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Icon of St. Aldhelm, Bishop of
Sherborne-Sarum (+ 709)
Feast: May 25
St. Aldhelm (Ealdhelm) was
born about the year 639. He is said to have been the son of Kenten, of
the royal house of Wessex. He received his education from the Irish
monk-scholar Maeldubha, after whom Malmesbury is named. Aldhelm was one
of the disciples of Abbot Adrian of Canterbury. His studies included
Roman law, astronomy, mathematics, and difficulties of the calendar. He
learned Greek and Hebrew. Ill health compelled him to leave Canterbury,
and the Saint returned to Malmesbury Abbey, where he was a monk under
Maeldubha for 14 years. When Maeldubha reposed, Aldhelm was appointed
in 675 to be first abbot of Malmesbury.
Aldhelm introduced the Benedictine rule, and secured the right of the
election of the abbot to the monks. The community increased, and
Aldhelm was able to found two other monasteries: Frome, Somerset and
Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire. The little church of St Laurence at
Bradford on Avon dates back to his time, and is probably his. At
Malmesbury he built a new church and obtained grants of land for the
monastery.
His fame as a scholar spread to other countries. Artwil, the son of an
Irish king, submitted his writings for Aldhelm's approval, and
Cellanus, an Irish monk from Peronne in Gaul, was one of his
correspondents. Aldhelm was the first Anglo-Saxon, so far as we know,
to write in Latin verse, and his letter to Acircius (Aldfrith or
Eadfrith, king of Northumbria) is a treatise on Latin prosody for the
use of his countrymen. In this work he included his most famous
productions, 101 riddles in Latin hexameters. Each of them is a
complete picture, and one of them runs to 83 lines.
His fame as a scholar reached Italy, and at the request of Pope Sergius
I, abbot Aldhelm paid a visit to Rome. He was deputed by a synod of the
church in Wessex to remonstrate with the Britons of Dumnonia (Devon and
Cornwall) on the Easter controversy. British Christians followed a
unique system of calculation for the date of Easter and also bore a
distinctive tonsure; these customs are generally associated with the
practice known as Celtic Christianity. Aldhelm wrote a long and rather
acrimonious letter to king Geraint of Dumnonia (Geruntius) achieving
ultimate agreement with the Patriarchate (Rome).
In 705, or perhaps earlier, Hedda, bishop of Winchester, reposed, and
the diocese was divided into two parts. Sherborne was the new see, of
which Aldhelm reluctantly became the first bishop in 705. He wished to
resign the abbey of Malmesbury which he had governed for 30 years, but
he yielded to the remonstrances of the monks and continued directing it
until his death. Though he was now an old man, St. Aldhelm was very
active as a Bishop. He built a cathedral church at Sherborne, described
by William of Malmesbury. St. Aldhelm was known for singing hymns and
passages from the gospels, interspersed with entertaining tales, in
public places so that he might draw attention from the crowds and then
preach to them. For this, he is known as the Apostle of Wessex.
St. Aldhelm fell asleep in the Lord in the church of Doulting on 25 May
709. His holy and venerable body was taken to Malmesbury, and crosses
were set up by his friend, St. Egwin, Bishop of Worcester, at the
various stopping-places. The Saint was buried in the church of St.
Michael at Malmesbury Abbey. His biographers relate miracles worked
during his lifetime and at his shrine. He was revered as a saint after
his death, and his feast on May 25 is found in the Sarum Missal.
Holy Father Aldhelm, pray to God for us!
Icon of unknown provenance.
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