.

After the Romans left England in 407 England was invaded by pagans such as the Picts (from Scotland ) and the Saxons (from Germany), followed by the Angles, the Jutes and later the Vikings.. In 410 the Visigoths sacked Rome.

England, like the rest of Europe, became virtually pagan. But missionaries gradually reconverted England. At the end of the 6th century St Kentigern came south from Scotland and preached in the North West. Around the same time Pope Gregory sent Benedictine monks, led by Augustine, to convert the English. He landed in 597 and set up his base in the South East in Canterbury. By 625 they had spread north, founding a diocese at York. In 634 Aiden and some monks from Iona (an island off the coast of Scotland) were invited to settle in the North East at the invitation of King Oswald of Northumbria, who himself had converted to Christianity while in exile in Iona.

The South West also seems to have lapsed into paganism after the fall of the Roman Empire, but was re-Christianised by missionaries from Ireland in the late 5th and early 6th centuries by Saints such as St Piran and St. Morwenna, though details of their lives are sketchy.

Many of these English Saints are well known (like St. Aiden, Saint Edward the Confessor, St. Thomas Moore and St. John Fisher) and their feast days are commemorated in the liturgical calendar. Others are known only locally (like St. Morwenna, St. Fursey and St. Wulfstan) but deserve to be better know. They are our fathers (and mothers) in faith who passed on the faith that we now have.

 

[Mungo]

OCTOBER

Saint Paulinus (Feast Day 10 October)​

Saint Paulinus of York was not born in England but was very much a Saint of the English. In 597 Saint Augustine (of Canterbury), sent by Pope Gregory to convert the pagan Anglo-Saxons, set up his base in the South East in Canterbury. Pope Gregory sent a second group in 601 AD. Paulinus was one of that group. Little is know of Paulinus’ activities in the following two decades but Fr. Francis Marsden, writing in the Catholic Times, says: “He had travelled north in 625 with Ethelburga, daughter of the Kentish king, betrothed in marriage to Edwin. Wherever you wander in Yorkshire, Durham or Northumberland, you find churches claiming that ‘Paulinus baptised near here’, in the rivers Calder, Swale, Ouse, Tyne or Glen.”

In 627 he baptised Edwin, the King of Northumbria. Bede says of this event “King Edwin, therefore, with all the nobility of the nation, and a large number of the common sort, received the faith, and the washing of regeneration, in ... the year ... 627, and about 180 after the coming of the English into Britain. He was baptised at York, on the holy day of Easter, being the 12th April, in the church of St Peter the Apostle, which he himself had built of timber, whilst he was catechising and instructing in order to receive baptism."

King Edwin was killed in the Battle of Hatfield Chase near Doncaster in 633 by the pagan king Penda of Mercia. Paulinus took the Queen (Aethelburg) back to Kent (see April). At that time the pallium arrived from Pope Honorius which designated Paulinus as Archbishop of York. But with a pagan ruler in charge he did not return and took up the bishopric of Rochester. He died in 644 AD.

Meanwhile in 634 Aiden began his missionary work in Northumberland under King Oswald (see August for both of them)

 

[Mungo]

OCTOBER

Saint Edward the Confessor (Feast Day 13 October)​

The breviary says about Edward “Saint Edward, known as the Confessor”, came to the throne of England in 1042. ‘Then was seen’, says an early biographer, ‘how great is the influence of a king who is truly the father of his people’. He was remarkable for his generosity to the poor, and was never happier than when giving alms. He died on 5 January 1066, just one week after the opening of the Abbey Church of Westminster, which he enshrined and endowed.”

Many miracles occurred at his tomb. In 1102 his body was exhumed and found intact and flexible, with its habits perfectly preserved also, appearing to be new. He was canonized in 1161 by Pope Alexander III.

In 1245 the Church was demolished and a new one built by Henry III, which is the one we see now. In 1268 Edward's remains were enshrined behind the High Altar in the new Abbey Church on 13 October.

The term “confessor” was not because he was a priest but comes from an earlier use of the term.

“For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved.” (Rom 10:9)

In the early Church, under Roman persecution, there were three identifiable groups. Firstly those who held to the faith, faced martyrdom and survived. These were known as confessors, or confessors of the faith. The second group were those who abjured the faith and sacrificed to the statue of the Emperor. They were known as lapsi. The third group, known as libellatici were those who purchased a false certificates saying they had sacrificed to the emperor but had not in fact done so.

Although not under persecution, Edward’s piety and holiness earned him the title at a time when the primary function of kings was mostly seen as winning battles.

Edward is also seen as the cause of England being invaded by William of Normandy - William the Conqueror (also known as William the Bastard – though not to his face). William claimed that Edward had promised him the throne (though there is much dispute over that). Edward died without a direct heir (and without making the succession clear) and the throne was claimed by Harold Godwinson who reigned for a brief time until killed in the Battle of Hastings.

A curiosity of the English naming of Monarchs is that although Edward is the third English king named Edward - preceded by Edward the Elder (899-924), the son of Alfred the great, and Edward the Martyr (975-978) - he is not Edward III (who actually reigned from 1327 to 1377). The numbering of monarchs seems to have been introduced by the Normans.

In pictures Edward is shown holding a ring The story goes:- "He had a particular devotion to the holy Apostles Saint Peter and Saint John the Evangelist, and had made a promise never to refuse an alms asked in the name of the latter. One day when he had no money with him, a poor man reached out his hand in the name of the Apostle, and the king gave him a valuable ring he was wearing. Some time later, Saint John appeared to two pilgrims returning from the Holy Land. He gave them a ring and said: Take it to the king; he gave it to me one day when I asked for an alms in the habit of a pilgrim. Tell him that in six months I will visit him and take him with me, to follow the unblemished Lamb. The King received it from them after hearing their relation of this incident, and broke into tears. And Edward did indeed die six months later, on January 5, 1066."

 

[Mungo]

NOVEMBER

Saint Hilda (Hilde) (Feast Day – 17 November)​

According to St Bede, who was born just 8 years before her death, Hilda was born in 614. She was the second daughter of the Hereric, the nephew of King Edwin of Northumbria, the first being Saint Hereswith (see September). She was baptised by St. Paulinus of York (see October) in 627. When King Edwin was killed in the Battle of Hatfield Chase near Doncaster in 633, by the pagan king Penda of Mercia, Paulinus took the Queen (Aethelburg) and Hilda back to the Queen’s home in Kent. Bede does not give any details of her immediate life but it is assumed to lived with Queen Aethelburg in a convent the Queen founded at Liming.

Then according to Bede, at age 33 Hilda answered a call by St. Aiden (see August) to return to Northumbria as a nun. Her original convent is unknown but then Aiden appointed her as Abbess of Hartlepool. In 657 Hilda became the founding Abbess of a convent at Whitby (Streaneschalch). This was a double monastery of both men and women (not uncommon at the time).

Bede describes Hilda as a woman of great energy, who was a skilled administrator and teacher. As a landowner she had many in her employ to care for sheep and cattle, farming and woodcutting. She gained such a reputation for wisdom that kings and princes sought her advice. She also had a concern for ordinary folk such as Cædmon. He was a herder at the monastery, who was inspired in a dream to sing verses in praise of God. Hilda recognized his gift and encouraged him to develop it. Bede writes, "All who knew her called her mother because of her outstanding devotion and grace". (Wikipedia).

Such was the prestige of her monastery that King Oswiu of Northumberland chose her monastery for the great Synod of Whitby in 644. During the 7th century Northern England had been converted by Celtic monks from Iona, but also by Bendictines sent originally by Pope Gregory. These two branches of Catholicism followed some different customs, particularly on the dating of Easter. King Oswiu called the synod to settle thesse differences and the Roman customs of the Benedictines were chosen.

 

[Mungo]

NOVEMBER

Saint Ermenberga (Feast Day – 19 November)​

St. Ermenberga is also known as Domne Eafe (Domneva) or Domna Abba . There has been some confusion as to whether Ermeberga was a sister of Domna Eafe but it seems they were the same person.

She lived at the end of the 7th century (dies in 700AD) She was the granddaughter of King Eadbald of Kent and the wife of King Merewald (or Merewalh) of Mercia. She founded the convent of Minster (a dual monastery) on the Isle of Thanet in Kent. The land was donated by her Uncle, King Egbert of Kent as atonement for murdering two of Ethelberga's brothers.

A number of Kentish charters from the reigns of Oswine and Wihtred name Domne Eafe, or rather "Æbbe", as witness or beneficiary of grants to Minster-in-Thanet. Rollason argues that these show that Minster-in-Thanet was the main beneficiary of Kentish royal patronage of monasteries, surpassing even St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury.

Domne would appear to be a title (perhaps because of her royal lineage) and Eafe or Abba indicating Abbess.

Ermenberga had three daughters, Mildred, Milburga, and Mildgytha, all of whom became Abbesses and Saints. The most well known is Mildred (Mildrith), who became Abbess of the convent founded by her mother.

 

[Mungo]

DECEMBER

Saint Osmund of Salisbury (Feast Day – 4 December)​

While St. Wulfstan (see next month) was a bridge between the old regime of the Saxons and the new Norman conquerors, St. Osmund was a part of the new regime. A member of the Norman nobility, he was the son of Count Henry of Seez and Isabella, half-sister of King William the Conqueror of England. He took part in the Norman Conquest and served William as his chancellor from 1070 to 1078.

In 1078, he was appointed bishop of Old Sarum (Salisbury), completing the cathedral there and founding a cathedral chapter of canons regular and school for clerics. Osmund also assisted the king in assembling the massive census which became the Domesday Book. In the dispute over investiture between King William II and St. Anselm of Canterbury, Osmund initially sided with the king, but later he admitted he had made a mistake, and he begged Anselm's forgiveness. Osmund also collected manuscripts for the cathedral library, was a copier and binder of books, authored a life of St. Aldhelm, and was thought to be responsible for drawing up the books governing the liturgical matters for the diocese such as the Mass and Divine Office, the so called Sarum Use.

He died in 1099 and was canonized in 1457 by Pope Callistus III. He is one of the first of the Medieval Saints being followed by Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109), Stephen Harding, one of the founders of the Cistercians (1050-1134), Thomas Becket (1119-1170), and Hugh of Lincoln (1135-1200).

 

[Mungo]

DECEMBER

Saint Egwin (Feast Day – 30 December)​

Egwin was born in Worcester of a noble family, and was a descendant of Mercian kings. He may possibly have been a nephew of King Æthelred of Mercia. Having already become a monk, his biographers say that king, clergy, and commoners all united in demanding Egwin's elevation to bishop; but the popularity which led him to the episcopal office dissipated in response to his performance as bishop. He was consecrated bishop after 693.

As a bishop he was known as a protector of orphans and the widowed and a fair judge. He struggled with the local population over the acceptance of Christian morality; especially Christian marriage and clerical celibacy. Egwin's stern discipline created a resentment which, as King Æthelred was his friend, eventually found its way to his ecclesiastical superiors. He undertook a pilgrimage to Rome to seek vindication from the pope himself.

According to one account, as Egwin and his companions were passing through the Alps, they began to thirst. Those among his companions who did not acknowledge the bishop's sanctity asked him mockingly to pray for water as Moses once did in the desert. But others, who did believe in him, rebuked the unbelievers and asked him in a different tone, with true faith and hope. Egwin prostrated himself in prayer. On arising, they saw a pure stream of water gush forth out of the rock.

Upon his return to England, he founded Evesham Abbey, which became one of the great Benedictine houses of medieval England. It was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, who had reportedly made known to a swineherd named Eof just where a church should be built in her honour.

One of the last important acts of his episcopate was his participation in the first great Council of Clovesho. According to the Benedictine historian, Jean Mabillon, he died on 30 December 720,although his death is generally accepted as having occurred three years earlier on 30 December 717. He died at the abbey he had founded, and his remains were enshrined there.

His tomb was destroyed, along with the abbey church, at the time of the dissolution of the abbey in 1540. (Taken from Wikipedia)

 

[Mungo]

EPILOGUE​

And so we come to the end of my year of Early English Saints.

Thank you to anyone who has read this far. There are, of course, many more I could have chosen but I hope you found these illuminating.

I have visited sites associated with several of them; the remains of St. Piran's oratory (March), St. Bede's monastery (May), St. Hilda's monastery (November), Lindisfarne (Holy Island) associated with St. Cuthbert (March) and Saint Aiden (August), and Burgh Castle where Saint Fursey (January) founded a monastery. Also I've visited the burial tombs of St. Bede and St. Cuthbert in Durham Cathedral.

These are the holy men and women who brought the faith to England and spread it in the early centuries. Some suffered persecution and death; some were high born, some low, but we have to thank all of them for their love of God and their perseverance in spreading the faith.

 

[Walpole]

Great thread. Thank you!

 

[Mr. G Lee]

This intended to be a non-discussion thread.
It is just some history for those that are interested.
Please respect my wished on this

Regarding the title - by early I mean up to the Norman Invasion (1066)

Introduction​

There were Christians in the British Isles quite early. It’s difficult to know how early but the first martyr that we know of was St. Alban who was executed around 287 at Verulanium (now called St. Albans). Three English bishops attended the Council of Arles (in France) in 314, which formally condemned the heresy of Donatism.

After the Romans left England in 407 England was invaded by pagans such as the Picts (from Scotland ) and the Saxons (from Germany), followed by the Angles, the Jutes and later the Vikings.. In 410 the Visigoths sacked Rome.

England, like the rest of Europe, became virtually pagan. But missionaries gradually reconverted England. At the end of the 6th century St Kentigern came south from Scotland and preached in the North West. Around the same time Pope Gregory sent Benedictine monks, led by Augustine, to convert the English. He landed in 597 and set up his base in the South East in Canterbury. By 625 they had spread north, founding a diocese at York. In 634 Aiden and some monks from Iona (an island off the coast of Scotland) were invited to settle in the North East at the invitation of King Oswald of Northumbria, who himself had converted to Christianity while in exile in Iona.

The South West also seems to have lapsed into paganism after the fall of the Roman Empire, but was re-Christianised by missionaries from Ireland in the late 5th and early 6th centuries by Saints such as St Piran and St. Morwenna, though details of their lives are sketchy.

Many of these English Saints are well known (like St. Aiden, Saint Edward the Confessor, St. Thomas Moore and St. John Fisher) and their feast days are commemorated in the liturgical calendar. Others are known only locally (like St. Morwenna, St. Fursey and St. Wulfstan) but deserve to be better know. They are our fathers (and mothers) in faith who passed on the faith that we now have.

God works to set aside those called holy(saint) No different that the dirt on mount Sinai set aside as holy dirt. Not the dying saints as oral traditions of dying mankind call a law of fathers

They are the ones that create thier own called patron saints (3500 and rising) looking for new recruits . . It was passed down from the old testament fathers as a law of men Both the Pharisee with Sadducees practiced it putting aside thier differences in order to maintain a legion of fathers Simular to the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic today

Both looking for bones of our blessed sister in the Lord. Mary Some say here other over there and still of theres is no bones .