SAINT FEAST DAY 20 MARCH: ST CUTHBERT

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MARCH

Saints celebrated on the 20th of March

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SAINT CUTHBERT, BISHOP

➡️ The Translation of Saint Cuthbert

Saint Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne, patron of Durham, was born about 635; died March 20, 687. His emblem is the head of St Oswald, king and martyr, which he is represented as bearing in his hands. He was probably born in the neighbourhood of Mailros (Melrose) of lowly parentage, for as a boy he used to tend sheep on the mountain-sides near that monastery.

HE USED TO TEND SHEEP

While still a child living with his foster-mother Kenswith his future lot as bishop had been foretold by a little play-fellow, whose prophecy had a lasting effect on his character. In the year 651, while watching his sheep, he saw in a vision the soul of St Aidan carried to heaven by angels, and inspired by this became a monk at Mailros. 

Yet it would seem that the troubled state of the country hindered him from carrying out his resolution at once. Certain it is that at one part of his life he was a soldier, and the years which succeed the death of St Aidan and Oswin of Deira seem to have been such as would call for the military service of most of the able-bodied men of Northumbria, which was constantly threatened at this time by the ambition of its southern neighbor, King Penda of Mercia. He arrived at Mailros on horseback and armed with a spear. 

HOLINESS AND LEARNING

Here he soon became eminent for holiness and learning, while from the first his life was distinguished by supernatural occurrences and miracles. When the monastery at Ripon was founded he went there as guest-master, but in 661 he, with other monks who adhered to the customs of Celtic Christianity, returned to Mailros owing to the adoption at Ripon of the Roman Usage in celebrating Easter and other matters. Shortly after his return he was struck by a pestilence which then attacked the community, but he recovered, and became prior in place of St Boisil, who died of the disease in 664. 

THE ROMAN USAGE

In this year the Synod of Whitby decided in favour of the Roman Usage, and St Cuthbert, who accepted the decision, was sent by St Eata to be prior at Lindisfarne, in order that he might introduce the Roman customs into that house. This was a difficult matter which needed all his gentle tact and patience to carry out successfully, but the fact that one so renowned for sanctity, who had himself been brought up in the Celtic tradition, was loyally conforming to the Roman use, did much to support the cause of St Wilfrid. In this matter St Cuthbert's influence on his time was very marked. At Lindisfarne he spent much time in evangelizing the people. He was noted for his devotion to the Mass, which he could not celebrate without tears, and for the success with which his zealous charity drew sinners to God.

HE WAS ELECTED BISHOP

At length, in 676, moved by a desire to attain greater perfection by means of the contemplative life, he retired, with the abbot's leave, to a spot which Archbishop Eyre identifies with St Cuthbert's Island near Lindisfarne, but which Raine thinks was near Holburn, where "St Cuthbert's Cave" is still shown. Shortly afterwards he removed to Farne Island, opposite Bamborough in Northumberland, where he gave himself up to a life of great austerity. After some years he was called from this retirement by a synod of bishops held at Twyford in Northumberland, under St Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury. 

At this meeting he was elected Bishop of Lindisfarne, as St Eata was now translated to Hexham. For a long time he withstood all pressure and only yielded after a long struggle. He was consecrated at York by St Theodore in the presence of six bishops, at Easter, 685. For two years he acted as bishop, preaching and labouring without intermission, with wonderful results. 

HE EXHORTED THE MONKS TO BE FAITHFUL TO CATHOLIC UNITY

At Christmas, 686, foreseeing the near approach of death, he resigned his see and returned to his cell on Farne Island, where two months later he was seized with a fatal illness. In his last days, in March, 687, he was tended by monks of Lindisfarne, and received the last sacraments from Abbot Herefrid, to whom he spoke his farewell words, exhorting the monks to be faithful to Catholic unity and the traditions of the Fathers. He died shortly after midnight, and at exactly the same hour that night his friend St Herbert, the hermit, also died, as St Cuthbert had predicted.

St Cuthbert was buried in his monastery at Lindisfarne, and his tomb immediately became celebrated for remarkable miracles. 

Information from Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Cuthbert may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.