Celtic and Old English Saints 19 April =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= * St. Alphege of Canterbury =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
St. Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury, Martyred at Greenwich (+1012) --------------------------------------------------- Alphege was born about 954 of noble Saxon parents, during the second major period of Viking raids against England, and though he would have inherited considerable lands, chose to enter the monastery of Deerhurst in Gloucestershire. His biographer, the monk Osbern, says that he endeared himself to all by his humility, but the life in the monastery was not ascetic enough for him, so he withdrew to the monastery at Bath, founded by King Edgar, of which he eventually became Abbot. When he was thirty years old, St. Dunstan, who was then Archbishop of Canterbury, called him to become bishop of Winchester in succession to St. Ethelwold, which he did, but he continued to lead a very disciplined life as befitted a religious. It is said that his austerities made his physique so attenuated that, when he raised his hands at the altar, the sunlight passed through them. When Alphege had been at Winchester for ten years, King Ethelred chose him to be his ambassador to King Olaf Tryggvason of Norway, who was wintering with his fleet at Southampton. At Andover, he confirmed Olaf, who was already baptised, and Ethelred adopted him as his godson. The treaty that was concluded between the two Kings made a peace that lasted until Olaf's death. In 1006 Alphege was chosen to be Archbishop of Canterbury after Elfric. When he returned from Rome having received the pallium from Pope John XVIII, St. Alphege joined Wulfstan of York in persuading Ethelred to hold a Council at Evesham, which drew up decrees forbidding the selling of Christians to heathen masters as slaves, and made recommendations against the marriage of clergy. In the year 1009, a Danish fleet under Earl Thurkill landed at Sandwich, and for the next three years, the country suffered the ravages of the Danish army: the whole of East Anglia was overrun and Oxford and Bedford sacked before it returned to Kent to besiege Canterbury in 1012. St. Alphege refused to leave the city, daily offering the Holy Sacrifice and giving Communion to the defenders, before they took their places on the ramparts. After twenty days, between the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin and Michaelmas, the city fell to the Danes, betrayed by the Abbot Aelmar, whose life St. Alphege had saved. The Cathedral was burned, the City plundered and the Archbishop taken prisoner. The Danish pirates took the Archbishop back to their ships, hoping to receive a substantial ransom, but St. Alphege would not allow his people to be further robbed. Seven months later he was still held in chains at Greenwich, where the Danes had drawn up their long boats and made camp for the Winter. On the Saturday in Easter Week, they were feasting on the oxen and wine they had taken in their raids on the south coast, and, having drunk deeply, they called for St. Alphege to be brought into the hall. They began to demand yet again a ransom, and enfuriated by his refusal, they pelted him with the bones and horns of the oxen they had been eating. The Archbishop fell to the ground grievously injured, and one of the Danes called Thrum, whom St. Alphege had converted, had pity on him and ended his sufferings by striking the back of his head with an axe. On the following day the martyr's body was taken to St. Paul's by the Bishops of London and Dorchester and buried in the Cathedral. Eleven years later King Canute caused it to be translated, with great pomp, down the Thames to Canterbury. There is a small church at Whitstable, dedicated to St. Alphege, where the body was landed, and at Greenwich, the magnificent church, rebuilt by Nicholas Hawksmoor, marks the spot where he was murdered. His relics were enshrined by the High Altar at Canterbury, and although Lanfranc contended that his death was not strictly a martyrdom, Anselm maintained that he was a true martyr, having shed his blood for Christian righteousness and charity. Service to the Holy Hieromartyr Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/servaelp.htm Icon of Saint Alphege http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/alphege.htm Sources: ======== Baring-Gould, S. (1882) The Lives of the Saints (15 volumes) John Hodges. Bowen, Paul. When We Were One: A Yearbook of the Saints of the British Isles Complied from Ancient Calendars. Clarke, C. P. S. (1931) Saints and Heroes of the Christian Church, Mowbray. Stanton, R A (1887) Menology of England and Wales, Burns & Oates. Shortt, L. M. (1914) Lives & Legends of English Saints Methuen & Co. Ltd. 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/
