ST KENELM, KING AND MARTYR

ST KENELM, KING AND MARTYR - 13 DECEMBER

SAINT KENELM, KING AND MARTYR

Kenulph, a prince of the blood royal of Mercia, was in the fourth degree of descent from Wibba, father of King Penda, and Egfert the son of Offa, having reigned only half-a-year, was called to the throne of Mercia, which he filled twenty-two years.

HE LEFT HIS SON UNDER THE TUTELAGE OF HIS SISTER

Dying in 819, he left his son Kenelm, a child only seven years old, heir to his crown, under the tutelage of his sister Quindride.

This ambitious woman committed his person to the care of one Ascobert, whom she had hired to make away with him.

The wicked minister decoyed the innocent child into an unfrequented wood, cut off his head, and buried him under a thorn-tree. His corpse is said to have been discovered by a heavenly ray of light which shone over the place, and by the following inscription:

In Clent cow-pasture, under a thorn,

Of head bereft, lies Kenelm king born.

Higden, in his Polychronicon, says the body was thrown into a well, the place was called Cowdale Pasture, and situated in the south part of Staffordshire, on the borders of Worcestershire, where in following ages he was honoured with great devotion, but with greater resort of pilgrims at the abbey of Winchelcombe in Gloucestershire, which his father had founded, and in which his relics were enshrined, having been translated thither immediately after their discovery.

IN PENANCE SHE BECAME A NUN

The unnatural sister seized the kingdom, but was ousted by her uncle Ceolwulph, (pronounced Colwulph,) and in penance became a nun, as appears from the council of Cloveshoe in 822. St Kenelm’s death happened in 820.

[In some areas, St Kenelm's Day is celebrated on July 17]

• In the original English Saxon:

In Clent cow-batch Kenelm king baarne,

Lieth under a thorn, heaved bereaved.

• In Clent valley, where St Kenelm was murdered, in the utmost south borders of Staffordshire, is a famous spring called St Kenelm’s well, to which extraordinary virtues have been attributed, says Dr Cowper.

Source: Fr Butler's Lives of the Saints - 🎨 The Miracle of the Stater - Anglo-Saxon manuscript

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Kenelm 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.

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