ST BREGWIN, BISHOP - 26 AUGUST

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST

Saints celebrated on the 26th of August

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

ST BREGWIN, BISHOP 

⬅️ Saintly Archbishops of Canterbury

Saint Bregwin (Bregowine) of Canterbury died in  765. He was the 12th archbishop of Canterbury (761-765). According to his Life (vita) he was a Continental Saxon who went to England to receive his education at the abbey school run by St Theodore. 

He received the pallium from Pope St Paul I. As archbishop he tried to recover Cookham Abbey in Berkshire from King Cynewulf of Wessex and he convened a synod.

HE WAS BURIED IN THE BAPTISTRY OF CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL

Like his predecessor St Cuthbert, he was buried in the baptistery of Canterbury Cathedral, rather than in the abbey church of St Augustine, which had been traditional. 

When the baptistery was destroyed by fire in 1067, Bregwin's relics were placed in a vault over the north transept with those of the other archbishops buried there.

THE SHORT VITA BY EADMER

In 1121, a German monk called Lambert made an attempt to translate Bregwin's relics to a monastery he was planning to build. Later Bregwin's body was moved to the altar of St Gregory in the south transept of the cathedral, which was the occasion of the short Life (vita) by Eadmer, from which we have some useful information about St Bregwin.

HIS LETTERS TO ST LULLUS CAN STILL BE READ

His letters to St Lullus at Mainz can still be read. One of them refers to their friendship made during a visit to Rome, indicates regret that war had led to the loss of contact, and refers to a reliquary he was sending as a gift. His death has been cited as August 24 or 26 depending on the calendar used.

(Information from Benedictine Monks of St Augustine, Ramsgate, The Book of Saints, Macmillan, 1947)