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Icon of St. Osith or Osyth,
Abbess of Chich in England (+653)
Feast: Oct. 7
Also known as St. Sythe
(Zita), Othith, and Ositha, our holy mother Osith was born in
Quarrendon, Buckinghamshire, which was at that time part of Mercia. She
was the daughter of Frithwald, a sub-king of Mercia in Surrey, and was
the niece of St. Edith and St. Edburga of Bicester. Her mother was
Wilburga, the daughter of the pagan King Penda of Mercia. She was
raised
in a convent in Warwickshire under the direction of St. Modwenna.
Forced by her father into a dynastic marriage with King Sighere of
Essex, she did her dynastic duty and produced him a son. While her
husband ran off to hunt down a beautiful white stag, Osith persuaded
two local bishops to accept her vows as a nun. Then she established a
convent at Chich in Essex, where she ruled as first abbess.
During an invasion of Danish
Vikings in 653, abbess Osith received a martyr's crown. The site for
venerating her martyrdom became transferred to the holy spring at
Quarrendon. St. Osith, after her execution, stood up, picked up her
head like St. Dionysius in Paris, and walked with it in her hands to
the door of a local convent. There she reposed to await the
resurrection of all.
Later, the manor of Chich (now St. Osyth's) in Essex was assumed as
part of his royal demesne by the Danish King Canute, who granted it to
Earl Godwin, and by him it was given to Christ Church, Canterbury. At
the Conquest it was transferred to the Bishopric of London.
Holy Mother Osith, pray to God for us!
Icon is of unknown provenance.
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