Celtic and Old English Saints 29 June =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= * St. Cocha of Ross-Benchuir * St. Elwin of Lindsey * St. Salome and St. Judith =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
St. Cocha, Abbess of Ross-Benchuir, Who Nursed Saint Ciaran ----------------------------------------------- 6th century. Saint Cocha is said to have raised Saint Ciaran of Saighir (f.d. March 5) and later to have become abbess of Ross-Benchuir (Benedictines). St. Elwin (Aethelwine) of Lindsey, Bishop -------------------------------------------------- Died 692. This Saint Elwin may be the same person as Saint Ethelwin of Lindsey (f.d. May 3), although the date given for the latter is 8th century. Farmer states that today's Elwin studied in Ireland. He was consecrated bishop of Lindsey in 680 by Saint Theodore the Greek of Canterbury (f.d. September 19) at the request of King Ethelred of Mercia. The venerable Saint Bede (f.d. May 25) calls him a 'vir sanctus,' Elwin does not appear to have had an early cultus (Benedictines, Farmer). Ss. Salome and Judith, Virgins ----------------------------------------------- 9th century. Saints Judith and Salome are said to have been English women of royal blood, perhaps close relatives. They were anchorites at the monastery of Oberaltaich in Bavaria, Germany. Although the tradition is late, it has been suggested that Salome is Edburga, the beautiful, but rather shocking, daughter of King Offa of Mercia. She mistakenly poisoned her husband, King Beorhtric of the West Saxons, instead of an enemy. She was driven out of England for having committed this outrage. The Emperor Charlemagne gave her a rich monastery to govern, but he soon deposed her because of her scandalous behaviour. Thereafter she wandered about Europe with her maidservant begging for alms at Pavia (Patavium), Italy, or Passau (Patavia), Germany. If Asser made a mistake in his record and she was found in Passau, there is a link between Edburga and Salome, because her biographer said that the saint came to the monastery from Passau. Thus, the princess may have repented by submitting to the penitential life of a hermit. Reputedly Judith, her aunt, was sent to find her and joined her in the monastery. Another version of the story expands on the above. It relates that only the repentant Salome was an exiled Anglo-Saxon princess and that Judith was a Bavarian widow who befriended her. It is evident that the story is highly uncertain, though the saints are real. Sometimes Judith is the princess, at other times Salome, and still others both are of royal blood (Attwater2, Benedictines, Coulson, Encyclopaedia, Farmer). Sources: ======== Attwater, D. (1958). A Dictionary of Saints. New York: P. J. Kenedy & Sons. [Attwater 2] Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine Abbey, Ramsgate. (1947). The Book of Saints. NY: Macmillan. Coulson, J. (ed.). (1960). The Saints: A Concise Biographical Dictionary. New York: Hawthorn Books. Green & Co. Encyclopaedia of Catholic Saints. (1966). Philadelphia: Chilton Books. Farmer, D. H. (1997). The Oxford Dictionary of Saints. Oxford: Oxford University Press. For All the Saints: http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm These Lives are archived at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints ***************************************** ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
