MARCH 20 is the traditional feast day of ST. CUTHBERT (+687).
Cuthbert was born about 634 in Dunbar of the Kingdom of Northumbria. This is an area now straddling the Scottish lowlands and northern England, on the east coast. Towards the end of the 500s, Pope Gregory sent a mission of forty monks to Kent to evangelize the southeastern part of the island. There were pockets of Christianity left over from the days of Roman rule, but no organization. The king of Kent, Ethelbert, was a pagan married to the Frankish, Christian princess Bertha. It took some years, but Ethelbert was converted in 601. His daughter Ethelburg married Edwin, king of Northumbria years later. It took longer to convert him, by which time Cuthbert was born and was able to be influenced by all the new monasteries being erected. Some were set up by the Irish monks who had been invited and some were set up by Roman monks. The problem here was a difference in traditions, including how to date Easter. This became a problem.
Before Cuthbert became a monk, however, the king of Mercia, the area immediately south of Northumbria, chose to attack. Cuthbert was obligated, like many young men, to join the military. He probably stayed for most of the four year war, ending in the Battle of Winwidfield. He arrived at the monastery of Melrose astride a horse, with a spear. Soon, Cuthbert was known for his holiness and learning as well as some supernatural occurrences such as miracles.
Shortly, he was sent to the new monastery at Ripon as guest master. But, within a year or two, he returned to Melrose because the abbey had chosen to adopt Roman traditions. Cuthbert became ill with a pestilence which was going around the area . St. Boisil, the prior, died of the same illness. Cuthbert did not and became prior in his place in 664
A few years later, Cuthbert, the champion of the Irish traditions, was sent to the abbey at Lindisfarne to teach the Roman traditions to the monks and laity of the area as consensus required consolidation. He needed much patience and finesse to do this. But after almost ten years, he retired to a contempletive life away from the abbeys. He was not to be left to that idyllic life. In 685, Cuthbert was called to be bishop of Lindisfarne. He remained in that position for a year and moved to an island briefly before dying on March 20, 687.
Soon after his burial, the small spot became a place of pilgrimage for northern Englishmen. Miracles occurred there. And a church was built over time to commemorate him. He is now buried in the Dunham Cathedral.
In 721, St. Bede wrote a biography of the famous abbot. It can be found on the internet.
St. Cuthbert pray for us.
"Despise none of the faithful who seek your hospitality: treat them with kindly charity, not esteeming yourselves better than others who have the same faith and often live the same life."
St. Cuthbert
Cuthbert was born about 634 in Dunbar of the Kingdom of Northumbria. This is an area now straddling the Scottish lowlands and northern England, on the east coast. Towards the end of the 500s, Pope Gregory sent a mission of forty monks to Kent to evangelize the southeastern part of the island. There were pockets of Christianity left over from the days of Roman rule, but no organization. The king of Kent, Ethelbert, was a pagan married to the Frankish, Christian princess Bertha. It took some years, but Ethelbert was converted in 601. His daughter Ethelburg married Edwin, king of Northumbria years later. It took longer to convert him, by which time Cuthbert was born and was able to be influenced by all the new monasteries being erected. Some were set up by the Irish monks who had been invited and some were set up by Roman monks. The problem here was a difference in traditions, including how to date Easter. This became a problem.
Before Cuthbert became a monk, however, the king of Mercia, the area immediately south of Northumbria, chose to attack. Cuthbert was obligated, like many young men, to join the military. He probably stayed for most of the four year war, ending in the Battle of Winwidfield. He arrived at the monastery of Melrose astride a horse, with a spear. Soon, Cuthbert was known for his holiness and learning as well as some supernatural occurrences such as miracles.
Shortly, he was sent to the new monastery at Ripon as guest master. But, within a year or two, he returned to Melrose because the abbey had chosen to adopt Roman traditions. Cuthbert became ill with a pestilence which was going around the area . St. Boisil, the prior, died of the same illness. Cuthbert did not and became prior in his place in 664
A few years later, Cuthbert, the champion of the Irish traditions, was sent to the abbey at Lindisfarne to teach the Roman traditions to the monks and laity of the area as consensus required consolidation. He needed much patience and finesse to do this. But after almost ten years, he retired to a contempletive life away from the abbeys. He was not to be left to that idyllic life. In 685, Cuthbert was called to be bishop of Lindisfarne. He remained in that position for a year and moved to an island briefly before dying on March 20, 687.
Soon after his burial, the small spot became a place of pilgrimage for northern Englishmen. Miracles occurred there. And a church was built over time to commemorate him. He is now buried in the Dunham Cathedral.
In 721, St. Bede wrote a biography of the famous abbot. It can be found on the internet.
St. Cuthbert pray for us.
"Despise none of the faithful who seek your hospitality: treat them with kindly charity, not esteeming yourselves better than others who have the same faith and often live the same life."
St. Cuthbert