Abbot of St. Augustine’s, Canterbury, Abbot of Wearmouth, Abbot of Jarrow. Died: 12th January AD 689 at Wearmouth, Co Durham.

Biscop Baducing was born in Northumbria in AD 628, of a noble English family. When quite a young man, he stood high in the Royal favour and was rewarded for his services to King Oswiu by the gift of a possession in land suitable to his rank…

But, it would seem, to the astonishment of King and courtiers alike, when he was only twenty-five, and had all bright prospects opening out before him, “he lightly esteemed this transitory inheritance in order that he might obtain that which is eternal; he despised the warfare of this World, with its corruptible rewards, that he might be the soldier of the true King, and be thought worthy to possess an everlasting kingdom in the heavenly city. He forsook home, kindred and country for the sake of Christ and his gospel, that he might receive an hundredfold and possess the life which is eternal.”

This was in AD 653, just at the time that St. Wilfred (the Elder) had determined to leave his country for his first visit to Rome and, as his close friend, Biscop hailed with joy the opportunity to accompany him. Thus, the two friends started off together; but when Wilfred was detained at Lyons, Biscop hastened onwards without him, “being anxious personally to visit and worship at the places in which were deposited even the bodies of the blessed Apostles, towards whom it had always been his wont to feel an ardent devotion.”

After no long time, Biscop returned to his own country, full of fervour and enthusiasm, inspired by all he had heard and seen in his travels, and from this time onward his life was filled with perpetual journeys backwards and forwards between England and Rome; journeys not lightly or idly undertaken, but each with its definite purpose and each taken for the good of the English Church. Twelve years after his first visit, Biscop returned again, accompanied by Prince Alchfrith, and “on this,” says Bede, “as on the former occasion, he imbibed the sweets of no small amount of salutary learning.” After a stay of some few months, he started on his homeward journey, but stopped short at Lerins, an island off the south coast of France, where there stood the far-famed monastery of St. Honorat. Here Biscop went through a course of instruction and took upon him the vows of a monastic life. Two years were spent in seclusion and then once more, this time under the name of Benedict, he set out for Rome and paid his third visit to the Papal see.

It was just at this time that Pope Vitalian, in compliance with a request of the two chief English kings, was in the process of sending the great Archbishop Theodore to Britain. Being a Greek however, he was in need of someone who might act as his interpreter and explain to him the customs of the English nation. And who so well suited for this as Benedict, most fortunately just at that time in Rome? Accordingly, the Pope, “observing that the venerable Benedict was a man of a mind fraught with wisdom, perseverance, religion and nobleness, entrusted to his care the bishop whom he had ordained, together with all his party; and enjoined him to abandon the pilgrimage which he had undertaken for Christ’s sake, and out of regard to a higher advantage, to return homewards to introduce into England that teacher of the truth whom it had so earnestly sought after; to whom he might become both a guide on the journey, and an interpreter in his teaching after his arrival.” Benedict, we are told, did as he was commanded and, together, the two arrived in Kent, where they were most cordially received.

Theodore ascended the throne of the archiepiscopal see, while Benedict, at his request, undertook the government of the monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul (St. Augustine’s) in the same city. Here Benedict laboured for two years, at the end of which the indefatigable traveller paid a fourth visit to Rome, “with his usual good success,” says Bede. England was at that time behind the countries of the continent, both in arts and in literature, and Benedict had probably felt the lack of books from which to teach the scholars whom he gathered around him at Canterbury. He undertook this journey for the purpose of supplying the want he had experienced. Nor was his journey in vain, “he brought back with him no inconsiderable number of books on every branch of sacred literature, which he had either bought at a price or received as presents from his friends.” On his return to England he bent his steps northward, being anxious to revisit his own people and the region in which he had been born: and so came to the kingdom of Northumbria. Here, he was well received by King Egfrith, to whom he gave a glowing account of the foreign monasteries and schools of learning and displayed the treasures that he had secured on his journey.

The King caught Benedict’s enthusiasm and, in AD 674, gave him a tract of land where he might found a monastery; and here, in a short time, rose the walls of the monastery of St. Peter at Wearmouth, on the left bank of the river from which the spot takes its name. Benedict must have been a good sailor, for he had to go far and cross the sea before he could find men capable of building a church of stone in the Romanesque style; but nothing daunted, he crossed over to France and brought back with him masons ready and able to do the work he wanted. If a stone church was a rarity in those days, glazed windows were positively unknown in this country; but Benedict was determined that nothing should be wanting to his new church, and so sent messengers again to France. Bede’s account of this is curious and interesting. “He sent messengers,” he tells us, “to bring over glass-makers (a kind of workman hitherto unknown in Britain) to glaze the windows of the church, and its aisles and chancels. And so it happened that when they came they not only accomplished that particular work which was required of them, but from this time they caused the English nation to understand and learn this kind of handicraft, which was of no inconsiderable utility for the enclosing of the lamps of the church, or for various uses to which vessels are put.” Great was the astonishment of the good folk of Northumbria at this innovation introduced first in the church of Monkwearmouth, and shortly afterwards, in Jarrow. So much so that a tradition sprang up, which was handed down for many generations, that, because of its glazed windows, it never was dark in old Jarrow church.

Once the building was finished and Benedict had ransacked the treasures of France to provide “whatever related to the ministry of the altar and the church and holy vessels and vestments.” But there were still some things that he wanted, which he could not discover even in France, and so, in AD 679, he set out for a fifth time for Rome. Here he obtained all that he could desire and returned literally laden with spoil. In the first place, says Bede, he imported a numberless collection of all kinds of books; secondly, he introduced some relics of the saints, which were highly esteemed in those days; thirdly, he brought in to his own monastery the order of chanting, singing and ministering in the church, according to the Roman manner – bringing back with him a precentor, John by name, who was to become the future master of his own monastery, and of the English nation; fourthly, he obtained, from the Pope, with the express permission of the King, a grant of certain privileges to his monastery; and lastly, he carried home with him paintings of holy subjects for the ornamentation of the church. There were paintings of the Blessed Virgin and of the Apostles at the east end; along the south side ran a series of figures of the Gospel history, while the north wall was filled with the sublime images of the Visions of St. John the Divine in the Revelation. We are told his reason for thus decorating his church was “to the intent that all who entered the church, even if ignorant of letters, might be able to contemplate, in what direction so ever they looked, the ever gracious countenance of Christ and his saints, even though it were in a representation; or, with a more wakeful mind, might be reminded of the grace of our Lord’s incarnation or, having as it were, the strictness of the last judgment before their eyes, should thereby be cautioned to examine themselves with more narrow scrutiny.”

And so his great work was finished, and the monastery which he founded rapidly grew and flourished, so that, in the short space of a year (AD 682), he sent out from it a colony of twenty-two monks, under St. Ceolfrith, and founded a sister monastery of St. Paul at Jarrow, with the hope “that mutual peace and concord, mutual and perpetual affection and kindness should be continued between the two places.” Scarcely ten miles apart, the two monasteries were to all intents and purposes but one.

Benedict was now growing old; but his new church at Jarrow was to be no less glorious than that at Wearmouth, and so, in spite of age and infirmities, in AD 685, he crossed the sea once more, and for the sixth and last time repaired to Rome; “returning, as was his custom, enriched with countless gifts for ecclesiastical purposes, with a large supply of sacred volumes and no less an abundance of paintings than on previous occasions. Some of these were scenes from the life of our Lord, which he placed in the old church; while, for the church of Jarrow, he brought back an excellent series of paintings showing the harmony between the Old and the New Testaments. For instance, side by side, the paintings represented such subjects as Isaac bearing the wood on which he was to be slain and our Lord carrying the cross on which he was to suffer; or the serpent raised up by Moses in the wilderness, and the Son of Man exalted upon the cross.”

Thus he lived long enough to see both monasteries fairly at work and their buildings completed, and then his work was over. Shortly after his return from Rome, he was seized with a creeping paralysis. For three years, the disease gradually gained upon him, yet he never lost his cheerfulness, nor ceased to praise God and exhort the brethren. He was often troubled by sleepless nights, when, to alleviate his weariness, he would call one of his monks and desire to have read to him the story of the patience of Job, or some other passage of scripture by which a sick man might be comforted, or one bent down by infirmities might be more spiritually raised to heavenly things. Nor did he neglect the regular hours of prayer, but as he was unable to rise from his bed to prayer and could scarcely raise his voice in praise, he would call some of the brethren to him that they might sing the psalms in two choirs, he himself joining with them to the best of his ability. Eventually, the end came. On 12th January AD 689, he died as he had lived, surrounded by the brethren of the monasteries of his own creation, and was buried in the stone church that he had reared at Wearmouth, in the midst of the treasures that he had collected.

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He was the son of Fintan, son of Finloga, prince of South Muster, and Gelgesia, daughter of Aedhfinn, prince of Hy-Briuin in Connaught. He was born probably amongst the Hy-Bruin, and was baptized by St. Brendan the Traveller, his father’s uncle, who then ruled a monastery in the Island of Oirbsen, now called Inisquin in Lough Corrib.

He was educated by St. Brendan’s monks, and when of proper age he embraced the religious life in the same monastery under the Abbot St. Meldan, his “soul-friend” (anam-chura). His great sanctity was early discerned, and there is a legend that here, through his prayers, twin children of a chieftain related to King Brendinus were raised from the dead. After some years he founded a monastery at Rathmat on the shore of Lough Corrib which Colgan identifies as Killursa, in the deanery of Annadown. Aspirants came in numbers to place themselves under his rule, but he wished to secure also some of his relatives for the new monastery. For this purpose he set out with some monks for Munster, but on coming near his father’s home he was seized with an apparently mortal illness. He fell into a trance from the ninth hour of the day to cock-crow, and while in this state was favoured with the first of the ecstatic visions which have rendered him famous in medieval literature.

In this vision were revealed to him the state of man in sin, the beauty of virtue. He heard the angelic choirs singing “the saints shall go from virtue to virtue, the God of Gods will appear in Sion”. An injunction was laid on him by the two angels who restored him to the body to become a more zealous labour in the harvest of the Lord. Again on the third night following, the ecstasy was renewed. He was rapt aloft by three angels who contended six times with demons for his soul. He saw the fires of hell, the strife of demons, and then heard the angel hosts sing in four choirs “Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts”. Among the spirits of the just made perfect he recognized Sts. Meldan and Beoan. They entertained him with much spiritual instruction concerning the duties of ecclesiastics and monks, the dreadful effects of pride and disobedience, the heinousness of spiritual and internal sins. They also predicted famine and pestilence. As he returned through the fire the demon hurled a tortured sinner at him, burning him, and the angel of the Lord said to him: “because thou didst receive the mantle of this man when dying in his sin the fire consuming him hath scarred thy body also.” The body of Fursey bore the mark ever after. His brothers Foillan and Ultan then joined the community at Rathmat, but Fursey seems to have renounced the administration of that monastery and to have devoted himself to preaching throughout the land, frequetly exorcising evil spirits. Exactly twelve months afterwards he was favoured with a third vision. The angel remained with him a whole day, instructed him for his preaching, and prescribed for him twelve years of apostolic labour. This he faithfully fulfilled in Ireland, and then stripping himself of all earthly goods he retired for a time to a small island in the ocean. Then he went with his brothers and other monks, bringing with him the relics of Sts. Meldan and Beoan, through Britain ( Wales) to East Anglia where he was honourably received by King Sigebert in 633. The latter gave him a tract of land at Cnobheresburg on which he built a monastery within the enclosure of a Roman fort–Burghcastle in Suffolk–surrounded by woods and overlooking the sea. Here he laboured for some years converting the Picts and Saxons. He also received King Sigebert into the religious state. Three miracles are recorded of his life in this monastery. Again he retired for one year to live with Ultan the life of an anchorite.

When war threatened East Anglia, Fursey, disbanding his monks until quieter times should come, sailed with his brothers and six other monks to Gaul. He arrived in Normandy in 648. Passing through Ponthieu, in a village near Mézerolles he found grief and lamendation on all sides, for the only son of Duke Hayson, the Lord of that country, lay dead. At the prayer of Fursey the boy was restored. Pursuing his journey to Neustria he cured many infirmities on the way, by miracles he converted a robber and his family, who attacked the monks in the wood near Corbie, and also the inhospitable worldling Ermelinda, who had refused to harbour the weary travellers. His fame preceded him to Péronne, where he was joyfully received by Erkinoald, and through his prayers obtained the reprive of six criminals. He was offered any site in the king’s dominions for a monastery. He selected Latiniacum (Lagny), close to Chelles and about six miles from Paris, a spot beside the Marne, covered with shady woods and abounding in fruitful vineyards. Here he built his monastery and three chapels, one dedicated to the Saviour, one to St. Peter, and the third, an unpretending structure, afterwards dedicated to St. Fursey himself. Many of his countrymen were attracted to his rule at Lagny, among them Emilian, Eloquius, Mombulus, Adalgisius, Etto, Bertuin, Fredegand, Lactan, Malguil. Having certain premonitions of his end, he set out to visit his brothers Foillan and Ultan who had by this time recruited the scattered monks of Cnobheresburg and re-established that monastery but his last illness struck him down in the very village in which his prayer had restored Duke Haymon’s son to life. The village was thence-forward called Forsheim, that is, the house of Fursey. In accordance with his own wish his remains were brought to Péronne, many prodigies attending their transmission, and deposited in the portico of the church of St. Peter to which he had consigned the relics of Sts. Meldan and Beoan. His body lay unburied there for thirty days pending the dedication of the church, visited by pilgrims from all parts, incorrupt and exhaling a sweet odour. It was then deposited near the altar. Four years later, on 9 February, the remains were translated with great solemnity by St. Eligius, Bishop of Noyon, and Cuthbert, Bishop of Cambrai, to a chapel specially built for them to the east of the altar. In the “Annals of the Four Masters”, Péronne is called Cathair Fursa.

In art St. Fursey is represented with two oxen at his feet in commemoration of the prodigy by which, according to legend, Erkinoald’s claim to his body was made good; or he is represented striking water from the soil at Lagny with the point of his staff; or beholding a vision of angels, or gazing at the flames of purgatory and hell. It is disputed whether he was a bishop; he may have been a chorepiscopus. A litany attributed to him is among the manuscripts in Trinity College Dublin.

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St. Cedd was the eldest of four holy brothers, born into a noble Northumbrian family at the beginning of the 7th century. With his siblings, Cynebil, Caelin & (St.) Chad, he entered the school at Lindisfarne Priory at an early age and learnt the ways of the Irish monks under Bishop Aidan. They were eventually sent to Ireland for further study and all four subsequently became priests…

In AD 653, the mighty armies of King Penda of Mercia expanded their monarch’s influence to the control of Middle Anglia (Leicestershire and parts of Lincoln and Derby), where his son Peada was appointed King. Soon afterward, the young king visited his neighbour, King Oswiu of Northumbria, at Walton (or Atwell or Wattbottle) and, as his new kingdom had already been considerably influenced by East Anglian Christianity, Peada agreed to be baptised in return for the hand of Oswiu’s daughter, Alchflaed. Bishop Finan of Lindisfarne therefore welcomed the King and a number of his nobles into the Christian faith and Oswiu provided him with four priests to instruct his people further. One of these was St. Cedd.

Within a year, Cedd returned home, having helped to convert much of Middle Anglia to Christianity. He travelled to Lindisfarne to confer with Bishop Finan, who promptly sent this impress young missionary out once more to evangelise the people of Essex, who were sorely in need of some spiritual guidance. King Oswiu, having imposed his overlordship there, had persuaded King Sigeberht Sanctus to adopt Christianity, in a general mobilization against Penda of Mercia. Cedd thus turned south again to spread the word of God amongst the East Saxons. He baptised many of the locals and built several churches – possibly Prittlewell and West Mersea amongst them – and is particularly noted for the foundation of monasteries at Ythanchester (Bradwell-on-Sea) and Tilaburg (East Tilbury).

The following year, Cedd made a brief visit to Northumbria once more, where Bishop Finan had no hesitation in ordaining him as Bishop of Essex. Back in his southern province, Cedd pursued the work he had previously begun with more ample authority. He re-instated St. Paul’s in London as the main seat of his diocese. He ordained priests and deacons to assist him in his work and gathered together a large flock of servants of Christ in his two monastic foundations.

Bishop Cedd always remained fond of his homeland, however, and was wont to make regular visits there. On one such occasion in AD 658, Cedd was approached by King Aethelwald of Deira who had been instructed in Christianity and administered the Sacraments by the Bishop’s brother, Caelin. Finding Cedd to be a good and wise man, he pressed upon him to accept a parcel of land at Laestingaeu (Lastingham in Yorkshire) on which to build a Royal monastery and prospective mausoleum. Cedd eventually agreed, but would not lay the foundation stones until the place had first been cleansed through prayer and fasting. This, he undertook himself throughout lent, until his brother, Cynebil, took over, when the Bishop was called to the Royal Court. Cedd was the first Abbot of Lastingham and remained so while still administering to his flock in Essex.

Christianity had not quite been universally accepted in Cedd’s southern province and, by AD 660, there was considerable discontent with the rule of King Sigeberht of Essex. He was murdered by his brothers, Swithelm and Swithfrith, and the former took the throne as a pagan King. St. Cedd was forced to flee north into East Anglia, where he settled at the Court of King Aethelwald at Rendlesham (Suffolk). The East Anglians appear to have held some sort of overlordship in Essex at this time and, within about two years, Aethelwald had persuaded Swithelm that it would be in his interest to become Christian. Cedd baptised him at Rendlesham, with Aethelwald as his godfather, and the two returned to Essex.

It was around this time that, owing to the influence of St. Wilfrid who had been established at Ripon by King Alchfrith of Deira, that a great divide was forming in the Northumbrian Church. All the missionaries of the north had been brought up in Iona or Lindisfarne, and followed the Celtic ritual. Wilfrid, ordained by a French bishop, introduced Roman ways. The split even extended to the Royal household where, each year, Oswiu celebrated the Celtic Easter feast and his Queen, the Roman. To settle this difference, and prevent a rupture, the King convened a religious synod at Whitby in AD 664. St. Cedd attended the synod – probably with his brother, Chad – to act as interpreter and to speak on behalf of his fellow Celtic ecclesiastics, Bishop Colman of Lindisfarne and Abbess Hilda of Whitby. On the opposing side were Abbot Wilfrid of Ripon, former Bishop Agilbert of Wessex, Romanus, the Queen’s chaplain, and James the Deacon who had remained in Swaledale after St. Paulinus had fled Yorkshire. After much debate, it was decided that the Roman usages should be adopted and Cedd, along with many others, reluctantly renounced the customs of Lindisfarne and returned to his diocese to spread the new Roman ways amongst the people of Essex.

The same year, Cedd visited his Abbey at Lastingham while a great plague was, unfortunately, raging through the area. Both he and his brother, Cynebil, fell sick and, after placing Lastingham in the charge of their youngest brother, Chad, they died. Cedd was first buried in the open air and his funeral was attended by some thirty monks from Bradwell who, sadly, also contracted the plague and died. Eventually, a little stone church was built at the Lastingham, in honour the Virgin Mary, and Cedd’s body was interred there, to the right of the altar. The latter remains intact in the Norman crypt that was later built on the site, though St. Cedd’s bones were removed around the same time to the cathedral founded by his brother, Chad, at Lichfield.

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