St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, March 20.

St. Cuthbert with the head of St. Oswald in 15th century glass at York Minster. 

     St. Cuthbert is certainly one of Britain's, if not of all Anglicanism's, greatest bishops. The humility, love and compassion that he shared with his community, along with the many centuries of devotion paid to him after his death mark him both as one of the most loving and most loved leaders of English Christianity. Love is a reflexive act; the compassion, and trust shown to him by the Northern community is equally important to the care that he held for the people of his bishopric in the 7th century. The memory he left for his followers has survived right down to our generation and continues to act as a rock for the Church in Britain. His cult has survived war and peace; the Viking invasions beginning in 793, the danish invasions of the 10th century, the Norman Invasion, and it has even survived the impious destruction of the Reformation. His bones still lie at Durham, 1326 years later, where he is visited daily by pilgrims.

St. Cuthbert from the Vita by Bede.

Cuthbert was born in 634, near Melrose. He was a shepherd until he saw a vision as a boy. It is one of the early chapters in the Vita Sancti Cuthberti by the Venerable Bede, the primary source for the life of St. Cuthbert, that is dedicated to this vision called Quomondo cum pastoribus positius animam Sancti Aidiani Episcopi ad coelum ab angelis ferri aspexerit (literally, how while he was posted with the shepherds, he witnessed the soul of the Holy Bishop Aidan being carried to heaven by angels). This is what prompted him to enter into the monastery of Melrose at an early age. Cuthbert did well as a monk in the eyes of the abbot, Boisil. He came to accept the Roman customs after the Synod of Whitby and was made prior of Melrose. When his new abbot, Eata, went to Lindisfarne, Cuthbert followed and became prior of Lindisfarne where he pursued missionary work in Northumbria and southern Scotland. As prior, and later as bishop, he was confronted with near schism in the aftermath of the Synod of Whitby (663-4). The Synod had decided to adopt the Roman Rite in place of the Celtic Rite, which it had been using since St. Aidan brought Christianity to Northumbria in 631. Cuthbert, in accordance with his monastic vows of obedience  required that the abbey use only the new rite because it was what the Church had decided in council. Cuthbert was not a supporter of the Roman or Celtic right....he was a supporter only of the Church. In 676 he decided to take monastic life a step further and live as a hermit on the Farne islands of the Northumbrian coast. there he remained for 9 years, living on a simple diet of onions and fish. He built himself an oratory and practiced the Celtic rite of saying the psalms in the cold sea water. It is recorded that when he came out from the water, the otters dried his feet and the birds brought him fish out of their own admiration. And while on the island he would bless those who came to seek his comfort.

St. Cuthbert in my own book of hours. 

In 685 Cuthbert was appointed the Bishop of Hexham, (which he swapped for Lindisfarne) by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Theodore of Tarsus. He left the Farne with King Ecgfrith and Bishop Trumwine and returned to his missionary work in the bishopric. During his short episcopate, he traveled through his diocese on foot, ministering to the rural and urban poor alike and performing miracles for their relief. Her returned to his hermitage 687 where he died two months later with the words "Always keep Peace and Divine Charity amongst yourselves," stressing the importance of a united Church. He lived first to extol and praise God and to worship him by living like him and to extend the good news of Christ's love to all people in his flock so that we might be comforted and learn to comfort others.

Monks use torches to tell of Cuthbert's death.

     The Saint left an impression on Northern England that never wore away. In 875, the community on Lindisfarne, where the Saint was first buried, was forced to move after a Viking attack. In an account of the event, the bishop at the time, Eardulf, required that he the monks leave the island before the attack. They took the precious relics of St. Cuthbert and of Lindisfarne's many other saints west, away from the sea while some of the monks stayed and died trying to save the Church at Lindisfarne from the Vikings. The community traveled all over the north of England for 7 years, collecting treasures donated to the shrine by neighboring kings, including the stole pictured below, and even attempting to go to Ireland -but were prevented by a storm which is believed to have been caused by the Saint. In 882, the community settled at Chester-le-Street, where they remained until the Danish incursions and in 995 relocated to Durham. By the time William the Conqueror came to England, Cuthbert was so important that he knew he would have to demonstrate his loyalty to their saint which he did during the Harrying of the North, when he visited Durham. Cuthbert's last miracle, so some claim, was shrouding the city of Durham in fog while the Luftwaffe passed overhead during the Second World War.

Durham Cathedral on its hilltop bend in the river Wear. 

     The cult of St. Cuthbert that continued to grow in England was never overtaken by another saint in the North, and perhaps only in all of England by St. Thomas Becket. In fact,Thomas death in 1170, caused the next few decades, under the leadership of the Norman bishop, Huge de Puiset, to be dedicated to a renaissance in art, architecture and liturgy for the promotion of his cult. The City of Durham and the people of the Durham diocese  became the city and people of St. Cuthbert. Their dedication was so strong to him as their protector and Christian example that they were called the people of the saint, or in Old-English the Haliwerfolc. The Bishops of Durham were given princely status as the successors of St. Cuthbert, and their lands became an autonomous 'Palatine' state within the Kingdom of England sometime referred to as the "Patrimony of St. Cuthbert." St. Cuthbert fostered a Christian community during his life by his example but established a Christian community on his memory that has lasted for centuries.

Feast of St. Cuthbert in the Codlingham Breviary.

     The monastic and the daily life of the community of the Cathedral was so focused on St. Cuthbert that the liturgy offered in Durham also came to revolve around its patron. All the offices and masses for the feast and translation feast of St. Cuthbert (September 4) were specially written to include the themes of Cuthbert's life and the example imprinted on the community. The antiphons, versicles, sequences and of course collects all recalled miracles from the history of St. Cuthbert. A Lenten Vespers antiphon follows -commemorating Cuthbert as an apostle to the English of Christ:

Oriens sol iustitiae dignatus est illustrare
Per ministros lucis suare cunctos fines orbis terrae
Ipsi laus qui dedi Anglis lucernam suae salutis
Cuthbertum bonum doctorem ac pro huis untercessorem

The rising sun of Justice deigned to illuminate
through the ministers of his light all the boundaries of the earth
Praise to Him who gave the English the lamp of His salvation,
Cuthbert the good Doctor, and praise Him for his intercession

And the antiphon for Matins recalls an early miracle where Cuthbert calls back the monk's rafts to land by prayer:

Dum iactantur puppes salo: sanctus orans heret solo
Mox ventorum vis mutate: naves vertit ad litora.

When the ship was cast about in the sea, the praying saint remained alone.
At once the force of the winds changes and the ship turned to the coast.

Several other miracles are recalled including his vision of St. Aidan's soul rising to heaven and Cuthbert's prophecy of his own death.

Cuthbert's stole.

The cult took a blow at the Reformation when the Calvinist wife of the new dean of the cathedral ordered many of relics associated with Cuthbert, but not the relics of the saint himself, to be destroyed along with the stained glass windows that depicted his miracles and the shrines built in other parts of the church where the saint had previously rested. But Calvinism has never defined Anglican Christianity, only invaded it, and the cult of St. Cuthbert at Durham, with the presence of his tomb, never really disappeared and has been greatly revived since the episcopate of Bishop Cosin in the 17th century.

Today Cuthbert remains the most venerated saint in the north of England, if not in its entirety. There is an endless stream of pilgrims to the sites associated with him including Melrose Abbey, the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, his chapel on the inner Farne Island and, most of all, to his tomb-shrine at Durham Cathedral. St. Cuthbert has regained a spot as an example and the 'lamp to salvation' in the devotion of Anglicans around the world. It remains, however, more important that the leaders of the Church look to people like St. Cuthbert in the times of Schisms and a shrinking Church. St. Cuthbert himself confronted these problems, dealt with them and strengthened the Church of Northumbria. The same can be done today in his example. The Church must remember that its purpose is to spread the words of Christ's love around the world as one Church, with one faith under one head; Christ. This is why schism remains one of the most urgent of the Church's -including Anglican, Orthodox and Roman- problems. Discord in the Church prevents it from its duty. Cuthbert recognized this and forgot his personal opinions on the Roman versus Celtic rite issues for the sake of the Church. By being righteous, the Church is neglecting its duty; its duty to Christ and its duty to his people. Hopefully people, priests and most importantly bishops will look to Cuthbert and those like him as examples of where the Church needs to return. When we invoke the names of saints in our prayers, this is what we are doing.

St. Cuthbert's Isle, Lindisfarne. The cross stands on the site of his first hermitage.

Collect (from the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Holy Island):

We thank you Father for the life of St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne: his reverence for all living creatures, his observance of a dedicated life under rule, his missionary zeal, his kindness to all who came  to him for comfort-and all for love of you. So in our pilgrimage of life strengthen us to walk with care in these ways that he observed through the study of prayer and personal example, that we may bring peace and integrity to your world in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem, March 18.

The Catecheses of St. Cyril. The Procatecheses is the prologue. 

     Cyril was born in Jerusalem around 315 and became a bishop in 349, so he was not among the 318 at Nicaea but was bishop during the high tide of the Arian heresy. As bishop of the diocese of Jerusalem which was growing in importance because of the steady stream of pilgrims, he was a direct challenge to the Metropolitan Bishop of Caesearea, Acacius, who was an Arian. Cyril strictly opposed Arianism and taught the faith as established at Nicaea which he also upheld in the First Council of Constantinople in 381. He was forced into exile several times by Acacius and later Arian Emperors but always returned to Jerusalem before he died in 386.

     He is remembered for his scholarship in liturgy, his charity and as one of the greatest theologians of the 4th century as a definer and defender of the faith. Sometime during his episcopate he wrote the Catecheses, eighteen lectures on the Christian faith to be preached to the catechumens, those waiting for baptism, and the five Mystagogical Catecheses, on the sacraments, for the newly baptized. For these works, Cyril earned his place among the early Church Fathers, and remains a source for those looking for definitions and explanations in Christianity as his works have survived and are widely known.
     As the Emperor Constantine had only made the world safe for Christians in 315, Christian laypeople were coming from their cities with their bishops now freely able to visit the tombs of martyrs being erected and more significantly to travel to Jerusalem itself. Cyril provided for probably increasing numbers of pilgrims the Holy Week liturgies that are still used everywhere today, including the procession with palms on Palm Sunday.
     The Episcopal Church cites the journal of a 4th century Spanish nun called Egeria, who came in contact with St. Cyril while in Jerusalem. Here is her account for the festivities on Palm Sunday:

 "Accordingly at the seventh hour all the people go up to the Mount of Olives, that is, to Eleona, and the bishop with them, to the church, where hymns and antiphons suitable to the day and to the place are said, and lessons in like manner. And when the ninth hour approaches they go up with hymns to the Imbomon, that is, to the place whence the Lord ascended into heaven, and there they sit down, for all the people are always bidden to sit when the bishop is present; the deacons alone always stand. Hymns and antiphons suitable to the day and to the place are said, interspersed with lections and prayers. And as the eleventh hour approaches, the passage from the Gospel is read, where the children, carrying branches and palms, met the Lord, saying; Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, and the bishop immediately rises, and all the people with him, and they all go on foot from the top of the Mount of Olives, all the people going before him with hymns and antiphons, answering one to another: Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord. And all the children in the neighborhood  even those who are too young to walk, are carried by their parents on their shoulders, all of them bearing branches, some of palms and some of olives,2 and thus the bishop is escorted in the same manner as the Lord was of old. For all, even those of rank, both matrons and men, accompany the bishop all the way on foot in this manner, making these responses, from the top of the mount to the city, and thence through the whole city to the Anastasis, going very slowly lest the poeple should be wearied; and thus they arrive at the Anastasis at a late hour. And on arriving, although it is late, lucernare takes place, with prayer at the Cross; after which the people are dismissed."

The Good Friday Veneration of the Cross is also recorded. In Jerusalem, this was celebrated of course in the part of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (which Egeria refers to as "the Basilica") which stands right over Golgotha:

"Then a chair is placed for the bishop in Golgotha behind the Cross, which is now standing; the bishop duly takes his seat in the chair, and a table covered with a linen cloth is placed before him; the deacons stand round the table, and a silver-gilt casket is brought in which is the holy wood of the Cross. The casket is opened and (the wood) is taken out, and both the wood of the Cross and the title are placed upon the table. Now, when it has been put upon the table, the bishop, as he sits, holds the extremities of the sacred wood firmly in his hands, while the deacons who stand around guard it. It is guarded thus because the custom is that the people, both faithful and catechumens, come one by one and, bowing down at the table, kiss the sacred wood and pass through. And because, I know not when, some one is said to have bitten off and stolen a portion of the sacred wood, it is thus guarded by the deacons who stand around, lest any one approaching should venture to do so again. And as all the people pass by one by one, all bowing themselves, they touch the Cross and the title, first with their foreheads and then with their eyes; then they kiss the Cross and pass through, but none lays his hand upon it to touch it. "

Golgotha today.

Collect (From the Episcopal Church):
Strengthen, O Lord, the bishops of your Church in their special calling to be teachers and ministers of the Sacraments, so that they, like your servant Cyril of Jerusalem, may effectively instruct your people in Christian faith and practice; and that we, taught by them, may enter more fully into celebration of the Paschal mystery; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

St. Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland, March 17

St. Patrick at Croagh Patrick, where he had an oratory. 

     Patrick is perhaps the most famous saint after St. Francis of Assisi and the Blessed Virgin Mary. And because the Church he founded is the Church of Ireland, he is very important in both the Roman and Anglican Churches.
     Patrick was born on the Northwest coast of Britain in 390 to a noble family. His father was a Roman official and a deacon while his mother was probably a native Briton. The story is too well known: at 16 Patrick was captured by Irish raiders (at the time, the Irish were called the 'Soctians' by the Romans, which means pirates) and brought to Ireland to work as a slave-shepherd. He later paid for his freedom with a gold coin he found and escaped back to Briton. But his time as a shepherd in Ireland was far from over. He became a priest and then a bishop, perhaps in Gaul. In 432 he had a dream telling him to return to Ireland to reestablish the Church (there had been one mission before him by Bishop Palladius who was sent by the Pope but failed in Ireland and pursued missionary work in Scotland).
     Patrick landed at what is now called Downpatrick, where he began his mission. He quickly spread Christianity by appealing first to the Irish kings and then to the tribes. He built upon the ruin of the old religion and so many of Ireland's holy wells and hills now associated with Patrick and other saints were once pagan sanctuaries. To each king he assigned what became archbishops and to each tribe a bishop. Patrick did not establish monasteries, these were brought later by St. Cairnach, who was trained in Whithorn by St. Ninian, but colleges of bishops which provided for select centers of Christianity that served as 'bases' for the evangelization of the whole country.
Patrick established his principal seat at Armagh, where his successors, the Archbishops of Armagh, remain the 'Primate of All Ireland.' He died in 461 and is buried outside the Church of  Ireland Cathedral at Downpatrick. His work was a catalyst of a golden age of Christianity enshrined by the Celtic peoples of Wales, Ireland and Scotland. He began a process, but did not Christianize Ireland entirely, and his disciples and successors, also among Ireland's greatest saints, are due, therefore, much veneration also.


There are many saintly bishops like St. Patrick but we must reserve him some credit because of the singularity with which he fulfilled his mission. It is not recorded that Patrick took very many companions with him, so Ireland's conversion is almost wholly due to Patrick's work. Patrick confessed that he hated the Irish, and with good reason since they enslaved him, but here we see how Patrick followed Christ's commandment: "Love thine enemies" and brought the thing that he loved most to the people he hated.

Downpatrick Cathedral.

     St. Patrick relevance in the Church is not overdone, though perhaps a different part of his life and work needs to be emphasized for its benefit. The Church is desperately in need of people, priests and most importantly bishops like St. Patrick. I am afraid to say that many of  the Church's leaders are unimaginative and though the Church was many times smaller in Patrick's Day, its community was many times more healthy than it is today. The Church needs bishops who are willing to dedicate their lives to establishing more bishoprics, priests and religious communities. Missionary areas are no longer on the edges of the world. We have been off of our guard and now each diocese around the world is a shell, including thousands of people who do not know Christ. We must invoke the example of St. Patrick and his successors for the future of our Church.

Collect: (From the Episcopal Church)
Almighty God, who in your providence chose your servant Patrick to be the apostle of the Irish people, to bring those who were wandering in darkness and error to the true light and knowledge of you: Grant us so to walk in that light, that we may come at last to the light of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever. Amen.

Tomb of St. Patrick at Downpatrick Church of Ireland Cathedral. The (Anglican) Church of Ireland is the Church directly descended from the Church established by St. Patrick. This is why it has all of the old churches and Cathedrals of Ireland. It is a catholic Church, though no longer under the pope. It is, literally, The Church of Ireland. 

"St. Patrick's Breastplate." There is some debate over whether Patrick wrote it but it still remains important to his memory and message.

Christ be with me, 

Christ within me,
Christ behind me,
Christ before me,
Christ beside me,
Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort
and restore me.
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ in quiet,
Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of
all that love me,
Christ in mouth of
friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself today
the strong Name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same,
the Three in One, and One in Three.
Of whom all nature hath creation,
eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
praise to the Lord of my salvation,

salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Saint Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester, 19 January.

St. Wulfstan of Worcester (watercolor of stained glass by myself)

Saint Wulfstan was a Saxon bishop of Worcester in the late 11th century who recognized the unimportance of the secular ruler in the context of his duties: to be spiritual shepherd  and whole comforter of the people entrusted to him as bishop. Wulfstan witnessed an ugly transition in the history of England: the transition from Saxon rule to the rough, oppressive Norman rule begun by William the Conqueror in 1066.

Born in 1008, Wulfstan began his career at Worcester as a monk in 1038 and then Prior of the Benedictine Cathedral Priory. When the bishop of Worcester, Ealdred, became Archbishop of York, Wulfstan was appointed the position which he reluctantly accepted like so many other saintly bishops (namely Sts. Cuthbert, Hugh and Peter of Tarentaise). After the conquest, Wulfstan submitted to William I and to his new Archbishop of Canterbury, Lanfranc, rather that risk his position (most other Saxon bishops were deposed) and thus his relationship to the people he led with great devotion and efficiency. Wulfstan incorporated the rules of his previous monastic life into his role as bishop, running his diocese, and sometimes others when they were vacant, as if he were following a rule. He designed a system for episcopal visitations (while many of his episcopal colleagues enjoyed their palaces), rebuilt Worcester Cathedral, consecrated numerous churches encouraged to be patronized by local lords, and was notorious for his charity and ministry to the poor and dispossessed. It was towards the end of his career that he cooperated with Lanfranc to end the capture and sale of English slaves at Bristol by Vikings. For his submission to the new regime and his passionate undertaking of the bishopric, he was trusted and valued by the first two Norman kings even though the court claimed he was unfit for his position as he could neither speak French and was "unlearned." Whether the latter was true or not (it probably wasn't as the Saxon Benedictines, like most others, were patrons of learning) his leadership, charity and devotion are ample evidence of his holiness. He died in 1095 while washing the feet of the local poor. He was the last surviving Saxon bishop when he died and was immediately venerated as a saint.

St. Wulfstan reminds us of the tentativeness, weakness and inhumanity of all human governments and regimes. For St. Wulfstan, a Saxon or a Norman king was of little importance though of great consequence, to his duty as shepherd and caretaker his people. Christ is the only perfect, just and eternal government, all others are stained by humanity's innate sin and fleeting. Before Wulfstan passed the government of his country from one ruler to another. He chose not to side with one or the other but with Christ, the real and only King, and continued his duties as laid out under his rules.
     In another sense, bishops and priests of today should look to St. Wulfstan as a model of administration. Wulfstan followed a kind of "episcopal rule" (a phrase I am making up) which allowed him to fully integrate his life with his duties as bishop. Such a rule for today's bishops and priests, whether it was one of evangelism, visitation, or ministry in particular, or each combined, would recast a much holier light on the episcopal office as it is and was once was regarded-the office of today's apostles and heralds of the risen Christ.

Collect: (From the Episcopal Church)
Almighty God, whose only-begotten Son hath led captivity captive and given gifts to thy people: Multiply among us faithful pastors, who, like thy holy bishop Wulfstan, will give courage to those who are oppressed and held in bondage; and bring us all, we pray, into the true freedom of thy kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

St. Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, 29 December. (Also known as Thomas of Canterbury)

Stained glass image of St. Thomas from Canterbury

     December 29 is the day on which one of England's most famous churchmen, Thomas of Canterbury, is remembered as the saint who stood up for the Church and was killed in the Cathedral Church of Christ at Canterbury. Thomas' actions leading up to his martyrdom are sometimes criticized as self-serving but all of these actions, and the martyrdom which surpassed them all, were and remain symbols of the Church's rightful position next to or above civil and secular authority in the world.
     Thomas was born into a Norman merchant family in London in around 1120. He was educated in a few monastic schools in London and spent some time in Paris before he returned to England to serve the Archbishop of Canterbury, Theobald of Bec, who was a Norman like Thomas and perhaps even related to him. Thomas was made the Archdeacon of Canterbury and held several ecclesiastical positions in Kent, the Cathedrals at London and Lincoln and even at the Yorkshire Benedictine Abbey at Beverly. His success as an administrator in these churches allowed him to become the Chancellor to King Henry II. During his time as chancellor, Thomas and Henry became close friends, and he for now, enjoyed the freedoms of a secular administrator. But after the death of Theobald, Henry nominated Thomas for Archbishop of Canterbury, the primate of all the Church in England,  thinking that as a friend Thomas would resolve the Church vs. State controversy by acknowledging Henry as his superior.
     On becoming Archbishop however, Thomas decided that his allegiance now lay directly and primarily with Christ and his Church. He also adopted a lifestyle of asceticism, wearing a hair shirt to mortify his skin and a black benedictine habit under his episcopal robes to symbolize humility and the vow of poverty. His first conflict with civil authority came at the Council of Clarendon, when Henry tried to take more control over the Church from Rome. Thomas refused to sign and was tried before the for not cooperating. In 1164, Thomas fled to France where he took sanctuary in the Cistercian Abbey of Pontigy in Picardy. Before his return in 1170, Henry tried to secure the succession of his son to the English throne by holding a coronation for him. Since Becket was not present, Henry allowed the Archbishop of York instead to crown the prince, which was traditionally a prerogative of the Archbishops of Canterbury. For this, Becket excommunicated York, the other bishops who attended the ceremony and a whole cast of candidates for privileged ecclesiastical offices who had taken to traveling with Henry. Finally after six  years of living as a monastic in exile,  Thomas was allowed to return to England. From Calais, he left for Canterbury in early December 1170. But Henry, while at Rouen, soon learned of the excommunications and, naturally infuriated by them, uttered that fateful phrase: "Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?" as T.S Elliot wrote it. Meanwhile, Thomas preached a sermon on Christmas Day on Christian martyrdom which included a prediction that this would be his last sermon. On the 29th of December, four knights, who had been with the King at Rouen, arrived at the Palace of the Archbishop in Canterbury. Thomas was leaving with his attendant to go to vespers in the Cathedral. He was pursued through the cloister  but turned to face his murderers at a pier near the entrance of the chapel of St. Benedict. The knights demanded that he renounced the excommunications or come with them out of the Church. Thomas refused to do either and held fast to the pier while one of the knights tried to drag him out. Another knight struck him on the head and after falling to his knees where he received two more blows, saying "I  commend my soul to Christ and the Church." The tomb began to attract pilgrims immediately and hundreds of miracles were recorded. He was canonized just three years later and in 1174, Henry II did penitence there, receiving three blows from each of the eighty monks of Canterbury. His relics were translated into a new shrine in 1220 under Archbishop Langton into the chapel behind the high alter. The shrine remained there until 1538, when Henry VIII had it demolished and Thomas proclaimed a rebel in an effort to eliminate all vestiges of papal power in England.

The Place of Martyrdom in Canterbury Cathedral. The metal swords and cross                                                                  make a great memorial though the small altar is a bit of a let down.

     As says a booklet from Canterbury Cathedral, now the mother-Church of the Anglican Communion and still a place of pilgrimage for those who "seek the holy blissful martyr quick" (from Chaucer), "there is a law higher than the will of worldly princes, and that secular tyranny, in God's name, be resisted even unto death." By his example in martyrdom, Thomas shows that to protect the Church and its faith, martyrdom may even come by the hand of another Christian. Like Thomas, it is essential that all priests, especially bishops, must guard the traditional and continuing mission and faith of the Church perhaps even to other bishops. There are bishops in the Anglican and the Roman Churches who believe that the faith is too 'medieval' for modern Christians, and that the Church should be stripped of its faith to become a sort of moral, community force without borders. That is the very act of abandonment of Christ's mission to us, his Church. So, like St. Thomas of Canterbury, every archbishop, bishop, priest and layperson must stick fast to the Church and to its faith even if it means to be shunned, to be scolded, to be mocked, to be insulted, and yes, to be martyred. There is nothing more precious than the blood which is the love which Christ shed for us and we must be willing to shed that blood also for the love of Christ and his Church.

The Martyrdom on the tomb of Henry IV of Lancaster.

Collect:

O God, our strength and our salvation, who didst call thy servant Thomas Becket to be a shepherd of thy people and a defender of thy Church: Keep thy household from all evil and raise up among us faithful pastors and leaders who are wise in the ways of the Gospel and who are willing to serve your holy Church even unto death; through our Lord Jesus Christ the Shepherd of our souls who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen.

Canterbury Cathedral high altar. Behind is where Thomas's shrine stood.

An artist's interpretation of the shrine of St. Thomas.

Pilgrim's badge depicting the shrine.

The Shrine of St. Thomas at Canterbury. 

     As the most popular pilgrimage site in England and in much of northern Europe, the shrine of St. Thomas at Canterbury became one of the most lavishly decorated shrines in Christendom. When the Cathedral was rebuilt after the fire of 1174, the east end was designed with the tomb in mind. Behind the high altar steps were built up into a sort of second chancel which formed a smaller gothic apse. Pilgrims could pass the quire and the altar and ascend into the apse to circumnavigate the shrine which was built in the center of the apse. The shrine itself was a typical English one in structure. The golden reliquary-coffin which contained the body of St. Thomas rested on raised arches into which pilgrims could crawl to be closer to the relics. Over the reliquary was another lid, in the same shape as the reliquary and draped in precious cloths. This could be lowered and raised to allow pilgrims to view the reliquary and to protect the precious shrine from thieves. Over most of the ensemble there was a golden net upon which the gifts of any pilgrims from smaller relics to jewelry to ex-votos were hung. At the foot of the shrine was an altar and around the shrine were large, free-standing candlesticks. This kind of 'table'shrine was very popular in England and can still be seen with the shrine of St. Frideswide at Oxford, St. Alban, St. Thomas Cantilupe at Worcester and St. Edward at Westminster. In around the year 1500, a Venetian pilgrim left this account of the shrine: 

“The tomb of St. Thomas the Martyr, Archbishop of Canterbury, exceeds all belief.  Notwithstanding its great size it is all covered with plates of pure gold ; yet the gold is scarcely seen because it is covered with various precious stones, as sapphires, ballasses, diamonds, rubies, and emeralds ; and wherever the eye turns, something more beautiful than the rest is observed, Nor, in addition to these natural beauties, is the skill of art wanting ; for in the midst of the gold are the most beautiful sculptured gems, both small and large, as well as cameos ; and some cameos are of such a size that I am afraid to name it ; but everything is far surpassed by a ruby, not larger than a thumb nail, which is fixed at the right of the altar.  The church is somewhat dark, and particularly in the spot where the shrine is placed ; and when we went to see it the sun was near setting, and the weather was cloudy : nevertheless, I saw that ruby as if I had it in my hand. They say it was given by a king of France.”

Canterbury Cathedral, which already hosted the shrines of many saintly Anglo-Saxon archbishops, was turned wholly into a church built for pilgrims. St. Thomas's shrine was the most important part, but like the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem there were many other altars and shrine's associated with Becket. 

The following is a list of the various shrines in Canterbury associated with Thomas and the offerings made at them on April 18th, 1303. Each of these were relics associated with Becket's martyrdom (It was common atin English Cathedrals to build a separate shrine for the saint's head as it was at Lincoln with St. Hugh, Lichfield with St. Chad, and at Croyland Abbey with St. Guthlac). Becket's crown (of his head), which was struck of when he was killed, was kept in a part of the Cathedral called 'Becket's Crown,' a chapel at the extreme east end which is circular in shape. 

"At the Shrine of S. Thomas the Martyr, one brooch of gold.
At the same shrine in money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7s.
At the Head of the same saint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . 7s.
At the Point of the Sword whereby the same saint
     underwent his martyrdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7s.
At the Cloak of the same saint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7s.
At the Tomb of the same saint in the vault . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7s."

-From J. Charles Wall's Shrines of the British Saints

As Becket became an 'international saint,' there are images of him and his marytrdom all over Europe, here are some of my favorites: 

Some vestments worn by Thomas at Sens Cathedral.

Boss in Norwich Cathedral 

Sens Cathedral, the burial.

The Martyrdom in Bayeux Cathedral. 

The Martyrdom on a Limoges reliquary. 

St. Drostan of Deer, 15 December

Speaking of monastic saints...

St. Drostan was a disciple of St. Columba on his missions through the Kingdom of the Picts in the 6th century. He established a monastery at Deer, which is now called by the related name Aberdour (or Inchcolm), which became the most important Church in that part of Scotland where it secured Christianity. Of this monastery, which fell into decay in periods but held religious communities until the Reformation in the 1500s, Drostan was abbot and perhaps also bishop, as many Celtic abbots were, and probably received a lot of royal support for it because of its proximity to the Pictish capital of Craig Phadrig, near Inverness. Towards the end of his life he left his abbey in the hands of the next abbot and became a hermit in the Scottish Highlands where he continued to preach to and give relief to the poor.

Anyhow, Drostan's abbey at Deer was instrumental in establishing churches and securing Christianity in the Moray-Grampians area. Thus, Drostan's Abbey, which was the mother of so many Christian churches in Eastern Scotland, was itself a daughter of Iona, the mother-house of all Scottish Churches (except for Whithorn), and of Iona it could be said, since it was established by St. Columba, was daughter to Clonard Abbey in Ireland and so forth. The seeds of missionary monasticism grew quickly and spread Gospel in the British Isles quickly once they were planted. It is the same today. With modern St. Finnians (teacher to Columba), we can have more St. Columbas. And with more St. Columbas we can have many more St. Drostans: many more churches and cathedrals filled: many more people comforted by the presence of Christ.


Above: St. John the Evangelist and the first chapter of his Gospel "In Principia erat Verbum" from the Book of Deer, a Celtic gospel book illuminated at St. Drostan's monastery.

St. Ambrose of Milan, 7 December, and the Ambrosian Rite and Liturgy.

St. Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan.
     St. Ambrose lived in the 4th century A.D. and was, before he became Archbishop of Milan, the Roman Governor of Aemilia and Liguria, a province of what is now Lombardy with the capitol at Milan. Upon the death of the Arian bishop of Milan, Ambrose went to the council of bishops who were to elect the new archbishop to prevent conflict but found himself instead as elected to take that office, which he humbly accepted. Ambrose allotted all his wealth to the poor except for some which he reserved for his sister, as did St. Anthony the Great when he entered the desert of Egypt to become a hermit. He is similar to St. Hugh of Lincoln in his lifestyle as bishop where he practiced humility and asceticism in one of the highest and most public offices in the Roman empire. Also as a precursor for later medieval saint-bishops such as Hugh or Thomas Becket, he came into great conflict with the Roman Emperors and other secular authorities through his suppression of the Arian heresy. The Arians were still at large in the 4th century and demanded the right to worship in some of Milan's greatest Churches, which Ambrose refused, incurring the anger of the Emperor Valentinian, whose wife was an acclaimed Arian. He also excommunicated the Emperor Theodosius after massacres in Greece. Throughout his episcopate, Ambrose was staunch in maintaining the true faith of the Nicene Creed and the practice of Christian Charity and mercy. He died in 395 and is buried in the Basilica of St. Ambrogio in Milan.
As one of the first 'Doctors of the Church,' Ambrose is remembered as a great hymnist, liturgist, and theologian as St. Augustine of Hippo was his greatest student. Many of his works survive and among his most prevalent focuses are human sin, ethics,  and divine grace, but his writings also influenced the growing importance of the sacraments of of specific doctrines of the Church. He influenced liturgy through music and through the composition of the rite. As a hymnist, he composed a form of chant now honored to him as Ambrosian Chant which involves a chanted dialogue between the officiant of the office and the congregation and is still used in the Archdiocese of Milan. He, like the writers and composers St. Jerome or Gregory the Great, is often depicted in a scriptorium. At one point as Archbishop, Ambrose got into an argument with Churchmen in Rome about Milan's distinct liturgy from the Roman Rite. He resolved that when ever he went to Rome he would use their customes but in Milan he would keep practicine the Ambrosian Rite. His decision is purpetuated in a common saying which survive today when he wrote in a letter "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."
     The example of Ambrose as a Church figure involved in every aspect of the Church's and its members lives is important in a world that is constantly growing more secular. Although many believe that no religion should have any official place in government this does not mean that archbishops, bishops, and priests should remain un-involved and unspoken. They should by no means attach themselves to a political party...but the Church should make itself known through public outcry and involvement that it is a body of citizens whose beliefs will not allow for certain trespasses of the state to be acceptable. Ambrose's deep influence in regional liturgy and music also shows that priests and bishops should look towards the perfection of a liturgy that will best satisfy the devotion of the Church's members.
     Most importantly, the careful guardianship of the faith by Ambrose against rogue bishops in the church who upheld the Arian heresy, shows us the importance of preserving the faith, especially when it is assaulted by our own bishops, our successors to the apostles, and other forces from within the Church. The faith in Christ-of the one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church- is the only real treasure. It must be protected from people in the church who deny the faith and its leaders and members must continue to fulfill its eternal duty...to bring Christ, to bring the Church, to as many people in the world for their comfort from the knowlage that Christ is Our Savior...from everything that could challenge our happiness in this world and the next.

The Ambrosian Rite and Liturgy.
     The Ambrosian Rite is the only non-Roman Rite liturgy that is allowed to be used in any diocese of the Roman Catholic Church except for the Gallician Rite, which can only be used in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain on the Feast fo St. James, 25 July, who is buried there. It is the main use of the parishes in the Archdioces of Milan, where Ambrose was bishop. The rite could be described as more byzantine than the roman rite in its arrangement of the Mass and the Divine Offices  and even the liturgical calendar. Perhaps most remarkably, the services of Holy Week are distincly different from any other latin rite, and both the seasons of Lent and Advent are longer than the ususal Roman observance. Ambrosian Chant, which is distinct from Gregorian Chant, is Gallo-Roman in nature, more similar to the Mozarabic Chant of Spain or the chant used in Gaul. The Ambrosian Chant often calls for a treble (boys choir) section. The chant also includes  a part for the congregation, who is supposed to join in the chant both at Mass and at daily offices, esspecially in the singing of the psalms. The Basilica of St. Ambrogio in Milan is known to use the Ambrosian Chants and Rite regularly.

Collect:
O God, who gave your servant Ambrose grace eloquently to proclaim your righteousness in the great congregation, and fearlessly to bear reproach for the honor of your Name: Mercifully grant to all bishops and pastors such excellence in preaching and faithfulness in ministering your Word, that your people may be partakers with them of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Ambrosian chant - Alleluia. Hodie in Bethlehem puer natus est.

The Gospel Alleluia from the Ambrosian Rite in Milan Cathedral.

Preces and responses in the Ambrosian Rite in the Basilica of S. Ambrogio, Milan, where St. Ambrose is buried. The church seems to be the most well known for its use of the rite.

Feast of St. Willibrord, Apostle to Frisia, 7 November and the Dancing Procession of Echternach

St. Willibrord: Apostle to Frisia, first Archbishop of Utrecht.

     St. Willibrord was one of the earliest of the Anglo-Saxon missionaries to the Germanic peoples. His mission to the pagans of what are now the Netherlands sparked a century of English sponsored missions to bring the Gospel to Frisia and Germany. Many saints would follow this first Archbishop of Utrecht, penetrating deep into barbaric lands and placing their lives in jeopardy. Willibrord was born near York in Northumbria A.D. 658 and was educated in the abbey of St. Peter at Ripon by St. Wilfrid. When he returned to England in 690, he organized a mission with twelve other monks to bring Christ to Frisia. He gained support for his mission from Pippin II of the Franks and Pope Sergius who consecrated him a bishop. Willibrord soon established a cathedral at Utrecht and a flourishing monastery at Echternach, now Luxembourg, in much the same fashion that St. Augustine established the Church in Kent a century before. He was repelled once and his churches burned, but he returned and rebuilt everything and even sent further missions into Denmark and Germany. He died in 739 and his body was enshrined at the Abbey at Echternach where it remains.

    Willibrord's life is important to the modern Church as an example of missionary perseverance. The Church has lost members all over the world, and it is in need of leaders like St. Willibrord to penetrate into each and every community, even, and especially where there are church congregations already. The setbacks that Willibrord experienced to his work was much more forceful and damaging than the silent yet quick declination that the Church today is experiencing, and so a reformulated interest in his example and thanksgiving in the his work and the work of the many saints like him is important to the revitalization to the Church where she exists and to spread the love of Christ where it has yet to thrive.

     The Dancing Procession of Echternach

     The cult of St. Willibrord became very strong in Luxembourg, Belgium, and in the Netherlands, where, to this day, Europe's only dancing procession is held every year on St. Willibrord's day. The procession begins with the chanting of the Litany of St. Willibrord and then the procession dances through the city, into the abbey and right down into the crypt to pass the shrine of St. Willibrord, while the bishop sits over the entrance to the crypt, blessing pilgrims as they pass beneath him.

This video, though a bit dramatic in presentation, captures both older and more recent films of the St. Willibrord Dance. 

And this, from last year:

Collect:

     O Lord our God, who dost call whom thou willest and send them whither thou choosest: We thank thee for sending thy servant Willibrord to be an apostle to the Low Countries, to turn them from the worship of idols to serve thee, the living God; and we entreat thee to preserve us from the temptation to exchange the perfect freedom of thy service for servitude to false gods and to idols of our own devising; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Heavenly Father, we ask you especially on this day when a new Archbishop of Canterbury has been chosen to give him the strength and perseverance of St. Willibrord and all thy saints, that he may help to heal the Church and extend its mission to all corners of the earth; we ask this through your Son Jesus Christ. Amen

Shrine of St. Willibrord at Echternach Abbey.

The Litany of St. Willibrord:

Lord, have mercy,
Christ, have mercy,
Christ, hear our prayer.
Christ, hear our prayer!

God the Father in heaven, Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, Have mercy on us.

God the Holy Trinity, Have mercy on us.
Blessed Mary, pray for us.
Blessed Mother of God, pray for us.
Blessed Virgin of all virgins, pray for us.

St Willibrord, pray for us!
St Willibrord, Guiding Light of the Church,*
*pray for us, St Willibrord
St Willibrord, Bright-shining star of our country,*
St Willibrord, Missionary to our homeland,*
St Willibrord, special protector of this our land,*
St Willibrord, first apostle of the Netherlands.*
St Willibrord, founder of monasteries and churches,*
St Willibrord, promotor of progress and knowledge,*
St Willibrord, teacher of truth,
St Willibrord, passionate interpreter of the teaching of Christ,*
St Willibrord, ceaseless proclaimer of the Holy Gospel,*
St Willibrord, teacher of true faith,*
St Willibrord, founder of peace and justice,*
St Willibrord, model of hope and reconciliation,*
St Willibrord, conqueror of injustice and discord,*
St. Willibrord, Architect of Community and Unity,*
St Willibrord, Destroyer of idols,*
St Willibrord, Patron Saint of children,*
St Willibrord Gentle guide of the lost,*
St Willibrord , Support of the homeless,*
St Willibrord, Friend of the persecuted,*
St Willibrord, Light of the blind,*
St. Willibrord, Refuge for the sick,*
St Willibrord, Gentle father of the poor,*
St Willibrord, Comforter of the afflicted and sorrowful,*
St Willibrord, Helper to the suffering,*
St Willibrord, True voice of God,*
St Willibrord, Humble servant of Jesus Christ,*
St Willibrord, Mighty advocate in heaven,*
St Willibrord, Miraculous healer,*
St Willibrord, True witness and confessor of Christ,*
St Willibrord, Saviour of those who doubt their faith,*
St Willibrord, Supporter of the carer and educator,*
St Willibrord, Hope of those who pray,*
St Willibrord, Model of patience and gentleness,*
St Willibrord, Example of active love,*
St Willibrord, Master of joy and life,*
St Willibrord, Disciple of Christ,*

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,
Lord, have mercy on us!

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world.
Lord, hear our prayer!

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world.
Lord, have mercy on us!

Litany From http://www.willibrord.lu/rubrique4/Saint-Willibrord/prayer/The-litany-of-St-Willibrord/Litany

St. Frideswide, October 19 (also called St. Frithuswith).

Medieval stained glass in the chapel of St. Frideswide, Christ Church Cathedral. St. Frideswide is in the middle.

Frideswide was born in the late seventh century to King Didan and Queen Selfrida, rulers of a Mercian (the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the Midlands) sub-kingdom. At an early age, Frideswide showed interest in becoming a nun and requested that her father give money for her to establish a nunnery in Oxford, then the capital of Didan's little kingdom. She was successful in establishing and nurturing a prominent nunnery, and her reputation as a miracle worker and a holy woman in general contributed to the hallowed story that surrounds her. The legend, from a twelfth century life, is told as such: Frideswide established her community of nuns on the edge of Oxford when the King Algar of Leicester demanded that she marry him. Frideswide refused Algar's request but was sized by Algar's men, who were stuck blind upon touching her. Algar then decided to find her himself, but Frideswide was warned and escaped to the river Thames where she was transported in a boat by an Angel to Bampton, where she took cover with some of her companions in the house of a swineherd in the forest. There she stayed for several years, after establishing a community and gathering a reputation as a miracle worker. Algar was struck blind in his pursuit upon entering the city. Frideswide moved back to her Oxford nunnery from her community at Bampton where she ruled as abbess and where her fervent prayers yield still more miracles until her death in 727. Frideswide is associated with a particular well at Binsey where she hid for a time founding a chapel and working miracles and a cult grew around her simple grave. By the twelfth century, however, the monastery at Oxford had become a house of secular canons and so the Augustinians, whose special purpose, they believed was to establish centers of learning for priests hospitals for the poor and to revive shrines of saints who had fallen out of popularity. St. Frideswide's became an Augustinian monastery and in approximately 1180 after much fasting and keeping of vigils the canons were revealed her grave by miracles. The bones were translated into a shrine on 12 February 1180 and again in 1289 were they remained until the reformation when they were interred with the body of Catherine Martyr.
The Shrine of St. Frideswide at Oxford has recently been rebuilt and dominates a chapel to the north side of the high altar in Christ Church Cathedral. Frideswide is an example, as the first among the people of Oxford to give up the '"inordinate love of things of this world," for us to follow Christ by throwing away all the treasures of this world and dedicate our lives to his work. We can do this in little ways, by sacrificing small, everyday distractions so that we can focus more on Christ, what he gave to us and what we can do to spread his love. Frideswide, like many other saintly monastics, is a model for how we can do this, give up earthly distractions. Not everybody is supposed to be exactly like Frideswide, not everybody should hide themselves in the cloister, rather Frideswide's many works show us how we can do what she did on our own terms.

Heavenly Father, who inspired thy servant Frideswide to give up earthly desires for a life of prayerful dedication to the work of your son, Jesus Christ; inspire us also to cast off earthly distraction and clothe ourselves in a life in the footsteps of our savior, through the same thy Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Shrine of St. Frideswide. The widow tells her legend.

St. Thomas Cantilupe of Hereford, 2 October.

St. Thomas had early involvement in both ecclesiastical and political matters. He came from a noble family powerful in the Welsh Marches and was able to receive education by the bishop of Worcester and later at Oxford and Paris. In France, Thomas rose to prominence after ordination, a bestowal of several paying benefices and a presence at the Council of Lyons. He returned to Oxford after studying canon law and became a patron of poor students and at this time, his contact with the diocese of Hereford grew as he was presented with parishes there; he was elected bishop by the cathedral canons in 1275. It was the responsibility of his new office which seemed to produce a conversion, as Thomas Becket experienced when consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury. Thomas took to wearing a hair shirt and became increasingly zealous in traveling from parish to parish in his diocese to perform the sacrament of confirmation. He even forbade pluralism, which he had committed during his time at Paris and Oxford, and exhorted donations from the wealthy. He met trouble in trying to regain certain diocesan rites and became involved in a conflict with Archbishop Pecham. He was excommunicated and died in 1282 in Italy, where from his relics were returned to Hereford and enshrined. His cult quickly spread and he was canonized in 1320. His cult has been widely revived at Hereford today where his shrine has been restored for daily prayer and organized pilgrimages. His importance to us, is both as a bishop and as a servant. As a bishop, he is an example of the ultimate dedication to his diocese and full devotion to his faith; both qualities that all bishops must strive for. His connection to all members of the Church, clergy and laity alike, lies in his rejection of worldliness for asceticism and the full assumption of local Christian responsibility; truly Christ-like qualities.

Almighty God, as thy servant Thomas Cantilupe so faithfully humbled himself to the duties of Christian love; help us to dedicate all aspects of our lives to the duties laid out for us by your son, Jesus Christ, and to convert all our actions to his glory Through Him, with You and in the unity of the Holy Spirit, who live and reign forever, Amen. 

The restored shrine of St. Thomas Cantilupe in Hereford Cathedral.