ST. LUKE'S CHURCH
ANGLICAN (EPISCOPAL)
The Saints of St. Luke's
*The Saints of St. Lukes was researched and created by Jim Yacavone
The Saints of St. Luke's refers to the 16 saints whose names and crests are exquisitely needlepointed on 16 chairs located in the side chapel of the Church (Jennus Chapel). The needlepointing was done by the talented women of the St. Luke's Needlepoint Guild. Lowell Jacks helped to choose the saints, and he drew the designs for the chair backs and seats.
Saints in the Anglican Church
The word saint is used in the New Testament to speak of all those who have faith in Christ and are a part of the Church. Anglicans do not believe in worshipping saints or praying to them to intercede on our behalf with God.
Article 22 of the Anglican Thirty Nine Articles of Religion rejects the invocation of saints as well as the worship or adoration of images and relics as "a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God."
That being said, saints still have a place in the Anglican Church. Anglicans believe that certain individuals in the history of the church should be recognized for their Christian piety, sacrifice or teachings and serve as examples for the living.
The 1958 Lambeth Conference (a decennial assembly of bishops of the Anglican Communion) said that the purpose of the Calendar of Saints "is to increase our thankfulness to God and to strengthen our faith by recalling regularly ... the lives and examples of men and women who have borne pre-eminent witness to the power of the Holy Spirit, and are with us in the communion of saints." One commentator has suggested that Anglican saints should be considered Christian heroes and heroines.
Anglican churches commemorate many of the same saints as those in the General Roman Catholic Calendar but some also commemorate notable Christians who have not been canonized by Rome.
There is no process for canonization in the Anglican Church just as there is no single calendar for the various denominations making up the Anglican Communion; each makes its own calendar suitable for its local situation.
A Bit of History
The Saints of St. Luke's cover three distinct periods in the history of English Christianity.
Although the very early history of the English church is obscure and there are many myths, Christianity first appeared in England during the Roman occupation of the island from 43 A.D. to 410 A.D when all of Britain below Scotland was a Roman province.
During the fourth century Christianity went from being a minority religion within the Roman Empire to being the majority religion of the Empire, and this may have been the case in England. However, it is not known how widespread the practice of Christianity was in Roman Eng- land. It is probable that large segments of the population, who were mainly Celts, continued to practice pagan Celtic polytheism.
Anglo-Saxon Britain
Following the departure of the Roman Empire from England at the beginning of the fifth century, the island was invaded and settled by the Angles, Saxons and Jutes who practiced a form of paganism not dissimilar to Celtic paganism. Elements of Christianity remained in England but Anglo-Saxon paganism predominated.
In this period England was divided into a number of kingdoms and subkingdoms which vied with each other for power and territory. Going from north to south, the principal kingdoms were Northumbria on the Scottish border, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Kent and Wessex. Wales was occupied by the Picts and Scotland by the Picts and Scots. These areas were even more divided and fractious than Anglo-Saxon England.
Saints David, Augustine, Cuthbert, Chad, Wilfrid, Etheldreda, Botulph and Bede lived during the Anglo-Saxon period, and their principle accomplishments were converting the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity and assuring the ascendancy of Roman Catholicism over Celtic Catholicism. By the time of the Viking invasions at the end of the eighth century, Christianity was the dominant religion in Anglo-Saxon England.
The Norse Invasion
Beginning in the last decade of the eighth century Norsemen from Scandinavia (the Vikings) began raiding coastal areas in Britain for plunder. The most famous of these early raids was the attack on the monastery at Lindisfarne in Northumbria in 793. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 793 records:
This year came dreadful fore-warnings over the land of the Northumbrians, terrifying the people most woefully: these were immense sheets of light rushing through the air, and whirlwinds, and fiery dragons flying across the firmament. These tremendous tokens were soon followed by a great famine: and not long after, on the sixth day before the ides of january in the same year, the harrowing inroads of heathen men made lamentable havoc in the church of God in Holy island, by rapine and slaughter.
The suddenness and savagery of the attack horrified knowledgeable Christians. Alcuin, writing from the court of Charlemagne in France, commented:
Lo, it is nearly 350 years that we and our fathers have inhabited this most lovely land, and never before has such terror appeared in Britain as we have now suffered from a pagan race, nor was it thought that such an inroad from the sea could be made. Behold, the church of St. Cuthbert spattered with the blood of the priests of God, despoiled of all its ornaments; a place more venerable than all in Britain is given as a prey to pagan peoples.
The Viking raids continued through the first half of the ninth century. In the second half of the ninth century armies of Norsemen began arriving on Britain's shores with the intention of conquest and colonization. In 865 a large army of Norsemen, called the Great Heath- en Army in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, invaded England intent on conquering the four remaining Anglo-Saxon kingdoms: Northumbria, East Anglia, Mercia and Wessex.
The army remained in England for ten years eventually subduing much of northern and eastern Britain. It was defeated finally by Alfred the Great of Wessex in 875, and a treaty was made which allowed Vikings to remain in control of the land they had conquered. For the most part, the Norsemen remained in control of this area, which was known as the Danelaw, until the Norman Conquest in 1066.
Saints Edmund, Alphege and Edward are from this period of English history. Edmund and Alphege are known for being martyrs to the Vikings. Edward and Swithun are known for their piety.
Norman England
When King Edward the Confessor died childless in 1066 there was no clear heir to the English throne. There were three contenders for the title: Harold Godwinson, the powerful Earl of Wessex; Harald Hardrada (King Harald II of Norway); and Duke William of Normandy.
Harold Godwinson was elected king by an assembly of powerful English noblemen known as the Witenagemot. Hardrada invaded England in September of 1066 and was defeated by Harold at the Battle of Stamford Bridge on September 25. William and the Normans invaded England a few days later, and Harold marched to meet them. They met in battle on October 14, 1066, and Harold was defeated at the Battle of Hastings.
Over the next 10 years William consolidated his conquest in the face of several rebellions and invasions from other contenders.
A consequence of the Norman Conquest was the almost total elimination of the old English Anglo-Saxon/Norse aristocracy and the loss of English control over the English Church. William systematically dispossessed English landowners and conferred their property on his continental followers, Englishmen were removed from high governmental and ecclesiastical office. After 1075 all earldoms were held by Normans, and Englishmen were only occasionally appointed as sheriffs.
Likewise, senior English church office-holders were either expelled from their positions or replaced by foreigners when they died. By 1096 no bishopric was held by any Englishman, and English abbots became uncommon, especially in the larger monasteries.
Saints Margaret, Anselm, Thomas and Hugh are from the post- Norman Conquest period of history. Margaret is known for her piety. Anselm, Thomas and Hugh are known for their defense of church rights and privileges in the face of royal encroachment.
The Saints
St. David
Saint David (c. 500 - c. 589), a native of Wales, was a bishop in Wales and is the patron saint of Wales. He is reported to have lived a simple life and to have practiced asceticism. Little is known of David's life, and what is known is based on oral legend and biography written in 1090, more than 500 years after David's death.
According to these sources, David was renowned as a teacher and preacher. Around 550, he attended the Synod of Brefi, where his eloquence in opposing the Pelagian Heresy caused his fellow monks to elect him primate of the region.
He founded monastic settlements in Wales, Dumnonia (southwest England) and Brittany (northwest France). His monastic rules were quite severe. Monks were
required to pull plows by themselves and, like David, drink only water and eat only bread with salt and herbs. They could not own personal possessions and were required to spend their evenings in prayer, reading and writing.
Because he drank only water, David became known as Dewi Ddyfrwr (the water drinker in Welsh). It is said that sometimes David would stand up to his neck in a lake of cold water reciting scripture as a self-imposed penance. It is also said that milestones in David's life were marked by appearances of springs of water.
A number of miracles are attributed to him. His best-known is reported to have taken place when the ground on which he stood rose up to form a small hill when he was preaching to a large crowd. A white dove, which became his emblem, was seen settling on his shoulder. One commentator observed that it is difficult to "conceive of any miracle more superfluous" in that part of Wales than the creation of a new hill. He is usually represented standing on a little hill with a dove on his shoulder.
David's other symbol, a leek, is the national symbol of Wales. Local tradition says that during a battle against the Saxons David advised the Welsh warriors to wear a leek in their hats or armor so that they could distinguish themselves from their enemies. Ever since then, the Welsh wear leeks every March 1, the national day of Wales, in memory of David. They have been celebrating this tradition since the 12th century.
David was buried at St David's Cathedral in Pembrokeshire, Wales, where his shrine was a popular place of pilgrimage throughout the Middle Ages. He is recognized as a saint by the Anglican Communion, the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. His Anglican feast day is March 1.
David's chair at St. Luke's was donated by Robert and Jineanne Parrish in memory of Thomas Ruben Jones.
St. Augustine of Canterbury
Saint Augustine of Canterbury (early sixth century - c. 604) was a Benedictine monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury. He is considered the "Apostle to the English" and a founder of the English Church.
Augustine was the prior of a monastery in Rome when Pope Gregory chose him in 595 to lead a mission to Christianize King AEthelberht and his Kingdom of Kent in southeast England. AEthelberht's Frankish wife, Bertha, was a Christian. In the early days of Christianity women were often the first converts and exercised great influence on their husbands.
Augustine, with some fellow missionaries, landed in Kent in 597 and proceeded to AEthelberht's main town of Canterbury. AEthelberht welcomed them and allowed
them to base their mission at the ancient church of St. Martin in Canterbury which had been built during the Roman occupation of England.
Augustine was successful in converting the king to Christianity, and the king allowed the missionaries to preach freely and gave them land to found a monastery. Augustine converted many of the king's subjects. There is an account of him converting thousands of people during a mass baptism on Christmas Day in 597.
Augustine was consecrated a bishop, probably in 597, and he established Canterbury as his episcopal see. He built a church there dedicated to Christ the Savior. It was consecrated in 603, and it is the predecessor to Canterbury Cathedral. About the same time he founded the monastery of Saints Peter and Paul. The monastery, now in ruins, later became St
Augustine's Abbey. Augustine also helped the king draft the first Anglo-Saxon laws.
Pope Gregory sent more missionaries to England in 601. Roman bishops were established at London and Rochester in 604, and a school was founded to train Anglo-Saxon priests and missionaries. Augustine died in 604 and was buried at St.
Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury. He is recognized as a saint by the Anglican Communion, the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. His Anglican feast day is May 26.
St. Augustine's chair was donated to St. Luke's by Jim and Ruby Tresca.
St. Cuthbert
Saint Cuthbert (634 - 687) was a St Cuthbert I hermit, monk and bishop in the Kingdom of Northumbria in northeast England and southeast Scotland and is regarded as the patron saint of northern England.
Some sources suggest that he did military service before becoming a monk at the Celtic Christian monastery at Melrose on the Scottish border where, in 661, he became the prior. In 664 the Northumbrian Church adopted the customs of the Roman Christian Church. Cuthbert, who was raised in the Celtic tradition in Northumbria, adopted the Roman practice and was made prior of the monastery at Lindisfarne in order to introduce Roman tradition there.
At Melrose and Lindisfarne Cuthbert traveled widely doing missionary work, ministering to the people, preaching and performing miracles.
He retired in 676, went to a small island near Lindisfarne (now known as St. Cuthbert's Isle) and became a hermit. He later moved to an even more remote location on one of the Inner Farne Islands off the coast of Northumbria and built a small cell to live in.
In 684 he was elected the Bishop of Hexham. He was reluctant to leave retirement but was persuaded to do so by King Egfrith of Northumbria although he became the Bishop of Lindisfarne instead of Hexham. As bishop he remained humble, dressed in simple clothing and continued to live like a monk.
Sensing his end was near he retired again after Christmas in 686 and returned to his cell. He died on March 20, 687.
Following his death, numerous miracles were attributed to intercessory prayer near his remains. Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, was inspired and encouraged in his struggle against the Danes by a dream he had of Cuthbert. Thereafter the royal house of Wessex, who became the kings of England, made a point of devotion to Cuthbert.
He has been described as perhaps the most popular saint in England prior to the death of Thomas Becket in 1170. His remains eventually came to rest in Durham Cathedral in Durham, England. He is recognized as a saint by the Anglican Communion, the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. His Anglican feast day in the U.S. is August 31.
St. Cuthbert's chair was donated to St. Luke's by Michaelene Johnston in memory of Roy Johnston.
St. Chad
A contemporary of Saints Cuthbert and St Chad Wilfrid, Saint Chad (c. 634 - 672) is credited with Christianizing the English kingdom of Mercia.
He began his ecclesiastical career as a monk at Lindisfarne Abbey and later studied in Ireland. Upon returning to England he helped establish a monastery at Laestingaeu (now Lastingham in North Yorkshire) with his brother, Cedd. Cedd became the abbey's first abbot. Chad succeeded to the position in 664 following Cedd's death from the plague.
Shortly thereafter he was appointed Bishop of the Northumbrians in York by Alhfrith, son of King Oswiu. However, Oswiu had already appointed Wilfrid to the position, and in 668 Theodore, the Archbishop of Canterbury, ruled in favor of Wilfrid as the
the bishop. Chad compliantly resigned York and retired to Lastingaeu.
Theodore was impressed with Chad's humility, and when the bishop of Mercia died he asked Oswiu to appoint Chad as the bishop's successor. The king approved, and in 669 Chad built a church and monastery at Litchfield to be the new seat of his diocese.
Chad zealously conducted missionary and pastoral work within the kingdom and founded a monastery in Lindsey. He is credited with converting the Mercians to Christianity.
Chad died of the plague on March 2, 672, and numerous miracles were reported as having taken place at his tomb. He is now buried at St. Chad's Cathedral in Birmingham, England.
He is recognized as a saint by the Anglican Communion, the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. He was the patron saint of Mercia and is the patron saint of astronomers. His Angli- can feast day is March 2.
St. Chad's chair at St. Luke's was donated by Jim and Meredith Yacavone in Memory of Sarah Mina Yacavone.
St. Wilfrid
A contemporary of Cuthbert and Chad, Saint Wilfrid, also known as Wilfrid, (634 - 709 or 710) is known for bringing closer relations between the English church and Rome, establishing the observances of the Roman Church over those of the Celtic Church, spreading knowledge of the Benedictine monastic rule, founding churches and monasteries and improving the chanting of the liturgy.
His career was rather tumultuous. Born in Northumbria (northeast England), he entered Lindisfarne monastery in 648. He later studied at Canterbury and in Rome and Gaul. He returned to Northumbria and in 660 became the abbot at the newly founded monastery at Ripon in north Yorkshire.
In 664 he strongly advocated for the Roman tradition of worship over the Celtic tradition at the Synod of Whitby. As a result he was appointed Bishop of Northumbria at York by Alhfrith, King Oswiu's son.
Wilfrid choose to be consecrated in Gaul rather than by Celtic bishops in England. When he returned from Gaul he discovered that King Oswiu and Alhfrith had a falling out and that Oswiu had appointed Chad to be bishop of Northumbria. In 668 the Archbishop of Canterbury, Theodore, restored Wilfrid to the Northumbrian bishopric.
For the next nine years Wilfrid discharged his episcopal duties, founded monasteries, built churches, and improved the liturgy.
When Theodore wanted to break up some of the larger dioceses, including Wilfrid's, into smaller ones, Wilfrid objected. Then Wilfrid quarreled with Ecgfrith, who had become king of Northumbria, and he was expelled from York. Theodore used this as an opportunity to proceed with his reforms. Wilfrid traveled to Rome to appeal the decision to the Pope. The Pope ruled in Wilfrid's favor, but King Ecgfrith refused to honor the papal decree and instead imprisoned and then exiled Wilfrid on his return to Northumbria.
Wilfrid spent the next few years in West Sussex where he founded an episcopal see and converted the pagan inhabitants of the Kingdom of Sussex to Christianity.
Theodore and Wilfrid ultimately settled their differences, and Theodore urged the new Northumbrian king, Aldfrith, to allow Wilfrid's return. Aldfrith agreed to do so, but in 691 he expelled Wilfrid. Wilfrid went to Mercia where he helped missionaries and served as bishop for the Mercian king.
In 700 Wilfrid appealed to the pope about his expulsion, and the pope ordered that an English council be held to decide the issue. In 702 this council attempted to confiscate all of Wilfrid's possessions, and Wilfrid travelled to Rome again to appeal the decision. His opponents in Northumbria excommunicated him but the Pope upheld Wilfrid, and he regained possession of his Northumbrian monasteries. Wilfrid died in 709 or 710.
Wilfrid founded many churches and monasteries and was a great fundraiser, acquiring lands and money from many of the kings he was in contact with. He was also noted for his ability to attract support from powerful women, especially queens. At his monasteries and dioceses he built churches in a style similar to those of the continent and Rome. He was an advocate of Benedictine monasticism and one of the first bishops to bring relics of saints back from Rome.
Wilfrid is buried in Ripon. He is recognized as a saint by the Anglican Communion, the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. His Anglican feast day is October 12.
St. Etheldreda
Saint Etheldreda (636 - 679), also known as Audrey, was a daughter of King Anna of East Anglia who was of the family of the Uffingas. King Anna had four daughters, and all of them lived saintly lives and founded abbeys. Thus, Etheldreda was raised in an atmosphere of piety, and as a young woman, took a vow of perpetual virginity.
In 652, she was married to Tondbert, King of South Gyrwe, an East Anglian subkingdom. As part of their marriage settlement, Tondbert gave his wife an estate called Elge and later called Ely. Tondbert respected Etheldreda's vow of chastity during their three year marriage.
After her husband's death in 655 Etheldreda settled at Ely intending to spend the rest of her life in religious retirement.
However, in 660, for family reasons—probably to secure an alliance for the house of the Uffingas with the powerful Kingdom of Northumbria against the aggressive Mercians-she married Ecgfrith, the second son of Oswiu, King of Northumbria. Ecgfrith agreed to honor Etheldreda's vow of chastity—he was only 15 years old at the time; she was 24.
The status of the marriage remained that way for the next twelve years. During this period Etheldreda was friend and benefactor to St. Cuthbert and St. Wilfrid. Wilfrid, in particular, visited and counseled her often. In 670 Etheldreda took the vows of a nun.
In 672, two years after he became King of Northumbria, Ecgfrith changed his mind about honoring Etheldreda's vow of chastity and desired to have normal marital relations with her. Etheldreda, encouraged by Wilfrid, who was then the Bishop of Northumbria, refused. The king tried to take Etheldreda by force but she fled to Ely and managed to evade capture, thanks in part to a miraculous rising of the tide. Another version of the legend is that she halted on the journey and sheltered under a miraculously growing ash tree which came from her staff planted in the ground. Ecgfrith later remarried.
Etheldreda founded a large double monastery at Ely in 672 or 673. Wilfrid made her abbess of the monastery and visited her often giving advice and guidance. She remained the abbess at Ely until her death in 679.
Etheldreda is one of the most popular of the English saints, and there are more dedications in her name in England than in that of any female saint of the early Anglo-Saxon Church. She is recognized as a saint by the Anglican Communion, the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. Her Anglican feast day is June 23. She is the patron saint of chastity and persons with neck and throat ailments.
St. Botulph
Also known as Botolph, Botwulf and St Botulph Botulf, Saint Botulph of Thorney (?- 680) was one of the earliest and most revered of East Anglian saints, and he became known as the patron saint of wayfarers and farming.
Little is known of his life, and what is known is based on an account written 400 years after his death. There is one brief mention of him in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles.
According to his later biographer, Botulph was sent as a youth to a Benedictine abbey in France to be educated. When he returned to his native East Anglia, King Anna gave him a grant of land on which to build a monastery. This was probably near
Aldeburgh in Suffolk, an area of marshland. Botulph is said to have expelled the swamps "devils." It is more likely that he had the marshes drained which eliminated the marsh gas with its nightly glow.
Through hard work and faith, the monastery grew in population; the monks built several structures, turned large areas of marsh into productive grazing and farming lands and dispelled the people's fears of demons.
Botulph worked as a traveling missionary through rough and bandit -plagued areas of East Anglia, Kent and Sussex. His legacy is evidenced by the strength of the Benedictine movement in Britain and in the dozens of churches named for him. Many of them were built at city gates to serve as safe-haven for travelers in times when robbers roamed the roads. Many were also built in port or river towns.
He died in 680. His relics eventually came to reside at Thorney Abbey in East Lincolnshire, although his head is at Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire and other portions of his body are at Westminster Abbey and other houses. He is recognized as a saint by the Anglican Communion, the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. His Anglican feast day is June 17.
St. Bede
Most often referred to as the Venerable Bede, Saint Bede (673 - 735) was one of the greatest authors and scholars in Christendom of his time. His great work, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, completed in 731, gives an account of Christianity in England from the beginning until his own day and is one of the foundations of our knowledge of Brit- ish history. He is considered "The Father of English History."
Although Bede is mainly studied as a historian now, his works on grammar, chronology, and biblical studies were as important in his time as his historical works and his writings on the lives of saints.
At the age of seven (some sources say three), Bede was sent by his family to themonastery of Monkwearmouth in the Kingdom of Northumbria in northern Britain to be educated as a monk. Monkwearmouth's sister monastery at Jarrow was founded 682, and Bede probably transferred to Jarrow that year. Evidently his genius was recognized at an early age since he was ordained as a deacon in 692 when he was 19 years old at a time when the canonical age for the ordination of a deacon was 25. He was ordained a priest when he was 30.
Except for a few brief visits elsewhere, he spent all of his life in the monastery at Jarrow. He wrote his first works, two books intended for use in the classroom, around 701. He continued to write for the rest of his life, eventually completing over 60 books. His works were widely read and distributed in his day, and he frequently corresponded with Christian notables in England and the continent.
Bede's devotion to scholarship and knowledge can be seen in this prayer he wrote towards the end of his life:
I pray thee, loving Jesus, that as Thou hast graciously given me to drink in with delight the words of Thy knowledge, so Thou wouldst mercifully grant me to attain one day to Thee, the fountain of all wisdom and to appear forever before Thy face.
Bede died on May 26, 735, at Jarrow. His remains are buried at Durham Cathedral. He is recognized as a saint by the Anglican Communion, the Roman Catholic Church, the Greek Orthodox Church and the Lutheran Church. He is the patron saint of lectors. Fittingly, he is also the patron saint of scholars and writers. His Anglican feast day is May 25.
St. Bede's chair at St. Luke's was given in memory of Jack Wheeler by Robert and Jineanne Parrish.
St. Swithun
Little is known of St. Swithun's life (c. 800-862) or saintly accomplishments. There is little mention of him in any document of his own time. We know he existed because his death was recorded in the Canterbury manu- script of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and his signature is appended to the witness lists of several Anglo-Saxon charters.
What is known is that he was the Bishop of Winchester from 853 until sometime between 862 and 865. This places him in the kingdom of Wessex during the reign of Egbert.
According to a biography written almost 300 years after Swithun's death, he was known for his piety and his zeal in building new churches or restoring old ones. At his request Ethelwulf, Egbert's son, gave a tenth of his income from royal lands to the Church. It is reported that Swithun made his diocesan journeys on foot and that when he gave a banquet he invited the poor and not the rich.
Perhaps his greatest impact on English history is that he tutored King AEthelwulf and his son, Alfred the Great.
Swithun's best known miracle was his restoring a basket of eggs that workmen had maliciously broken. A long-held superstition declares it will rain for forty days if it rains on his feast day:
St. Swithun's day, if thou dost rain, For forty days it will remain; St. Swithun's day, if thou be fair, For forty days 'twill rain na mair’.
Swithun is recognized as a saint by the Anglican Communion, the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. He is the patron saint of the weather, and he is regarded as one of the saints to whom one should pray in the event of drought. His Anglican feast day is July 15.
St. Swithun's chair at St. Luke's was given in honor of the Reverand Victor H. Morgan by J.A. Redfearn.
St. Edmund
Saint Edmund of East Anglia (841? - 869) is also known as Edmund the Martyr. He is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle which was compiled twenty years after his death. Tradition has it that Edmund was born in 841 and became King of East Anglia around 855.
In 865 a large army of Norsemen, called the Great Heathen Army in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, invaded England intent on conquering the four remaining Anglo-Saxon kingdoms: Northumbria, East Anglia, Mercia and Wessex. In 869 this army attacked East Anglia and killed Edmund. He may have been slain in battle, but tradition says that the Norsemen beat him, shot him with arrows and beheaded him after he refused their demand that he renounce Christ.
The Great Heathen Army was eventually defeated by Alfred the Great of Wessex in 875 and a treaty was made which allowed Vikings to remain in control of much of northern and eastern Britain but preserved Wessex.
Nothing is known of Edmund's life or reign because no contemporary East Anglian documents from the period have survived. The Viking devastation in East Anglia is thought to have destroyed any books or charters that referred to Edmund, and thus there is a lack of contemporary evidence about Edmund's life.
Edmund was the patron saint of England until St. George replaced him during the Middle Ages. He is, curiously, the patron saint of pandemics, torture victims and wolves. He is recognized as a saint by the Anglican Communion, the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. His Anglican feast day is November 20.
St. Edmund's chair at St. Luke's was given in memory of B. Frank and Frances Stevens Coile by Gloria Wells.
St. Alphege
Saint Alphege (c. 953 - 1012), also St. alphege known as Aelfheah, Elphege, Alphage, Elphege the Martyr and Godwine, became a monk early in life, first entering the monastery of Deerhurst and then the Abbey of Bath in the kingdom of Wessex.
Noted for his piety and austerity, he rose to become abbot at Bath probably between 977 and 982 while still a young man. In 984 he was elected Bishop of Windsor.
Following a Viking raid on Wessex in 994 led by, among others, Olaf Tryggvason (who would become King of Norway the next year), a peace treaty was agreed upon. Some accounts say that Olaf agreed to convert to Christianity as part of the treaty; others say Olaf was already a Christian and simply reaffirmed his baptism. In either event, Alphege performed the rite.
In 1006 Alphege became Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1011 the Danes raided England again and sacked it after a three week siege. Alphege was taken prisoner and held captive for seven months. He refused to allow a ransom to be paid for his freedom and as a result was killed on April 19, 1012, at Greenwich.
This account of Alphege's death appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:
[T]he raiding-army became much stirred up against the bishop, because he did not want to offer them any money, and forbade that anything might be granted in return for him. Also they were very drunk, because there was wine brought from the south. Then they seized the bishop, led him to their hustings on the Saturday in the octave of Easter, and then pelted him with their bones and the heads of cattle; and one of them struck him on the head with the butt of an axe, so that with the blow he sank down and his holy blood fell on the earth, and sent forth his holy soul to God's kingdom.
One of the invading Danes, Thorkell the Tall, was appalled at the brutality of his fellow raiders, and switched sides to the English king AEthered the Unready following Alphege's death.
Alphege was buried in St Paul's Cathedral but in 1023 his body was moved to Canterbury. He is recognized as a saint by the Anglican Communion, the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. His Anglican feast day is November 20. He is the patron saint of kidnap victims.
St. Edward
St. Edward (1003-1066), also known as Edward the Confessor, is the only English king to be canonized by the Catholic Church.
Edward was a son of AEthered the Unready, one of the kings of England in the Wessex line. In 1016 Cut the Great, the King of Denmark and Norway, conquered England. Cut ruled England for a brief time and was followed by his two sons. When the last of Cut's sons died in 1042, Edward succeeded to the throne thereby restoring the House of Wessex. Edward ruled England for 24 years.
Historians dispute whether Edward was a strong or weak, saintly or secular, king. The traditional view is that Edward was a pious and devout king who was a weakling and too obsessed with the matters of the spirit to cope with the real world.
Even though he was married to one of the most beautiful women in the country, he had no children by her. The traditional interpretation is that he was too holy to have any inclination for the matters of the flesh. Some later accounts say he was a virgin all his life. Edward devoted much time, energy and money to the rebuilding of Westminster Abbey. It is the first Norman Romanesque church in England.
Edward was buried at Westminster Abbey early in 1066. His lack of a clear heir led to the Norman conquest of England. There were reports of miraculous cures at Edward's tomb soon after his burial. He was canonized by the Catholic Church in 1161.
He is recognized as a saint by the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church. His Anglican feast day is October 13. He is the patron saint of kings, difficult marriages, and separated spouses.
St. Edward's chair at St. Luke's was given in memory of Walter Hanzlick, Frank and Lorraine McFall and Chuck Seiler.
St. Margaret
Saint Margaret of Scotland (c. 1045- St Margaret 1093) was the daughter of the English prince Edward the Exile, and granddaughter of Edmund Ironside, king of England.
How Margaret became associated with Scotland is quite a tale. After the Danish conquest of England in 1016, King Canute the Great had the infant Edward exiled to the continent. As an adult, Edward travelled to Hungary, married and had three children: Margaret; a sister, Cristina; and a brother, Edgar the AEtheling. Margaret grew up in a very religious environment in the Hungarian court.
As a child Margaret returned to England in 1057 with the rest of her family when her father was recalled as a possible successor to her great- uncle, the childless St. King Edward the Confessor. Unfortunately, her father died immediately after landing in England. Margaret continued to reside at the English court where her brother, Edgar, was considered a possible successor to the English throne.
When Edward the Confessor died in January 1066, Harold Godwin- son was selected as king. After Harold's defeat at the Battle of Hastings later that year, Edgar was proclaimed King of England but when the Normans advanced on London, the English Witenagemot presented Edgar to William the Conqueror effectively ending Edgar's reign.
In 1068 Edgar, Margaret, Cristina, and their mother fled to North-umbria and then to Scotland. Two years later Margaret, by then a young woman, married King Malcom III of Scotland.
Margaret was by all accounts a pious woman. She spent much of her time in prayer, devotional reading, and ecclesiastical embroidery. She is credited with having a civilizing influence on Malcom by reading him stories from the Bible. She instigated religious reforms to attempt to make the worship and practices of the Church in Scotland conform to those of Rome.
She and Malcom had six daughters and two sons, and she personally supervised their religious instruction and other studies. She was considered an exemplar of the "just ruler," and influenced her husband and children - especially her youngest son, later David I, King of Scotland — to be just and holy rulers.
She constantly performed charitable works, serving orphans and the poor every day before she ate and washing the feet of the poor in imitation of Christ. She ate sparingly and slept little in order to have time for devotions. She rose at midnight every night to attend church services.
Margaret invited the Benedictine order to establish a monastery at Dunfermline in Fife in 1072, and she established ferries at Queensferry and North Berwick to assist pilgrims journeying to St. Andrews in Fife. Margaret also instigated the restoration of the monastery at Iona.
Her husband and their eldest son were killed in a battle against the English in 1093. Ill and worn out by a life of austerity and fasting, Margaret passed away three days later on November 16, 1093, at the age of 48.
She was buried in Dunfermline Abbey. In 1560 Mary Queen of Scots had Margaret's head removed to Edinburgh Castle as a relic to assist her in childbirth. In 1597 her head ended up at the Scots' College in Douai, France, but was lost during the French Revolution. Philip II of Spain had the other remains of Margaret and Malcolm transferred to Madrid but they cannot now be found.
She is recognized as a saint by the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church. Her Anglican feast day on November 16. She is the patron saint of the death of children, large families, learning, queens, widows and Scotland.
St. Margaret's chair at St. Luke's was given by Evelyn Holme in honor of her children.
St. Anselm
Saint Anselm (c.1033-1109) was a Benedictine monk, Christian philosopher and theologian and scholar who is recognized for many intellectual accomplishments, including his application of reason in exploring the mysteries of faith.
He has been called "the most luminous and penetrating intellect be- tween St
Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas" and "the father of scholasticism." Anselm's works considered philosophical as well theological since they endeavor to render Christian tenets of faith, traditionally taken as a revealed truth, as a rational system.
He is also known for his resistance to the English monarchy's encroachments on the rights of the English Church and assuring the primacy of the See of Canterbury over the church in England, Wales and Ireland.
Anselm was born in Burgundy and became monk at Bec Abbey in Normandy when he was 27. In 1078 he became Bec's abbot Under Anselm's direction, Bec became the foremost seat of learning in Europe, attracting students from France, Italy and elsewhere. During this time, he wrote a number of influential Christian works. The fame of the monastery grew not only from his intellectual achievements but also from his own good example and his loving and kindly method of discipline.
Following the Norman Conquest Bec Abbey was given extensive land in England by Norman lords, and Anselm occasionally visited England to oversee the monastery's property. The good impression he made in Canterbury made him the favorite of its cathedral chapter as a future successor to the archbishopric.
When the archbishop died in 1089, King William II, the Conquer- er's successor, refused to appoint a new archbishop and appropriated the see's lands and revenues for himself. Then, in 1092, William fell ill.
Believing his sinful behavior was responsible, he summoned Anselm to hear his confession and administer last rites. William recovered, and a year later he nominated Anselm to fill the vacancy at Canterbury. Anselm initially refused, and negotiations followed. Anselm finally agreed to be archbishop on several conditions, among them that the king would return church lands which had been seized by the monarchy and accept Anselm's spiritual counsel. William was reluctant to accept these conditions but public pressure forced him to negotiate further. In the end William and Anselm settled on a partial return of Canterbury's lands, and in December 1093 Anselm was consecrated as the Archbishop of Canterbury.
As archbishop, Anselm maintained his monastic ideals, including stewardship, prudence, and proper instruction, prayer and contemplation. He continued to agitate for reform and the interests of Canterbury, repeatedly pressing the English monarchy for concessions His opposition to royal prerogatives over the church twice led to his exile from England.
He also fought for the primacy of the See of Canterbury over the other bishops in England, Ireland and Wales. By 1101, Anselm was calling himself the "Archbishop of Canterbury and primate of Great Britain and Ireland." By the end of his life in 1109 he was successful in freeing Canterbury from submission to the English king, receiving papal recognition of the subservience of the English and the Welsh bishops and gaining strong authority over the Irish bishops.
It is believed that Anselm’s remains are in Canterbury Cathedral but their exact whereabouts are unknown. He is recognized as a saint by the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church. His Anglican feast day on April 21.
St. Anselm's chair at St. Luke's was given by Connie Parks in memory of Jack Parks.
St. Thomas
Saint Thomas Becket (1119 - 1170) began his career as a city clerk and accountant in the service of the sheriffs. When he was 24 he obtained a position in Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury. Thomas won Theobald's confidence, and in 1154 Theo- bald appointed him archdeacon of Canterbury, an important post.
Less than three months later Theobald recommended him to King Henry Il to be the Lord Chancellor of England, one of the highest positions in early Norman England. Henry appointed him to the position in 1155.
Thomas showed great ability as chancellor. He razed castles, repaired the Tower of London, conducted embassies and raised and led troops in war.
By all accounts Thomas was a close friend and companion to the king who was 12 years his junior, and the king trusted him completely. Thomas was instrumental in furthering Henry's goal of gathering power into the hands of the monarchy even when that policy went against the claims of the church.
Relations between Thomas and Henry worsened. Henry was offended when Thomas sought to reclaim alienated estates belonging to the See of Canterbury and resisted the King's request that a voluntary offering to the sheriffs should be paid into the royal treasury.
Matters came to a head in 1164 when Henry proposed legislation which would have asserted secular jurisdiction over crimes by clerics, forbidden the excommunication of royal officials, appropriated the revenues of vacant sees and strengthened his power to influence episcopal elections.
Thomas opposed these measures, and the King summoned Thomas to a trial on allegations of contempt of royal authority and malfeasance. Knowing that Henry intended to imprison him or force his resignation, Thomas took refuge with the king of France. Henry responded by seizing the properties of the Archbishop and his supporters and exiling all Thomas' close relatives.
Thomas remained in exile for six years. Then, in 1170, Henry had his eldest son crowned as co-king by the archbishop of York, Thomas's rival. This was a flagrant breach of papal prohibition and of the immemorial right of Canterbury to crown the king. Thomas, followed by the Pope, excommunicated all those responsible. Henry, fearing a papal interdict for England, met Thomas in France and agreed that Thomas should return to Canterbury and receive back all the possessions of his see.
Thomas returned to Canterbury and was received with popular enthusiasm but he further infuriated Henry when he excommunicated 22 hostile royal servants and refused to lift the excommunication of the two bishops who had presided over the coronation of Henry's son.
Upon hearing reports of Thomas' actions, Henry, who was still in Normandy, is said to have uttered words that were interpreted by his men as wishing Thomas killed. The king's exact words are in doubt. Oral tradition has it that Henry said, "Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?"
Whatever he said, it was interpreted as a royal command, and four knights traveled from Normandy to Canterbury to deal with Thomas. On December 29, 1170 they confronted Thomas in Canterbury Cathedral and demanded the absolution of the two bishops. When he refused, they killed him.
There was a tremendous popular reaction to Thomas' murder. In a brief space of time devotion to the martyred archbishop spread through Europe. The pope canonized Thomas little more than two years after the martyrdom. On 1174 Henry did public penance for his role, and was scourged at the archbishop's tomb.
An immense number of miracles attributable to Thomas were reported, and for the rest of the Middle Ages the shrine of St.
Thomas of Canterbury was one of the wealthiest and most famous in Europe.
Thomas is recognized as a saint by the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church. His Anglican feast day is on December 29.
St. Hugh
Born in France to noble parents, St. St Hugh Hugh of Lincoln (c.1135-1200) became a religious novice in the Benedictine Order at 15, a deacon at 19 and the prior of a monastery in his 20s. In 1160 he visited the Grande Chartreuse, the head monastery of the Carthusian Order of monks an order that had a reputation for the rigid austerity and earnest piety. Hugh became a Carthusian and rose to become procurator of the Order.
In 1179 he was sent to be abbot of the first Carthusian monastery in England, Witham Charterhouse, which had been established by Henry Il in Somerset as part of his penance for the death of St. Thomas Becket. Hugh found the monks in great straits, living in log huts and with no plans for a more permanent monastery building. Hugh interceded with the king for royal patronage, and in 1182 Henry issued a charter of foundation and endowment for Witham Charterhouse.
Hugh's reputation for holiness and sanctity spread all over England and attracted many to the monastery. Among the frequent visitors was King Henry. While serving as prior, Hugh admonished Henry for keeping dioceses vacant in order to keep their income for the royal chancellery.
Hugh was consecrated Bishop of Lincoln in 1186. Almost immediately he established his independence of the King by excommunicating a royal forester and refusing to seat one of Henry's nominees to a position with the See of Lincoln though it is said that Hugh managed to soften the king's anger by his diplomatic address and tactful charm.
Hugh was an exemplary bishop, constantly in residence or traveling within his diocese, generous with his charity and scrupulous in the appointments he made. He raised the quality of education at the cathedral school. He was a leader in denouncing the persecution of the Jews, great numbers of whom lived in Lincoln, that swept England in 1190-91 at the beginning of Richard I's reign. There are accounts of him facing down armed mobs and making them release their victims.
He went on a number of diplomatic missions for Kings Henry, John and Richard I. Hugh died in 1200, and was canonized twenty years later, in 1220. He was the first Carthusian to be so honored.
Hugh is recognized as a saint by the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church. His Anglican feast day is on November 17. He is the patron saint of sick children, sick people, shoemakers, and swans.
Ad maiorem Dei gloriam