St Stephen Harding

Stephen’s dying words were: “I am going to God as I had never done any good. If I have done some good, it was through the help of the grace of God. But perhaps I have received this grace unworthily, without turning it sufficiently to account”.... Read more...

St Wilfrid of Hexham

Born in Northumbria from a noble family around 633AD, the young Wilfrid entered the court of King Oswiu, where he found an enthusiastic patroness in the person of Queen Eanflæd... Read more on Saints and Blesseds blog...

St Magnus of Orkney

Magnus has often been venerated as a martyr, even though he died because of local politics (and family feuding) rather than for his faith. In truth, his sanctity consists in the fact that, in the midst of all the casual cruelty of the Dark Age Viking world, he bore witness in his own life to the higher ideals of Christian piety and nobility – a light in the darkness shining even at this most wild and distant edge of Christendom. Read more...

Bl Clare Gambacorta

Blessed Clare Gambacorta (born Victoria, and also known, confusingly, as Bl Theodora or Thora of Pisa) was born in 1362 – probably in Venice, where her family (the most important in Pisa) were in political exile... Read more...

St Paulinus of York

In 601, Pope St Gregory the Great sent a group of missionaries to England – a second wave, following on from the initial mission led by St Augustine of Canterbury – with a view to converting the Anglo-Saxons. One member of this second wave of missionaries was Paulinus, and Italian monk. Read more...

St Godric of Finchale

Godric was born at Walpole in Norfolk (England) around the year 1065. He was a peddler of some sort – a traveling salesman, indeed – whose wanderings led him to sea for a period of around sixteen years, during which time he became a part-owner of a number of vessels, one of which he went on to captain. There is, in fact, some indication that he may have been operating more or less as a pirate, and that his lifestyle was as far removed from the ways of Christian living as that of pirates generally is. Read more on the Saints and Blesseds Page...

St Lidwina of Schiedam

Reading the lives of many woman saints (both mediaeval and modern), one is struck by the way in which suffering is heaped upon suffering – often in the form of distressing physical illness – as the individual becomes progressively conformed with the suffering Christ, giving expression at the root of her being to the vocation (repeatedly referred to in St Paul’s letters) to share in Christ’s passion and death in order that she might be more fully united with him in his resurrection. Read more...

St Milburga of Wenlock

Milburga (or Milburgh) was born in the latter half of the seventh century, one of three daughters of Ermenburga, a Kentish princess... Read more

St Sabas the Goth

I've just started a new blog, The Saints and Blesseds Page, which celebrates the saints and beati of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages (some, I hope, all the more interesting for being fairly obscure), with a bias towards those of the British Isles.

The latest post recounts the life of the heroic St Sabas the Goth - one of the few heretics (the Gothic church was Arian) recognized as a bona fide saint by both Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

Pre-Reformation Easter in Durham Abbey

Following on from my Good Friday post, here is an account by a monk of Durham Abbey (now Durham Cathedral), probably written in the 1590s (post-dissolution), describing Easter as this was observed in the Abbey before the Reformation. For more detail on pre-Reformation Holy Week in England, check out the series of excellent posts by Pastor in Valle.

There was in the abbye church of duresme [Durham] verye solemne service uppon easter day betweene 3 and 4 of the clocke in the morninge in honour of the resurrection where 2 of the oldest monkes of the quire came to the sepulchre, being sett upp upon good friday after the passion all covered with redd velvett and embrodered with gold, and then did sence it either monke with a paire of silver sencors sittinge on theire knees before the sepulcher;

then they both risinge came to the sepulchre, out of the which with great reverence they tooke a marvelous beautiful Image of our saviour representinge the resurrection with a crosse in his hand in the breast wheof was enclosed in bright Christall the holy sacrament of the altar, throughe the which christall the blessed host was conspicuous, to the behoulders;

then after the elevation of the said picture carryed by the said 2 monkes uppon a faire velvett cushion all embrodered singinge the anthem of christus resurgens they brought to the high altar settinge that on the midst therof whereon it stood the two monkes kneelinge on theire knees before the altar, and senceing it all the time that the rest of the whole quire was in singinge the foresaid anthem of Xpus resrugens;

the which anthem being ended the 2 monkes tooke up the cushines and the picture from the altar supportinge it betwixt them, proceeding in procession from the high altar to the south quire dore where there was 4 antient gentlemen belonginge to the prior appointed to attend theire cominge holdinge upp a most rich cannopye of purple velvett tached round about with redd silke, and gold fringe;

and at everye corner did stand one of theise ancient gentlemen to beare it over the said Image, with the holy sacrament carried by two monkes round about the church the whole quire waitinge uppon it with goodly torches and great store of other lights, all singinge rejoyceinge and praising god most devoutly till they came to the high altar againe, wheron they did place the said Image there to remaine untill the assencion day.

Source:The Ecclesiological Society

St Guthlac of Crowland

I've just started a new blog, The Saints and Blesseds Page, which celebrates the saints and beati of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, with a bias towards those of the British Isles.

The first post recounts the life of St Guthlac of Crowland.

Pre-Reformation Good Friday in Durham Abbey

The following represents an account by a monk of Durham Abbey (now Durham Cathedral), probably written in the 1590s (post-dissolution), describing Good Friday as this was observed in the Abbey before the Reformation.

Within the Abbye Church of Durham uppon good friday theire was marvelous solemne service, in the which service time after the passion was sung two of the eldest monkes did take a goodly large crucifix all of gold of the picture of our saviour Christ nailed uppon the crosse lyinge uppon a velvett cushion, havinge St Cuthberts armes uppon it all imbroydered with gold bringinge that betwixt them uppon the said cushion to the lowest stepps in the quire, and there betwixt them did hold the said picture of our saviour sittinge of every side on ther knees of that;

and then one of the said monkes did rise and went a prettye way from it sittinge downe uppon his knees with his shoes put of[f] verye reverently did creepe away uppon his knees unto the said crosse and most reverently did kisse it, and after him the other monkes did so likewise;

and then they did sitt them downe on eyther side of the said crosse and holdinge it betwixt them, and after that the prior came forth of his stall, and did sitt him downe of his knees with his shooes of[f] and in like sort did creepe also unto the said crosse and all the monkes after him one after an nother, in the same order;

and, in the meane time all the whole quire singinge an Himne, the service beinge ended the two monkes did carrye it to the sepulchre with great reverence, which sepulchre was sett upp in the morninge on the north side of the quire nigh to the high altar before the service time and there did lay it within the said sepulchre, with great devotion with another picture of our saviour Christ, in whose breast they did enclose with great reverence the most holy and blessed sacrament of the altar senceinge and prayinge unto it uppon theire knees a great space settinge two taper lighted before it, which tapers did burne unto Easter day in the morninge that it was taken forth.

Source: The Ecclesiological Society