Celtic and Old English Saints 7 May =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= * St. John of Beverly * St. Liudhard of Canterbury =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
St.John of Beverly, Bishop of York, Who Ordained Saint Bede to the Priesthood ------------------------------------------------------------ Born in Harpham (Humberside), Yorkshire, England; died at Beverley, England, May 7, 721; canonized in 1037; feast of translation, October 25. Saint John trained for the priesthood and monastic life in Kent under the direction of Saints Adrian and Theodore, but returned to Yorkshire upon completing his studies to become a monk at Whitby Abbey, which was then under the rule of Saint Hilda. John founded a monastery in Humberside, England, on the site of a small church dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist, where he asked to be buried. In 687, after the death of Saint Eata, John he was consecrated bishop of Hexham. He is said to have shown special care for the poor and the handicapped. Whatever time he could spare from his episcopal duties he spent in contemplation. At regular seasons, especially during Lent, he retired to pray in a cell by the church of Saint Michael beyond the Tyne, near Hexham. He would take with him some poor person, whom he would serve during his retirement. He was transferred York as archbishop upon the death of Saint Bosa in 705, and Saint Wilfrid succeeded him at Hexham as part of the final settlement of the latter's long dispute with the Northumbrian kings. He continued his practice of periodic retirement for spiritual refreshment. His chosen retreat was an abbey that he had built at Beverley, then a forest. Not until old age had worn him out did he resign his office to Saint Wilfrid the Younger in order to spend the last four years of his life in the peace of his beloved abbey at Beverley. According to the Venerable Bede in Ecclesiastical History, who was ordained both deacon and priest by John when he was bishop of Hexham, John of Beverley possessed the gift of healing. He cured a youth of dumbness, even though the boy had never utter a single word. (The boy was apparently bald from a scalp disease also.) On the second Sunday of Lent, John made the sign of the cross upon the youth's tongue, and loosed it. Bede tells of how the saint patiently taught the boy the alphabet. He taught him to say "gea," which signifies in Saxon "Yea"; then the letters of the alphabet, and afterwards syllables. Thus the youth miraculously obtained his speech. Moreover, by the saint's blessing and the remedies prescribed by a physician whom he employed, his head was entirely healed, and became covered with hair. Bede also records that John cured a noblewoman of a pain so grievous that she had been unable to move for three weeks. Several people who seemed in immediate danger of death were saved by his prayers. In addition to his own eye-witness accounts, Bede tells us of cures witnessed by Abbot Bercthun of Beverley and Abbot Herebald of Tinmouth. After the saint's death, such miracles continued around his shrine, which became a famous pilgrimage site. The Bollandist Henschenius devoted four books to the miracles wrought at the holy bishop's shrine. So many were drawn there that the magnificent Beverley Minster was built, which rivals some of England's great cathedral churches. Alcuin also records miracles worked at John's intercession. For example, King Athelstan invoked John's intercession for victory against the Scots. In 1307, his relics were translated--the occasion of a vita written by Folcard. Some of the sweet-smelling relics were discovered in September 1664, when a grave was being dug, in a lead box within a vault of freestone. These relics had been hidden in the beginning of the reign of king Edward VI. Icon can be viewed at http://www.allmercifulsavior.com/icons/Icons-John-Beverley.htm##1 St.Liudhard (Letard), Bishop of Canterbury ---------------------------------------------------------- Died at Canterbury, England, c. 600. Frankish Saint Liudhard was chaplain to Queen Bertha of Kent, who agreed to marriage with the pagan King Ethelbert on the condition that she be free to practice her religion and bring her bishop with her. Liudhard was that bishop. He is said to have played an important part in the conversion of the king to Christianity; however, there are no letters extant from the prolific writer Pope Saint Gregory to him. There is one (dated to 601) to Queen Bertha, which reproaches her for her failure to achieve her husband's conversion. Liudhard restored an ancient Romano-British church for her at Canterbury. He was buried in the abbey of SS. Peter and Paul (now St. Augustine's) in Canterbury. In the 11th century, Goselin wrote a short vita of Liudhard, but seems to have confused him with Saint Liephard, whose feast is kept at Cambrai and who is called "archbishop of Canterbury and martyr." Liudhard was neither (Benedictines, Farmer). Lives kindly supplied by: For All the Saints: http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm These Lives are archived at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
