Biography
 
Northumbrian Saints
St. Oswald. King. Martyr c. 605 - 642
Oswald was the son of King Ethelfrith of Northumbria. When his father was killed in battle, he fled to Scotland and was baptised at Iona. Returning in 633, he reclaimed his kingdom by defeating Cadwalla at Heavensfield, near Hexham. His zeal to evangelise his people led him to seek the help of the community of Iona, who sent Bishop Aidan to him c. 635. Oswald gave him the island of Lindisfarne, on which he fixed his See. The king took an active part in the work of evangelisation, often travelling with Aidan, and even translating his sermons from the Celtic tongue. Oswald also helped to establish a monastery at Melrose, where St Cuthbert was to embrace the monastic life. In 642, Oswald was killed in battle against the pagan forces of Penda, king of Mercia. Venerated as a martyr, he quickly became one of the most revered saints of northern England. Feast day 3rd August.
St Aidan. Bishop. Died 651.
Born in Ireland, Aidan came from Iona in 635 at the request of King Owald to be bishop of the Northumbrian peoples. Following the Celtic tradition, he established his See in a monastery, which was built on the island of Lindisfarne. He made great efforts in the work of evangelisation, travelling by foot throughout his diocese, preaching missions and encouraging the people by example to live the Christian life. According to St. Bede, he was a man of remarkable gentleness and goodness. He was wholeheartedly supported in his work by King Oswald, and continued to find favour with Oswin, his successor. Aidan survived Oswin by only a few days, and died at Bamburgh in 651. feast day 31st August. With him are remembered all those holy abbots and bishops, teachers and missionaries who made Lindisfarne a cradle of English Christianity.

St. Chad. Bishop. died 672. St. Cedd. Bishop. died 664.
St. Chad was a disciple of St. Aidan, educated partly on Lindisfarne, and partly in Ireland. He succeeded his brother Cedd as abbot of Lastingham in North Yorkshire but when St. Wilfrid the newly appointed archbishop of York, remained in France for a lengthy period after his nomination, Chad was consecrated to replace him. Doubts over the regularity of this appointment led to his deposition by Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, but his humility and his exemplary lifestyle brought about a change of heart in Theodore, and he was given the See of Lichfield, as Bishop of the Mercians. A number of early churches were dedicated to him, especially in the midlands, and his relics are preserved in Birmingham Metropolitan Cathedral, which is dedicated to St. Chad. St Cedd, brother of Chad, was also a Lindisfarne monk. He died in retirement at Lastingham, the Yorkshire monastic community he had founded some years earlier. Feast day 26th October.
St. Hilda. Abbess 614 - 680.
Hilda was a grand-niece of King Edwin of Northumbria. She was christened by St. Paulinus at York in 627, when she was thirteen. It was not till twenty years later that she decided to be a nun, and in 649 St. Aidan made her abbess of a convent at Hartlepool. After some years St. Hilda made a foundation at Whitby, which she governed for the rest of her life. It was a double monastery, women and men in adjoining quarters, and among her subjects were St. John of Beverley and the herdsman Caedmon, the first English religious poet. At the conference held at Whitby abbey to decide between Celtic and Roman ecclesiastical customs, St. Hilda supported the Celtic party. Bede is enthusiastic in his praise of Abbess Hilda; she was the advisor of rulers as well as of ordinary folk; she insisted on the study of Holy Scripture and on proper preparation for the priesthood; the influence of her example of peace and charity extended beyond the walls of her monastery; 'all who knew her called her Mother, such were her wonderful godliness and grace'.
Feast day. 17th November.
St. John of Beverley. Bishop. Died 721.
He entered the double monastery at Whitby while St. Hilda was abbess there. About 687 he was made bishop of Hexham and in 705 was translated to York. He ordained Bede priest c.703. John was a persevering teacher, much drawn to solitude. Little information has survived about his life, but in times past his memory was widely honoured in England; in one of her 'shewings' Julian of Norwich refers to him as 'a dear worthy servant of God… a full high saint in Heaven in his sight'. St. John resigned his see in 717 and withdrew to the religious house he had founded at the place now called Beverley. Feast day 25th October.
St. Paulinus of York. Bishop. Died 644.
Paulinus was a Roman monk, part of a group sent to England in 601 by Pope St. Gregory to assist Augustine in his work of evangelisation. In 625, he was consecrated bishop, and came to York with the Christian princess Ethelburga, who had been promised in marriage to Edwin of Northumbria. Through the influence of Paulinus, Edwin and his court were baptised on Easter Sunday 627. Having gained the patronage of the king, Paulinus made several missionary journeys throughout the north of England, and large numbers of people were baptised. Paulinus' appointment as the first archbishop of York had barely been recognised by the Pope when king Edwin was killed in battle, and Paulinus returned to Kent with queen Ethelburga. He ended his days there as bishop of Rochester, and died in 644. Paulinus is venerated as the first apostle of Northumbria. Feast day 10th October.

St. Cuthbert. Bishop. C.634 - 687.
Cuthbert spent his early life in north Northumberland. As a teenager, he joined the monastery at Melrose under St Eata. After the council of Whitby, he was made prior of Lindisfarne, where he persuaded the community to change from Celtic to Roman customs and practices. During his years as a priest, Cuthbert was an indefatigable worker, travelling long and arduous journeys to minister to people in the remotest parts of the diocese. His love of solitude took him to St Cuthbert's Isle, just off Lindisfarne, but he later sought permission to live as a hermit on the remote island of Inner Farne. In 684, Cuthbert was asked to become Bishop of Hexham, but he immediately exchanged his see with Eata of Lindisfarne. Once again, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to the care of the people. His time as bishop was short, and sensing that his life was drawing to a close, returned to his beloved Inner Farne, where he died in 687. Eleven years later, during the transfer of his remains to a new shrine, his body was found to be incorrupt, and immediately became an object of special veneration. When the Vikings destroyed Lindisfarne in 875, Cuthbert's body was removed for safe- keeping. It travelled all over the north - just as it had done during his life - reaching Durham, its final resting-place, in 995, where a Saxon church was built to house the relics. Many miracles were attributed to Cuthbert's intercession, and during the middle ages his shrine became one of the most popular places of pilgrimage. The present Romanesque cathedral is a fine trbute to this great northern saint. Feast day 20th March .

St. Wilfrid. Bishop. C.633 - 709.
Wilfrid was born at Ripon. As a young man he entered St. Aidan's monastery on Lindisfarne, which followed the usages and liturgical customs of the Celtic church. He later studied in Rome, readily adopting the Roman tradition, and introduced this tradition to the monastery of Ripon, where he had been invited to become abbot. He played a leading role at the Synod of Whitby (664), which extended the Roman usages to the whole country. His time as archbishop of York was fraught with difficulties; he returned from France after his consecration to find that St Chad had taken his place; his diocese was later divided against his will; his appeal to Rome against this division led to his imprisonment by the king of Northumbria. Much of Wilfrid's later life was spent in missionary work in the south of England. He was responsible for the extension of Ripon Abbey and for the foundation of Hexham Abbey. In 705 he relinquished control of the Diocese of York, and became Bishop of Hexham, until his death c. 709. Wilfrid was an outstanding man of his time, who never lost the courage of his convictions. His missionary endeavours in the south of England were to bring forth much fruit. Feast day 12th October.

St. Benet Biscop. Abbot. C.628 - c.690.
As a young man, Biscop Baducing was a nobleman at the court of King Oswy of Northumbria. His desire to enter the monastic life took him on two pilgrimages to Rome. After his second visit, he joined the community at Lerins, off the coast of France, taking the name Benedict. He stayed there for two years, then made many visits to other monasteries to study their rule. While in Rome in 669, he was asked to return to England with Theodore, the new archbishop of Canterbury, and he remained in Canterbury as abbot for a further two years. He was then helped by King Egfrith to found two monasteries in the north; one at Wearmouth in 674 and the other in Jarrow in 682. Benet continued to visit the continent, especially Rome, and brought back a great wealth of books and artwork. His library was in invaluable resource for the work of St Bede. He even succeeded in engaging the Papal Cantor to teach plainsong to his monks. When Benet died, after a protracted illness, his monasteries had become important centres of learning and Christian culture. Feast day 12th January.
St Bede. The Venerable. Monk. 673 - 735.
Bede as a boy was sent to school at the newly founded monastery of Wearmouth, and soon after to the twin house of Jarrow; there he became a monk and a priest, and there he passed his whole life, probably never going further afield than Lindisfarne and York. In his own words, 'I have devoted my energies to the study of the Scriptures, observing monastic discipline, and singing the daily services in church; study, teaching, and writing have always been my delight'. His most valuable work is the History of the English Church and People; to it he added lives of five early abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow. He also wrote grammatical and chronological works, hymns and other verse, letters and homilies, and compiled the first martyrolgy with historical notes. These are in Latin, but Bede was also the first known writer of English prose; unhappily his vernacular writings have been lost. During his last illness he was translating St John's Gospel; he dictated the last sentence just before he died, sitting on the floor of his cell, surrounded by the brethren among whom he lived. Of all the writers in western Europe from the time of St Gregory the Great until St Anselm, St Bede was perhaps the best known and most influential, especially in his native land; already in 836 a church council at Aachen referred to him as 'the venerable'. St. Boniface called Bede 'a light of the church, lit by the Holy Spirit'. Bede is the only Englishman whom Dante names in the Paradiso. Feast day 25th May.