ST ALFRIDA, VIRGIN AND RECLUSE - 20 MAY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY

Saints celebrated on the 20th of May

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 ALFRIDA, VIRGIN AND RECLUSE 

Saint Alfrida was a virgin and recluse, c.795. This saint, whose name is variously written Elfthritha, Ælfleda, Æfthryth, Alfritha, Etheldreda [Etheldritha], etc., was a daughter of King Offa of Mercia. 

A DAUGHTER OF KING OFFA OF MERCIA

According to a late and not very trustworthy legend she was betrothed to St Ethelbert, King of the East Angles, but when he came to the court of Offa to claim her, he was treacherously murdered by the contrivance of Cynethritha, Offa’s queen. 

SHE RETIRED TO THE MARSHES OF CROWLAND

After this Alfrida retired to the marshes of Crowland, where she was built into a cell and lived as a recluse to the end of her days. It is impossible not to suspect the existence of some confusion with Ælfleda, another daughter of Offa, whose husband was also murdered by treachery.

(From Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913)