Saints celebrated on the 19th of May
SAINT DUNSTAN, BISHOP
Dunstan, born in the early 10th century, was given by his father Heorstan, an Anglo-Saxon noble, to the care of the Irish scholars at Glastonbury. With his parent's consent he was tonsured, received minor orders and served in the ancient church of St Mary.
HE BEGAN LIFE AS A HERMIT
Eventually he began life as a hermit. Against the old church of St Mary he built a little cell only five feet long and two and a half feet deep, where he studied and worked at his handicrafts and played on his harp.
When his father Heorstan died, and St Dunstan inherited his possessions, he was now become a person of much influence, and on the death of King Aethelstan in 940, the new King, Eadmund, summoned him to his court at Cheddar and numbered him among his councillors. The royal favour roused against him the jealousy of the courtiers.
AT LENGTH, HE BECAME BISHOP
At length, he became Bishop and set about re-creating monastic life and to rebuild the abbey. He adopted the Benedictine Rule. In 957 the See of London also became vacant and was conferred on St Dunstan, who held it in conjunction with Worcester.
Later on, the archbishopric was conferred on St Dunstan, who went to Rome 960 and received the pallium from Pope John XII. We are told that, on his journey thither, the saint's charities were so lavish as to leave nothing for himself and his attendants. On his return from Rome Dunstan had Aelfstan appointed to the Bishopric of London, and St Oswald to that of Worcester. In 963 St Aethelwold, the Abbot of Abingdon, was appointed to the See of Winchester.
REFORMS OF CHURCH AND STATE
With their aid and with the ready support of King Eadgar, St Dunstan pushed forward his reforms in Church and State. Throughout the realm there was good order maintained and respect for law. Trained bands policed the north, a navy guarded the shores from Danish pirates. There was peace in the kingdom such as had not been known within memory of living man. Monasteries were built, in some of the great cathedrals ranks took the place of the secular canons; in the rest the canons were obliged to live according to rule. The parish priests were compelled to live chastely and to fit themselves for their office.
KING EADWARD WAS ASSASSINATED
In March, 978, King Eadward was assassinated at Corfe Castle, possibly at the instigation of his step-mother, and Aethelred the Redeless [the Unready, Old English for "poorly advised"] became king. His coronation on Low Sunday, 978, meant the end of St Dunstan's influence at court. He retired to Canterbury, where he spent the remainder of his life.
ST DUNSTAN SPENT LONG HOURS IN PRAYER
St Dunstan's life at Canterbury is characteristic; long hours, both day and night, were spent in private prayer, besides his regular attendance at Mass and the Office. He practised, also, his handicrafts, making bells and organs and correcting the books in the cathedral library. He encouraged and protected scholars of all lands who came to England, and was unwearied as a teacher of the boys in the cathedral school.
There is a sentence in the earliest biography, written by his friend, that shows us the old man sitting among the lads, whom he treated so gently, and telling them stories of his early days and of his forebears. And long after his death we are told of children who prayed to him for protection against harsher teachers, and whose prayers were answered.
HE HAD BUT THREE DAYS TO LIVE
On the vigil of Ascension Day, 988 he was warned by a vision of angels that he had but three days to live. On the feast itself he pontificated at Mass and preached three times to the people: once at the Gospel, a second time at the benediction (then given after the Pater Noster), and a third time after the Agnus Dei. In this last address he announced his impending death and bade them farewell. That afternoon he chose the spot for his tomb, then took to his bed.
His strength failed rapidly, and on Saturday morning (19 May), after the hymn at Matins, he caused the clergy to assemble. Mass was celebrated in his presence, then he received Extreme Unction and the Holy Viaticum, and expired as he uttered the words of thanksgiving: "He hath made a remembrance of his wonderful works, being a merciful and gracious Lord: He hath given food to them that fear Him." His shrine was destroyed at the Reformation. Throughout the Middle Ages he was the patron of the goldsmiths' guild. He is most often represented holding a pair of smith's tongs; sometimes, in reference to his visions, he is shown with a dove hovering near him.
Excerpts from Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913
➡️ Saint Dunstan (from the Golden Legend)
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