Saint Aldhelm of Sherborne (Antiqua)

8/13/2019 Saint Aldhelm of Sherborne (Antiqua)

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SAINT ALDHELM OF SHERBORNE

Our holy Father Aldhelm was born in about 639. His father was calledKenter and was from the royal family of Wessex in Southern n!land. When hewas still a boy" his father sent him to be trained in #ree$ and %atin letters at

the monastery of St. Au!ustine in &anterbury. Some years later Aldhelmreturned to his nati'e Wessex and when he was about twenty(two recei'ed themonastic tonsure in the monastery of )almesbury" which had been founded bythe *rishman )aeldub in about 63+. At one ,oint he was ordained to the,riesthood by -isho, leutherius of Wessex.

*n 6/" Aldhelm returned to &anterbury to study in the famous school of St.Adrian" who was described by -ede as 0'ery learned in the Scri,tures"ex,erienced in ecclesiastical and monastic administration and a !reat scholarin #ree$ and %atin.0 Here" in addition to the Holy Scri,tures" the ecclesiasticalsub1ects and #ree$" %atin and Hebrew" he studied 2oman law" music"arithmetic and a hundred different $inds of ,oetic metre. Soon he acuired ahi!h re,utation as a writer of both ,rose and ,oetry. -ede ,raised his wor$s"and two hundred years later Kin! Alfred considered his ,oetry" which was stillbein! sun!" as 0su,erior to all other n!lish ,oetry0. 4here is a story that heused to attract belie'ers to his church in Frome by sin!in! son!s to a har,accom,animent on the brid!e o'er which they ,assed. First he would sin!,o,ular ballads" and then" when he had cau!ht the ,eo,le5s attention" hewould introduce words of a more serious nature.

Aldhelm was forced to return home from &anterbury because of illness" and

in 6+ was elected abbot of )almesbury on the death of )aeldub. One of hisfirst achie'ements was to re,lace the wooden church built by )aeldub by as,lendid stone one dedicated to the A,ostles eter and aul. We still ,ossessthe 'erses he com,osed to celebrate the consecration. He also built two morechurches in )almesbury dedicated to the )other of #od and the Archan!el)ichael. 4he latter was still standin! in the twelfth century" and William of)almesbury described it as excellin! in si7e and beauty e'ery other ancientchurch in n!land.

4he )ercian and West Saxon $in!s and nobles !a'e many endowments toAldhelm. 4his enabled him to build dau!hter monasteries and churches at

-radford(on(A'on 8dedicated to St. %awrence" which has sur'i'ed almost intactto this day" Frome 8to St. :ohn the -a,tist" Wareham 8to St. )artin" -ruton8to St. eter" Abin!don" Sherborne" %an!ton )atra'ers and &orfe. He also,ersuaded Kin! *na of Wessex to refound the monastery at #lastonbury.

Aldhelm li'ed a life of !reat asceticism in his monastery" stru!!lin! in,rayer" fastin! and readin!. %i$e se'eral of the -ritish saints" he used to readthe whole of the salter at ni!ht standin! in a ,ool" which afterwards came tobe called by his name. At the same time he continued his educational andliterary acti'ity" and we ,ossess the treatise On ;ir!inity which he ,resented to

St. Hildelitha" abbess of -ar$in!.

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He was also renowned for the !race of wonderwor$in!. Once" durin! thebuildin! of the church of St. )ary in )almesbury" the wor$ers noticed that oneof the beams which had been trans,orted a lon! distance for inte!ration intothe structure was too short. 4his was a blow" because it would ha'e been a!reat labour and ex,ense to brin! another beam of the ri!ht si7e to the site.

Aldhelm" howe'er" nothin! daunted" succeeded in len!thenin! the beam to thereuired si7e by his ,rayers alone. *t is said that" durin! two fires thatdestroyed the whole monastery durin! the rei!ns of Kin!s Alfred and dward"this beam suffered no dama!e" and finally ,erished throu!h a!e and dry rot.

Aldhelm now decided to !o to 2ome to obtain ,ri'ile!es for his monasteriesfrom the o,e. On the way" he sto,,ed at his estate in


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e,isco,al 1urisdiction. >o ,riest" whate'er his status" was allowed to celebratethe %itur!y in the monastic churches without the ,ermission of the abbot" andwhen the abbot died the mon$s were to elect his successor. 4his charter waslater confirmed by Kin!s *na of Wessex and thelred of )ercia" both $in!sa!reein! that in the e'ent of war between their $in!doms the monasteries

would be left in ,eace.

Aldhelm returned home loaded with holy relics and a wonderful altar madeof finest white marble. *t is said that a camel was carryin! it as far as the Al,s"but the animal sli,,ed and was crushed by the altar" which itself bro$e into two,ieces. 4he saint made the si!n of the cross and lo@ both the camel and thealtar were immediately restored. On his return Aldhelm !a'e the altar to Kin!*na" who ,laced it in the church of St. )ary at -ruton. *n the twelfth century thecroo$ed flaw in the marble of the altar was still 'isible as a witness to themiracle.

A !reat crowd !reeted the saint as he disembar$ed in n!land. 4here was!eneral re1oicin! that the li!ht of -ritain had returned. And on the re,ose of St.Hedda" bisho, of Winchester" in ?+" the diocese was di'ided into two andAldhelm was elected bisho, of the western half" with his see at Sherborne. 4hesaint at first refused" sayin! that he was too old and wanted to end his daysuietly at )almesbury. -ut the council re,lied that with his a!e came !reatermaturity and freedom from 'ice.

So the saint finally yielded and went to &anterbury for his consecration atthe hands of Archbisho, -ertwald. While in the east of the country he made a

tri, to


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Aldhelm ruled his diocese for another four years. He ,reached day andni!ht" tra'ellin! ceaselessly. At Sherborne he built a fine cathedral" and hecontinued to administer his monasteries at )almesbury" -radford(on(A'on andFrome.

Once while he was ,reachin! in a 'illa!e" he fixed his ashen staff into the!round. *t !rew miraculously and ,ut forth bou!hs and lea'es. 4he bisho, wasconcentratin! on his sermon and did not notice the miracle. -ut when the,eo,le drew his attention to it" he !a'e !lory to #od and left an offerin! there.%ater" many other ash trees s,ran! from this ori!inal" to the extent that the'illa!e was called -isho,trees 8now Sto$e Orchard in #loucestershire.

On )ay B6" ?9" St. Aldhelm re,osed in the wooden church of the 'illa!e of


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n!land" ,romisin! #od that if she returned safely she would ne'er a!ain eatmeat. Some years later" howe'er" she was at a banuet and was ,ersuaded tobrea$ her 'ow. As a result she was struc$ with ,aralysis. For three years she'isited the shrines of the saints see$in! healin!. At len!th" comin! to St.Aldhelm5s shrine on his feastday" she was restored to full health. She then

became a nun and was buried at )almesbury.

St. Aldhelm5s restin! ,lace attracted ,ious &hristians e'en from the ast.4hus early in the ele'enth century a mon$ named &onstantine came to)almesbury from #reece ( it was not $nown why he had left his homeland. He,lanted the first 'ineyard in the monastery" which sur'i'ed for many years. Hewas of a 'ery mild dis,osition and 'ery abstinent habits. When he was on the,oint of death" he drew an archbisho,5s ,allium out of the $na,sac$ that healways carried with him" ,ut it on" and immediately died. He was buried in thechurch of St. Andrew. -ut after some years some buildin! wor$s in themonastery necessitated the exhumation of his body. 4he bones were found tobe of exce,tional whiteness and exuded a beautiful fra!rance.

Once a dan!erous demoniac was bound with cords and carried to)almesbury on the e'e of the feast of the Ascension. 4he mon$s ad'ised thosewho were carryin! him to ,ray to St. Aldhelm on his behalf. He was laid beforethe altar" and after calmin! down and fallin! into a li!ht slee, rose com,letelyhealed.

A!ain" a cri,,le see$in! a cure sto,,ed at )almesbury on his way to&hristchurch in Ham,shire. *mmediately he entered the church he felt a $ind of

current ,assin! throu!h all his members. After fallin! aslee, in front of thealtar" he was wo$en u, by the chantin! of the mon$s comin! into the church"and lea,t u, cured.

Once" after the >orman(,a,ist conuest of n!land" a fisherman from the*sle of Wi!ht was struc$ blind while fishin! at sea. His boat was brou!ht to landby his com,anions" who ad'ised him to see$ the hel, of #od. 4hey then rowedhim to &hristchurch" Ham,shire" where he remained for three years. 4hen hewas told in a dream to !o to )almesbury" where he reco'ered his si!ht. 4hismiracle con'inced the >ormans" who were in !eneral sce,tical about theholiness of the Saxon saints and whose first archbisho," %anfranc" had

discontinued the cult of Aldhelm" that Aldhelm was indeed a saint. Osmund"bisho, of Salisbury authori7ed the resum,tion of the cult and the translation ofhis relics. 4hen Abbot Warin brou!ht out the relics" which had been hidden forfear of the


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8SourcesE William of )almesbury" #esta ontificum An!lorum" boo$ ; the;enerable -ede" History of the n!lish &hurch and eo,le )ar!aret #allyon"4he arly &hurch in Wessex and )ercia" %a'enhamE Suffol$" /9C? S. -arin!(#ould" 4he %i'es of the Saints" 'ol. +" %ondonE :ohn >immo" /9C

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Saint Aldhelm of Sherborne (Antiqua)