[celt-saints] 23 June
Celtic and Old English Saints 23 June =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= * St. Mochaoi of Nendrum * St. Etheldreda of Ely =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= St. Mochaoi, Abbot of Nendruim, Baptised by Saint Patrick (Moeliai, Moelray, Melray) --- Born in Ireland; died c. 493. Saint Moeliai was baptized by Saint Patrick, who appointed him abbot over Nendrum, where he had Saints Finian and Colman among his disciples (Benedictines). St Mochaoi has been anglicised as St Mahee pronounced Mah hee with the stress on the ee. His monastic site is at Nendrum on Mahee Island. Mahee island is now linked to another island and to the mainland by causeways that can take a single car. It is a lovely drive there, the hedgerows are in bloom with wild flowers and fuscias and the clear water of Strangford lough was smooth and windless. The Nendrum monastic site has a small carpark for about 8 cars. The first thing you realise is how high it is up the island which is itself a submerged drumlin - the advancing iceflows rounded the landscape to make this part of Ireland look like a basket of eggs - and this egg along with others got flooded. The monastery is on the highest peak and is surrounded by an outer wall or cashel and an inner cashel. There is a causeway bridge up to the first level between the two cashels and it is believed that this would have been a hive of activity. Although the monastery is quiet today, in the 5th century the waterways of Ireland were the main roads so the monastery was likely to have been a thriving community. To enter the inner cashel one has to walk in single file through a small passageway, probably this was some form of defence as was the round tower of which only the stump remains. The remains of the church are clearly seen and face due east. At the South west corner the old sundial has been reconstructed. There is a graveyard just beyond the west door and if you go beyond the inner cashel wall again on the west side there are the foundations of many round monastic cells. Various photographs of the island and of the church, round tower, etc http://www.ehsni.gov.uk/nendrum.shtml http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/product.aspx?ProductID=2877 St. Etheldreda (Audrey), Queen of Northumbria, Abbess of Ely's Double Monastery --- (also known as Audrey, Athelthryth, Ethelreda, Edilthride, Ediltrudis, Edeltrude) Born in Exning, Suffolk, England; died at Ely, 679. "Now Etheldreda shines upon our days, Shedding the light of grace on all our ways. Born of a noble and a royal line, She brings to Christ her King a life more fine." --The Venerable Bede To her friends and family, this once most famous female Anglo-Saxon saint was Etheldreda. To poor people she was Audrey, and the word "tawdry" originally came from the cheap necklaces that were sold on the feast of Saint Audrey and which were believed to cure illness of the throat and neck. This was because Etheldreda had suffered from neck cancer, which she attributed to divine punishment because she was once vain enough to wear a costly necklace. She had a huge tumour on her neck when she died, but, according the Saint Bede, when her tomb was opened by her sister Saint Sexburga, her successor as abbess at Ely Abbey, ten (or 16) years after her death, her body was found incorrupt and the tumour had healed. Etheldreda was a woman of noble birth, the daughter of King Anna of East Anglia, and sister to Saints Sexburga, Ethelburga, Erconwald, and Withburga. She was born in a time when the religious were uncompromising in their desire for complete conversion of their lives to God. To Etheldreda prayer, Holy Communion, and works of mercy were essential features of her faith in Jesus Christ. From her youth she devoted herself to piety, purity, and humility. Though she seemed destined for the cloistered life, twice Saint Etheldreda was married and released from these unwelcome ties. At the age of 14, Etheldreda was married to Tonbert. Now some saints have run away from marriage when they felt called to the vowed religious life, but Etheldreda trusted in God. She accepted the wedding calmly and found that Tonbert was equally devout and was happy that they should live in continence. After three (or five) years together, Tonbert died. For a time she enjoyed the solitude of the island of Ely, which had been part of her dowry, but for reasons of state she married again. Her second husband, Egfrid, son of King Oswy of Northumbria, was just a boy at the time. Etheldreda, though still young herself, treated him as her son or brother, rather than as a husband. She taught him the catechism and directed his spiritual growth, clearly trying to prepare him to accept a marriage of continence. But after 12 years of this relationship, Egfrid, grown to manhood, tried to make her his wife in fact as well as in name. This alarmed Etheldreda, who then soug
[celt-saints] 23 June
Celtic and Old English Saints 23 June =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= * St. Mochaoi of Nendrum * St. Etheldreda of Ely =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= St. Mochaoi, Abbot of Nendruim, Baptised by Saint Patrick (Moeliai, Moelray, Melray) --- Born in Ireland; died c. 493. Saint Moeliai was baptized by Saint Patrick, who appointed him abbot over Nendrum, where he had Saints Finian and Colman among his disciples (Benedictines). St Mochaoi has been anglicised as St Mahee pronounced Mah hee with the stress on the ee. His monastic site is at Nendrum on Mahee Island. Mahee island is now linked to another island and to the mainland by causeways that can take a single car. It is a lovely drive there, the hedgerows are in bloom with wild flowers and fuscias and the clear water of Strangford lough was smooth and windless. The Nendrum monastic site has a small carpark for about 8 cars. The first thing you realise is how high it is up the island which is itself a submerged drumlin - the advancing iceflows rounded the landscape to make this part of Ireland look like a basket of eggs - and this egg along with others got flooded. The monastery is on the highest peak and is surrounded by an outer wall or cashel and an inner cashel. There is a causeway bridge up to the first level between the two cashels and it is believed that this would have been a hive of activity. Although the monastery is quiet today, in the 5th century the waterways of Ireland were the main roads so the monastery was likely to have been a thriving community. To enter the inner cashel one has to walk in single file through a small passageway, probably this was some form of defence as was the round tower of which only the stump remains. The remains of the church are clearly seen and face due east. At the South west corner the old sundial has been reconstructed. There is a graveyard just beyond the west door and if you go beyond the inner cashel wall again on the west side there are the foundations of many round monastic cells. Various photographs of the island and of the church, round tower, etc http://www.ehsni.gov.uk/nendrum.shtml http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/product.aspx?ProductID=2877 St. Etheldreda (Audrey), Queen of Northumbria, Abbess of Ely's Double Monastery --- (also known as Audrey, Athelthryth, Ethelreda, Edilthride, Ediltrudis, Edeltrude) Born in Exning, Suffolk, England; died at Ely, 679. "Now Etheldreda shines upon our days, Shedding the light of grace on all our ways. Born of a noble and a royal line, She brings to Christ her King a life more fine." --The Venerable Bede To her friends and family, this once most famous female Anglo-Saxon saint was Etheldreda. To poor people she was Audrey, and the word "tawdry" originally came from the cheap necklaces that were sold on the feast of Saint Audrey and which were believed to cure illness of the throat and neck. This was because Etheldreda had suffered from neck cancer, which she attributed to divine punishment because she was once vain enough to wear a costly necklace. She had a huge tumour on her neck when she died, but, according the Saint Bede, when her tomb was opened by her sister Saint Sexburga, her successor as abbess at Ely Abbey, ten (or 16) years after her death, her body was found incorrupt and the tumour had healed. Etheldreda was a woman of noble birth, the daughter of King Anna of East Anglia, and sister to Saints Sexburga, Ethelburga, Erconwald, and Withburga. She was born in a time when the religious were uncompromising in their desire for complete conversion of their lives to God. To Etheldreda prayer, Holy Communion, and works of mercy were essential features of her faith in Jesus Christ. From her youth she devoted herself to piety, purity, and humility. Though she seemed destined for the cloistered life, twice Saint Etheldreda was married and released from these unwelcome ties. At the age of 14, Etheldreda was married to Tonbert. Now some saints have run away from marriage when they felt called to the vowed religious life, but Etheldreda trusted in God. She accepted the wedding calmly and found that Tonbert was equally devout and was happy that they should live in continence. After three (or five) years together, Tonbert died. For a time she enjoyed the solitude of the island of Ely, which had been part of her dowry, but for reasons of state she married again. Her second husband, Egfrid, son of King Oswy of Northumbria, was just a boy at the time. Etheldreda, though still young herself, treated him as her son or brother, rather than as a husband. She taught him the catechism and directed his spiritual growth, clearly trying to prepare him to accept a marriage of continence. But after 12 years of this relationship, Egfrid, grown to manhood, tried to make her his wife in fact as well as in name. This alarmed Etheldreda, who then soug
[celt-saints] 23 June
Celtic and Old English Saints 23 June =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= * St. Mochaoi of Nendrum * St. Etheldreda of Ely =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= St. Mochaoi, Abbot of Nendruim, Baptised by Saint Patrick (Moeliai, Moelray, Melray) --- Born in Ireland; died c. 493. Saint Moeliai was baptized by Saint Patrick, who appointed him abbot over Nendrum, where he had Saints Finian and Colman among his disciples (Benedictines). St Mochaoi has been anglicised as St Mahee pronounced Mah hee with the stress on the ee. His monastic site is at Nendrum on Mahee Island. Mahee island is now linked to another island and to the mainland by causeways that can take a single car. It is a lovely drive there, the hedgerows are in bloom with wild flowers and fuscias and the clear water of Strangford lough was smooth and windless. The Nendrum monastic site has a small carpark for about 8 cars. The first thing you realise is how high it is up the island which is itself a submerged drumlin - the advancing iceflows rounded the landscape to make this part of Ireland look like a basket of eggs - and this egg along with others got flooded. The monastery is on the highest peak and is surrounded by an outer wall or cashel and an inner cashel. There is a causeway bridge up to the first level between the two cashels and it is believed that this would have been a hive of activity. Although the monastery is quiet today, in the 5th century the waterways of Ireland were the main roads so the monastery was likely to have been a thriving community. To enter the inner cashel one has to walk in single file through a small passageway, probably this was some form of defence as was the round tower of which only the stump remains. The remains of the church are clearly seen and face due east. At the South west corner the old sundial has been reconstructed. There is a graveyard just beyond the west door and if you go beyond the inner cashel wall again on the west side there are the foundations of many round monastic cells. Various photographs of the island and of the church, round tower, etc http://www.ehsni.gov.uk/nendrum.shtml http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/product.aspx?ProductID=2877 St. Etheldreda (Audrey), Queen of Northumbria, Abbess of Ely's Double Monastery --- (also known as Audrey, Athelthryth, Ethelreda, Edilthride, Ediltrudis, Edeltrude) Born in Exning, Suffolk, England; died at Ely, 679. "Now Etheldreda shines upon our days, Shedding the light of grace on all our ways. Born of a noble and a royal line, She brings to Christ her King a life more fine." --The Venerable Bede To her friends and family, this once most famous female Anglo-Saxon saint was Etheldreda. To poor people she was Audrey, and the word "tawdry" originally came from the cheap necklaces that were sold on the feast of Saint Audrey and which were believed to cure illness of the throat and neck. This was because Etheldreda had suffered from neck cancer, which she attributed to divine punishment because she was once vain enough to wear a costly necklace. She had a huge tumour on her neck when she died, but, according the Saint Bede, when her tomb was opened by her sister Saint Sexburga, her successor as abbess at Ely Abbey, ten (or 16) years after her death, her body was found incorrupt and the tumour had healed. Etheldreda was a woman of noble birth, the daughter of King Anna of East Anglia, and sister to Saints Sexburga, Ethelburga, Erconwald, and Withburga. She was born in a time when the religious were uncompromising in their desire for complete conversion of their lives to God. To Etheldreda prayer, Holy Communion, and works of mercy were essential features of her faith in Jesus Christ. From her youth she devoted herself to piety, purity, and humility. Though she seemed destined for the cloistered life, twice Saint Etheldreda was married and released from these unwelcome ties. At the age of 14, Etheldreda was married to Tonbert. Now some saints have run away from marriage when they felt called to the vowed religious life, but Etheldreda trusted in God. She accepted the wedding calmly and found that Tonbert was equally devout and was happy that they should live in continence. After three (or five) years together, Tonbert died. For a time she enjoyed the solitude of the island of Ely, which had been part of her dowry, but for reasons of state she married again. Her second husband, Egfrid, son of King Oswy of Northumbria, was just a boy at the time. Etheldreda, though still young herself, treated him as her son or brother, rather than as a husband. She taught him the catechism and directed his spiritual growth, clearly trying to prepare him to accept a marriage of continence. But after 12 years of this relationship, Egfrid, grown to manhood, tried to make her his wife in fact as well as in name. This alarmed Etheldreda, who then soug
