Celtic and Old English Saints 5 April =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= * St. Derfel of Llanderfel * St. Becan of Kill-Beggan * St. Ethelburga of Lyminge * St. Probus and St. Grace =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
St. Derfel Gadarn (Cadarn, Gdarn) ---------------------------------------------------- 5th or 6th century. According to tradition, Saint Derfel was a great Welsh soldier who fought at the Battle of Camlan (537), where King Arthur was killed. He may have been a monk and abbot at Bardsey and later a solitary at Llanderfel, Merionethshire, Wales, thus becoming its founder and patron. A wooden statue of him mounted on a horse and holding a staff was greatly venerated in the church at Llanderfel until it was used for firewood in the burning of John Forest, Queen Catherine of Aragon's confessor, at Smithfield, England. The remains of Derfel's staff and horse can be seen in Llanderfel (Attwater2, Benedictines, Delaney, Farmer). St. Becan (Began, Beggan) of Kill-Beggan, Abbot ---------------------------------------------------- 6th century. Saint Becan, named as one of the 12 Apostles of Ireland in the life of Saint Molossus, is said to be the son of Murchade and Cula, of the royal house of Munster and a blood relative of Saint Columba (f.d. June 9). Becan has been declared one of the three greatest champions of virtue, together with Saint Endeus (f.d. March 21) and Saint Mochua, all of whom were leaders of saints in that fruitful age of holy men. He founded a monastery at Kill-Beggan, Westmeath. While building his church, he worked frequently on his knees, and while his hands were thus employed, he prayed with his lips and his eyes streamed with tears of devotion. He also gave his name to the church and parish of Imleach-Becain, Meath (Benedictines, Husenbeth, Montague). St. Ethelburga of Lyminge, Abbess ---------------------------------------------------- Died c. 647. Saint Ethelburga was the daughter of King Saint Ethelbert of Kent (f.d. February 25), who had been converted to Christianity by his wife Bertha (Tata) and Saint Augustine of Canterbury (f.d. May 27). Ethelburga married the pagan King Edwin of Northumbria. She and her chaplain Saint Paulinus (f.d. October 10) helped persuade Edwin to become a Christian in 627 and a saint (f.d. October 12). The behaviour of his wife, as much as the preaching of Paulinus, must have had a great influence in the conversion of Edwin and his court. Pope Boniface wrote to her to encourage her, addressing the letter "To his daughter, the most illustrious lady, Queen Ethelburga, Bishop Boniface, servant of the servants of God ...". He sent her the blessing of St Peter, and a silver mirror with an ivory comb adorned with gold, asking her to accept the present "in the same kindly spirit as that in which it is sent". Edwin encouraged the advancement of Christianity in his kingdom, but on his death, paganism returned, and Ethelburga and Paulinus were forced to return to her native Kent. There she founded a double monastery at Lyminge where her brother Eadbald gave her the site of an old Roman villa at Lyminge, on Stone Street, near the Roman fort of Lymne. St. Ethelburga continued at Lyminge to the end of her life, and there remains a recess in the South wall of the parish church, which was probably her tomb, and her well on the village green, in a good state of preservation. When Lanfranc founded the Collegiate Church at Canterbury for the parish clergy of the city, he translated the relics of St. Ethelburga, and they were enshrined there, just outside the Northgate, until the time of the Dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII (Attwater2, Benedictines, Delaney). Saint Ethelburga is portrayed in art as a crowned abbess with the Abbey of Lyminge, where she is venerated (Roeder). Troparion of St Ethelburga Tone 4 O holy Ethelburga, thou didst blossom as a lily in Kent/ and then adorn Northumbria as bride of the martyr king Edwin./ Thou didst devote thy widowhood to thy convent in Kent./ Pray that we, following the example of thy long and fruitful life/ may spend all our year's in God's service and find mercy at the last. St. Probus and St. Grace ---------------------------------------------------- Date unknown. Probus and Grace are traditionally considered to be a Welsh husband and wife duo. The church of Tressilian, or Probus, in Cornwall is dedicated in their honour. St Probus' and Saint Grace's relics are still within the Church that has grown over the site of his oratory. (Attwater2, Benedictines). Lives kindly supplied by: 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 ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
