[celt-saints] 8 February
Celtic and Old English Saints 8 February =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= * St. Oncho of Clonmore * St. Elfleda of Whitby * St. Kigwe of Monmouthshire * St. Cuthman of Steyning =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= St. Oncho (Onchuo) of Clonmore, the Poet --- Died c. 600. Saint Oncho was an Irish pilgrim, poet, guardian of the Celtic traditions, and a collector of holy relics. While pursuing his search for memorials of the Irish saints he died at Clonmore monastery, then governed by Saint Maidoc, and his body was enshrined there together with the relics he had gathered (Benedictines). The Martyrology of Donegal records that Saint Oncho was likened to Saint Ambrose! 8. D. SEXTO IDUS FEBRUARII. 8. ONCHU, Mac in Eccis, of the Connacians. It was he that collected a great deal of the relics of the saints of Erinn to Cluainmor-Maedhog. A very ancient vellum old book, which we have mentioned under Brighit, at 1st February, states, that Mac-in-Eccis )Onchu) was, in his manners and life, like unto Ambrose. J.O'Donovan, J.H. Todd, W. Reeves, eds and trans. The Martyrology of Donegal - A Calendar of the Saints of Ireland (Dublin, 1864), 43. Troparion of St Oncho tone 2 Thou didst teach us the value of relics, O Father Oncho, for thou didst spend thy earthly life collecting these precious aids to piety and devotion./ Pray to God for us, that in honouring what is precious to God,/ we may be found worthy of His great mercy. Kontakion of St Oncho tone 4 Following thine example, most Holy Oncho,/ we pray for strength to defend all precious and holy things,/ resisting to the end all attempts at desecration and sacrilege/ by the agents of the godless,/ that in all things glory may be given to Christ our God. St. Elfleda, Abbess Virgin (Aelflaed, Ethelfleda, Edilfleda, Elgiva) --- Born 653; died 714. Daughter of King Oswy of Northumbria and his wife Saint Eanfleda (f.d. November 24), Elfleda was offered to Saint Hilda (f.d. November 17) and the convent of Hartlepool as a little child. Her parents had vowed to consecrate her in infancy if Oswy were successful in battle against the heathen King Penda of Mercia. Oswy won the battle of Winwaed in 654, he kept his vow. In 657, Hilda founded or refounded Whitby Abbey and Elfleda migrated there with Saint Hilda. When Oswy died in 670, Eanfleda joined her daughter at the double monastery governed by Hilda, and which later become the mausoleum of the Northumbrian royal family. In turn Eanfleda and Elfleda succeeded Hilda as abbess of Whitby. During Elfleda's abbacy, the earliest vita of Saint Gregory the Great (f.d. September 3) was written there. Elfleda was one of the most influential personages of her time. She counted both Saint Cuthbert (f.d. March 20) and Saint Wilfred (f.d. October 12) as friends. In 684, she met Cuthbert on Coquet Island. He told her that her brother, King Egfrith, would die within a year and that her half-brother Aldfrith would succeed him. Both of which occurred. Later she was cured of paralysis by Cuthbert's girdle. One of her primary means of influence was in her role as mediator. Elfleda was instrumental in reconciling Saint Theodore of Canterbury (f.d. September 19) and Saint Wilfrid. At the synod of the River Nidd in 705, she exercised her talent to reconcile Wilfrid to both Canterbury and the church in Northumbria. She asserted that Aldfrith on his death bed had promised to obey the commands of the Roman See concerning Wilfrid and had enjoined his heir to do the same. Elfleda's relics were discovered and translated at Whitby about 1125. Her cultus, however, is attest only by late martyrologies (Benedictines, Farmer, Gill). St. Kigwe , Virgin (Kewe, Ciwa, Kuet, Kywere ) --- Date unknown (5th century?). Saint Kigwe is probably identical to Saint Ciwa, a 6th or 7th century saint venerated in Monmouthshire; she should not be confused with Saint Cuach, the nurse of the Irish Saint Ciaran (f.d. March 5). She is the patron of Saint Kew in Cornwall, formerly called Docco in honour of Saint Congar (f.d. February 13), whose abbey was ruined before the end of the first millennium. Kigwe replaced him as patron before the 14th century. According to Roscarrock, Kigwe was Congar's sister, but when she visited her brother in his hermit's cell, he would not receive her until such time as he saw a wild boar miraculously obey her, after which time he conversed with her, who proved of such rare virtue and holiness as she was after her death reputed a saint and the Church of the parish called after her. The name is also spelled Ciwg, Cwick, Kigwoe, etc. She is listed in the Exeter Martyrology and in Welsh calendars (Benedictines, Farmer). St. Cuthman (Cuthmann) of Steyning, Hermit
[celt-saints] 8 February
Celtic and Old English Saints 8 February =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= * St. Oncho of Clonmore * St. Elfleda of Whitby * St. Kigwe of Monmouthshire * St. Cuthman of Steyning =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= St. Oncho (Onchuo) of Clonmore, the Poet --- Died c. 600. Saint Oncho was an Irish pilgrim, poet, guardian of the Celtic traditions, and a collector of holy relics. While pursuing his search for memorials of the Irish saints he died at Clonmore monastery, then governed by Saint Maidoc, and his body was enshrined there together with the relics he had gathered (Benedictines). Troparion of St Oncho tone 2 Thou didst teach us the value of relics, O Father Oncho, for thou didst spend thy earthly life collecting these precious aids to piety and devotion./ Pray to God for us, that in honouring what is precious to God,/ we may be found worthy of His great mercy. Kontakion of St Oncho tone 4 Following thine example, most Holy Oncho,/ we pray for strength to defend all precious and holy things,/ resisting to the end all attempts at desecration and sacrilege/ by the agents of the godless,/ that in all things glory may be given to Christ our God. St. Elfleda, Abbess Virgin (Aelflaed, Ethelfleda, Edilfleda, Elgiva) --- Born 653; died 714. Daughter of King Oswy of Northumbria and his wife Saint Eanfleda (f.d. November 24), Elfleda was offered to Saint Hilda (f.d. November 17) and the convent of Hartlepool as a little child. Her parents had vowed to consecrate her in infancy if Oswy were successful in battle against the heathen King Penda of Mercia. Oswy won the battle of Winwaed in 654, he kept his vow. In 657, Hilda founded or refounded Whitby Abbey and Elfleda migrated there with Saint Hilda. When Oswy died in 670, Eanfleda joined her daughter at the double monastery governed by Hilda, and which later become the mausoleum of the Northumbrian royal family. In turn Eanfleda and Elfleda succeeded Hilda as abbess of Whitby. During Elfleda's abbacy, the earliest vita of Saint Gregory the Great (f.d. September 3) was written there. Elfleda was one of the most influential personages of her time. She counted both Saint Cuthbert (f.d. March 20) and Saint Wilfred (f.d. October 12) as friends. In 684, she met Cuthbert on Coquet Island. He told her that her brother, King Egfrith, would die within a year and that her half-brother Aldfrith would succeed him. Both of which occurred. Later she was cured of paralysis by Cuthbert's girdle. One of her primary means of influence was in her role as mediator. Elfleda was instrumental in reconciling Saint Theodore of Canterbury (f.d. September 19) and Saint Wilfrid. At the synod of the River Nidd in 705, she exercised her talent to reconcile Wilfrid to both Canterbury and the church in Northumbria. She asserted that Aldfrith on his death bed had promised to obey the commands of the Roman See concerning Wilfrid and had enjoined his heir to do the same. Elfleda's relics were discovered and translated at Whitby about 1125. Her cultus, however, is attest only by late martyrologies (Benedictines, Farmer, Gill). St. Kigwe , Virgin (Kewe, Ciwa, Kuet, Kywere ) --- Date unknown (5th century?). Saint Kigwe is probably identical to Saint Ciwa, a 6th or 7th century saint venerated in Monmouthshire; she should not be confused with Saint Cuach, the nurse of the Irish Saint Ciaran (f.d. March 5). She is the patron of Saint Kew in Cornwall, formerly called Docco in honour of Saint Congar (f.d. February 13), whose abbey was ruined before the end of the first millennium. Kigwe replaced him as patron before the 14th century. According to Roscarrock, Kigwe was Congar's sister, but when she visited her brother in his hermit's cell, he would not receive her until such time as he saw a wild boar miraculously obey her, after which time he conversed with her, who proved of such rare virtue and holiness as she was after her death reputed a saint and the Church of the parish called after her. The name is also spelled Ciwg, Cwick, Kigwoe, etc. She is listed in the Exeter Martyrology and in Welsh calendars (Benedictines, Farmer). St. Cuthman (Cuthmann) of Steyning, Hermit --- 9th century. Among the ancient Anglo-Saxon saints was Cuthman, a native of Devon or Cornwall (judging by his name; some ancient documents seem to indicate that he was possibly born at Chidham near Bosham, c. 681), who spent his youth as a shepherd on the moors. A grey and weather-beaten stone high among the heather is said to mark the spot where he used to sit, and around which he drew a wide circle in the gorse, outside which his sheep were not allowed to wander. When his father died and his mother was left poor, Cuthman proved himself a good son
