Celtic and Old English Saints 15 February =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= * St. Berach of Cluain * St. Dochow of Wales * St. Farannan of Iona * St. Sigfrid of Wexlow * Ss. Winaman, Unaman & Sunaman * St. Tanco of Werden =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
St. Berach of Cluain, Abbot (also known as Barachias, Berachius, Barry) ------------------------------------------------------- 6th century. From the time of his birth, Berach was placed in the care of his uncle, Saint Freoch. Later in life he became a disciple of Saint Kevin and founded an abbey at Clusin-Coirpte in Connaught. He is the patron saint of Kilbarry, County Dublin (Benedictines). Troparion of St Berach tone 1 Disciple of our Father Kevin,/ teacher of true piety and radiance of all Connaught, O Father Berach,/ by thy life and example thou didst bring many souls to Christ./ Wherefore we pray thee to intercede for us that our souls may be saved. Kontakion of St Berach tone 4 Bright jewel in the crown of Erin's saints, great Father Berach,/ we hymn thee and pray for the fortitude to follow thy steep path to salvation,/ ever praising thy most glorious memory. St. Dochow (Dochau, Dogwyn) --------------------------------------------- Date unknown. According to the life of Saint Samson, Dochow travelled from Wales to Cornwall and founded a monastery there. In the Ulster Annal, he is styled bishop. Saint Dochtwy appears to be another saint altogether (Benedictines). St. Farannan, Abbot ----------------------------- Died c. 590. The Irish Saint Farannan was a disciple of Saint Columba. He eventually returned to Ireland to lead an eremitical life at All-Farannan, now Allernan, Sligo, where he probably died (Benedictines). St. Sigfrid of Wexlow, Bishop (also known as Sigfrid Vaxjo) ------------------------------------------ Born in Glastonbury, England (?); died at Vaxjo, Sweden, c. 1045. Tradition says that the patron saint of Sweden is an Englishman, Sigfrid, who reached Sweden as a result of a call from King Olaf Tryggvason of Norway, who had been converted himself by another Englishman, Saint Alphege. Sigfrid is said to have been born in Northumberland, become a priest at York or Glastonbury, and was sent by King Ethelred as a missionary to Norway with two other bishops, Grimkel and John. They laboured under the protection of the archbishop of Bremen (Germany). After converting many pagans, Sigfrid continued on to Sweden in 1008. Saint Ansgar had planted the seeds of faith in Sweden in 830; but the country had relapsed into paganism soon after his time. A second wave of missionary saints, including Sigfrid, followed about two centuries later. There he built himself a wooden church at Vaxjo in southern Sweden, and laboured with success in the Smaeland and Vastergotland districts. He converted twelve of the principal men of the province, then many others followed their example. The fountain near the mountain of Ostrabo, since called Wexlow) in which Sigfrid baptized the catechumens, long retained the names of the first 12 converts, engraved on a monument. Others, including the King Saint Olaf Skotkonung of Sweden, were attracted out of curiosity to see the rich fabrics and beautiful vessels used during the celebration of the Divine Service, to hear his preaching, and to observe the dignity and majesty of the Christian worship. That attracted them first. But it was the example of the lives of Sigfrid and his companion missionaries that open their eyes of faith and led to the baptism of so many others including the king, who was baptized at Husaby (one of the sites in Sigrid Undset's book "Kristin Lavransdatter") in a spring that later bore Sigfrid's name and was the channel of many miracles. Sigfrid ordained and consecrated two native bishops to govern neighbouring territories, but he retained the episcopacy of Vaxjo while he lived. His three nephews--Unaman, a priest; Sunaman, a deacon; and Winaman, a subdeacon--were his chief assistants in his apostolic efforts. Sigfrid also laboured in Denmark. During one of Sigfrid's absences from Sweden, he instructed his three nephews to carry on the missionary work. A troop of idolatrous rebels--perhaps out of hatred for Christianity, perhaps in search of booty--plundered the church of Vaxjo and barbarously murdered Sigfrid's nephews by cutting off their heads, putting them in a box, and flinging them into a lake. The bodies they buried in the midst of the forest where they were never found. Sigfrid returned, recovered the three heads and claimed that they could still talk. He asked whether the crime would be avenged. "Yes," replied the first head. "When?" asked the second. "In the third generation," answered the third. And so it was. The saint had brilliantly used the dead heads to terrorise his living enemies. Their heads were placed in a shrine. The king was angered by their deaths and resolved to execute the murderers, but at Sigfrid's earnest entreaties Olaf spared their lives--an early testimony against capital punishment. Olaf compelled the guilty to pay a heavy fine to Sigfrid, but the saint refused to accept it even though he was living in extreme poverty and had to contend with rebuilding his church. Thenceforth, he was invincible. The saint became so renowned that the Germans claimed him as their own, insisting that he had been born either in Bremen or Hamburg. He died in old age, and his bones rest beneath the high altar of the cathedral of Vaxjo, and are famous for miracles. Sigfrid was so successful that he is called the Apostle of Sweden, where he is still venerated. A metrical office for his feast survives in both Sweden and Denmark (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Farmer, Husenbeth, Walsh). Saint Sigfrid is pictured as a bishop with two companion monks crossing the sea in a ship. He may also be shown baptizing King Olaf of Sweden, or menaced by devils. There is a 14th century wall-painting possibly of him at Stoke Orchard, Worcestershire (Roeder). He may also be represented as a bishop carrying the heads of his three nephews, which are sometimes misrepresented as three loaves (Farmer). Ss. Winaman, Unaman & Sunaman, Monks Martyrs ---------------------------------------------------- Died c. 1040. Thes trio of nephews of Saint Sigfrid of Wexlow, followed their uncle to the Swedish mission. The monks were martyred at Wexlow (Vaxjo) by beheading. There bodies were buried deep in the forest but the heads, which had been thrown into the nearby lake, were recovered and enshrined in the church at Vaxjo until the impious Lutherans removed them. These three are venerated in Sweden (Benedictines, Husenbeth). St. Tanco of Werden, Bishop Martyr ---------------------------------------------------- (also known as Tancho, Tatta, Tatto) Died 808. Irish Saint Tanco became abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Amalbarich in Saxony and eventually bishop of Werden. He died at the hands of a pagan mob whose savage customs he had denounced (Benedictines). For All the Saints: http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm An Alphabetical Index of the Saints of the West http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/saintsa.htm These Lives are archived at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
