Celtic and Old English Saints 2 July =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= * St. Swithin of Winchester * St. Oudoc of Llandaff =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
St. Swithun (Swithin) of Winchester, Bishop ----------------------------------------------------------- Born in Wessex, England; died at Winchester, England, July 2, 862. The translation of his relics is observed 15 July. Swithin was educated at the Old Abbey, Winchester, and was ordained (it is uncertain whether or not he was a monk). He became chaplain to King Egbert of the West Saxons, who appointed him tutor of his son Ethelwulf, and was one of the king's counsellors. Swithun was named bishop of Winchester in 852 when Ethelwulf succeeded his father as king. Swithun built several churches and was known for his humility and his aid to the poor and needy (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney). A miracle attributed to him in the Golden Legend illustrates his understanding of ordinary folk. A poor woman was pushed in a market-day crowd and dropped her basket of eggs. St. Swithun blessed the broken shells and the eggs were made whole again. A long-held popular belief declares it will rain for 40 days if it rains on his feast day. Saint Swithun's day, if thou dost rain, For forty days it will remain; Saint Swithun's day, if thou be fair, For forty days 'twill rain nae mair. * * * St. Swithun's Shrine at Winchester Cathedral (On the web, with photographs, at http://www.britannia.com/church/shrines/sw-shrine.html ) Before its destruction in 1538, the Shrine of St. Swithun in Winchester Cathedral was perhaps the second most popular place of pilgrimage in Medieval England. However, despite its popularity in times gone by, no illustrations or detailed descriptions of the shrine have survived. The form, style and even site of this holy relic remain controversial even today. The pious Swithun, Bishop of Winchester in the mid 9th century was originally buried (862) in a humble grave in the open between the tower of St. Martin and the Cathedral Church of the Old Minster in Winchester. This original grave, along with the minster itself, was excavated by Martin Biddle in the 1960s. St. Swithun, however, was long gone. Popular legend insists that the monks tried to move Swithun inside the Old Minster, some nine years after his death. The saint, however, did not approve of his removal from exposure to the elements. There was a clap of thunder and it began to rain for forty days and forty nights! About a hundred years later, however, Swithun appears to have changed his mind. For various visions are said to have led a subsequent bishop, (St.) Aethelwold, to successfully transfer his body inside the Old Minster, on 15th July 971. Screens were placed round the grave and St. Swithun was ceremonial exhumed: the bishop himself taking up the spade. At around the same time, Bishop Aethelwold instigated an ambitious plan to turn the Old Minster into a shrine-church centred around St. Swithun's relics. He extended the building and enclosed the saint's original grave beneath a huge crossing tower. In 974, King Edgar donated a magnificent gold and silver feretory in which to enshrine St. Swithun's body. It was studded with precious jewels and depicted scenes of Christ's Passion, Resurrection and Ascension. On 30th October, therefore, Swithun was translated once more. His head was removed to a separate head shrine kept in the sacristy upon the altar "in a space with a locked door, which could be described as a 'chamber' or vestibule, and was guarded by a watcher or sacrist". The main shrine is believed to have been placed on an altar over the original grave. Three years later, Aethelwold had this area of the Minster completely rebuilt with a massive westwork fit to receive the many pilgrims not only visiting St. Swithun's Shrine, but those of St. Birinus and St. Birstan too. St. Swithun's head was taken to Canterbury Cathedral by (St.) Alphege when he was elevated from Bishop of Winchester to Archbishop of Canterbury in 1006. An arm was also taken to Peterborough Abbey (now Cathedral). With the arrival of the Normans and the building of the present Winchester Cathedral to the south of the Old Minster, St. Swithun was on the move once more. On his feast day in 1093, his feretory was carried into the, still incomplete, new building and, the very next day, Bishop Walkelin ordered the demolition of the Old Minster. St. Swithun's feretory was probably placed behind the High Altar. In the mid-12th century, Bishop Henry (of Blois) elevated St. Swithun onto a large platform built into the eastern apse of the Norman Cathedral especially for his veneration. Much remodelled, this area is still known as the Feretory or Feretory Platform. Beneath it is the 'Holy Hole': a small (originally larger) passage which enabled pilgrims to crawl from outside the cathedral to right beneath St. Swithun's Shrine! Bishop Henry also surrounded Swithun with the bones of various Saxon Kings and Bishops in lead coffers, which he had removed from their 'lowly place' of burial. But for how long did the new shrine remain in this position? Here the controversy begins. Please continue reading at http://www.britannia.com/church/shrines/sw-shrine.html -oOo- Translation of St. Swithin, Bp. Conf., AD 970. St. Swithin passed from this world to the' heavenly kingdom in the year 863. At his own request he had been buried under the open sky, ' that the rains of heaven might fall upon him, and that he might be trodden under foot by those who passed along the way. In truth, his humble petition seemed to have been fulfilled, and the memory of the holy pastor, of his virtues and his miracles, had almost perished, when, more than a century afterwards, God was pleased to reveal the glory of his good and faithful servant. The Saint appeared to a poor but pious artisan, who lived by the labour of his own hands, and charged him to go to St. Ethelwold, then Bishop of Winchester, and tell him to effect the translation of his relics, which would be a treasure more precious than pearls, by the number of miracles which he would work. He then gave him a sign that the mission was a true one namely, that he, and none but he, should be able to raise the stone which covered the grave, with ease and without assistance. St. Ethelwold readily obeyed, and the tomb was opened amidst a crowd of spectators, who brought their offerings and commended themselves to the Saint. All obtained their desires, and numbers of miracles were worked, in gratitude for which St. Swithin from that time was called the Pious that is, the fatherly or compassionate Saint. The translation was solemnly performed by St. Ethelwold, with the assistance of the Abbots of Glastonbury and the new Monastery of Winchester, and the Saint was laid with honour in a fair sepulchre within the church. The miracles did not cease, and the monks had become almost weary and negligent in attending those who came to seek relief, when they were recalled to their duty by a threatening vision of the Saint himself. This translation took place on Friday, 15th July, 970. A MENOLOGY OF ENGLAND AND WALES; OR, BRIEF MEMORIALS OF THE ANCIENT BRITISH AND ENGLISH SAINTS, LONDON, 1892,338-9. http://www.archive.org/details/menologyofenglan00stanrich -oOo- Service to out Father among the Saints Swithun, Bishop of Winchester http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/servswit.htm Icons of Saint Swithun http://www.allmercifulsavior.com/icons/Icons-Swithin.htm An article on the Wells of St Swithun: http://www.bath.ac.uk/lispring/sourcearchive/ns4/ns4jr1.htm The modern shrine (1962) over what was the grave of St Swithun http://www.reedhome.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/walks/winchester/pcd0372/17-swithun.jpg Tiny Url: http://tinyurl.com/ratlz A Walk around Winchester Cathedral http://www.reedhome.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/walks/winchester/main.htm St. Oudoc of Wales, Abbot (Oudecus, Oudoceus, Eddogwy) -------------------------------------------------------- Died c. 600. About 545, the pious Prince Budic of Brittany, migrated with his family to Wales, where Saint Oudaceus is said to have been born soon after. Oudaceus was the disciple and nephew of Saint Teilo (f.d.February 9). Following the inspired training of Teilo, Oudaceus became a monk at Llandogo (and some say its bishop about 580). He succeeded his uncle as abbot of Llandeilo Fawr. All that is known about Oudaceus comes from the "Book of Llan Dav," written about 1150 but incorporating some older material. Oudaceus is one of the four patrons of Llandaff cathedral, where his relics rested until 1540, although he was never bishop and is sometimes described as one, perhaps because of the efforts he made to persuade the abbots of Llancarfan, Llantwit, and Llandough to join forces against a corrupt local chieftain. The areas served by these monasteries approximates the later see of Llandaff. Husenbeth, for example, relates the story that when Oudaceus excommunicated King Mauric of Glamorgan for killing Prince Cynedu, the king immediately repented because of the high esteem in which he held Oudaceus. The feast of Saint Oudaceus appears on numerous English calendars, including Sarum, York, and Hereford, probably due to a belief that he presented himself to Saint Augustine of Canterbury (f.d. May 27) for consecration (Attwater2, Benedictines, Farmer, Husenbeth). Sources: ======== Attwater, D. (1983). The Penguin Dictionary of Saints, NY: Penguin Books. 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. Delaney, J. J. (1983). Pocket Dictionary of Saints, NY: Doubleday Image. Farmer, D. H. (1997). The Oxford Dictionary of Saints. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Husenbeth, Rev. F. C., DD, VG (ed.). (1928). Butler's Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints. London: Virtue & Co. For All the Saints: http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm These Lives are archived at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints *****************************************