Blessed God, whose Son Jesus knelt to serve his disciples: We honor thee for the witness of thy servant Elie Naud; and pray that we, with him, may proclaim Christ in service to those deemed by the world to be littlest and least, following Jesus, who came not to be ministered to but to minister; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, to whom be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Died #OTD in 1722: Elias Neau, commemorated as a Huguenot Witness to the Faith by the Episcopal Church

A French Protestant who went to sea at a young age, he became an English denizen while a Boston merchant, before moving to New York

Élie Neau icon in https://t.co/GcBGDy033A pic.twitter.com/yac8PwwIFz

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) September 7, 2022

(Via email–KSH)

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

To file under “we-should’ve-seen-that-coming”…

…(On September 1, 2022)..the Episcopal Church and The Episcopal Church in South Carolina filed a Petition for Reconsideration and Rehearing with the South Carolina Supreme Court asking the Court to reverse their ruling regarding the property rights of two parishes whose rights they had affirmed in their August 17 ruling.

Those parishes are: Old St Andrew’s, Charleston, and the Church of the Holy Cross, Stateburg.

Please join me in praying the Court will deny this final effort and, once and for all, put this case to rest.

Additionally, The Church of the Good Shepherd, Charleston, whose property rights the Court denied in their August 17 ruling, filed a Petition for Rehearing asking the Court to reconsider that ruling.

We’ll pray that the Court will reverse that earlier ruling and affirm the property rights of Good Shepherd.

With me, you are likely tired of the back-and-forth and wondering if this will ever end. It will. Someday, in the not too distant future, I trust these matters will be behind us, and we will move forward—whatever the outcome—into ministry without this distraction. Until then, we do well to heed St Paul’s advice to: “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, and be constant in prayer.” (Rom 12.12) Never losing sight of the fact that, “…you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” That truth can never change.

Blessings,

–The Rt Revd Chip Edgar is bishop of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina

Imagine yourself seated at a fashionable London dinner party in 1789.

The women are wearing hoops several feet wide, their hair dressed nearly as high and adorned with fruit or feathers. In between hips and hair, bosoms overspill. The men sport powdered hair, ruffled shirts, embroidered waistcoats, wool stockings, and buckled shoes. Politeness and manners reign around a table laden with delicate, savory dishes.

As guests wait for the after-dinner wine to arrive, a handsome but demure woman pulls a pamphlet from the folds of her dress. “Have you ever seen the inside of a slave ship?” she asks the natty gentleman seated next to her. She proceeds to spread open a print depicting the cargo hold of the Brookes slave ship. With meticulous detail, the print shows African slaves laid like sardines on the ship’s decks, each in a space so narrow, they can’t lay their arms at their sides. The print will become the most haunting image of the transatlantic slave trade””as well as a key rhetorical device used to stop it.

The woman sharing it is Hannah More.

Read it all.

Portrait of abolitionist poet Hannah More from the @bristolmuseum collection discussed in @BencePolly presentation "Memory and Materiality: the unknown story of Te Whiti, A Maori chief from Hauraki, North Island, New Zealand" To find out more https://t.co/f1WkfyxACq pic.twitter.com/akoVoUbYiX

— Memory Studies SW Research Cluster (@MemoryStudiesSW) May 26, 2022

Almighty God, whose only-begotten Son led captivity captive: Multiply among us faithful witnesses like thy servant Hannah More, who will fight for all who are oppressed or held in bondage; and bring us all, we pray, into the glorious liberty that thou hast promised to all thy children; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Another important female birthday to celebrate: writer and philanthropist Hannah Moore was born #OTD in 1745. This is @bristolmuseum's charming portrait of her by Frances Reynolds (sister of Joshua). pic.twitter.com/Bo4VMlCEvE

— Dr Jenny Gaschke (@JennyGaschke) February 2, 2021

O God, by thy Holy Spirit thou dost give gifts to thy people so that they might faithfully serve thy Church and the world: We give praise to thee for the gifts of perseverance, teaching and wisdom made manifest in thy servant, Artemisia Bowden, whom thou didst call far from home for the sake of educating the daughters and granddaughters of former slaves in Texas. We give thanks to thee for thy blessing and prospering of her life’s work, and pray that, following her example, we may be ever mindful of the call to serve where thou dost send us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Spirit, liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

#BlackHistoryMonth | Honoring the life of Artemisia Bowden, daughter of a slave, who joined the St. Philip's Day School as administrator and teacher. Bowden is cited for the school's transformation from an industrial school, high school & later a junior college.#HBCU pic.twitter.com/sWnlgPjKEO

— HBCU Campaign Fund (@HBCUCampaign) February 5, 2022

O God, who hast taken to thyself the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of thine incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of thine eternal kingdom; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Muchas gracias querida Diana!#BuenJueves 🙏🏻

"The Virgin and Child (with Saint Mary Magdalen left, a female martyr right, and two angels)"
Giacomo Pacchiarotti (1474–c.1539), Italian
Christ Church, University of Oxford pic.twitter.com/BrKnVAZtxF

— Cris💗Art (@CristianeGLima) May 13, 2021

O God, whose days are without end, and whose mercies cannot be numbered: Make us, we beseech thee, like thy servant Jeremy Taylor, deeply sensible of the shortness and uncertainty of human life; and let thy Holy Spirit lead us in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Today the Church of England celebrates Jeremy Taylor, Bishop of Down and Connor, Teacher of the Faith, 1667 https://t.co/iXyfJtCBA1

Image: Jeremy Taylor by William Faithorne, 1680, in the National Portrait Gallery pic.twitter.com/4pvTB48mhy

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) August 13, 2022

Life-giving God, who alone hast power over life and death, over health and sickness: Give power, wisdom, and gentleness to those who follow the example of thy servant Florence Nightingale, that they, bearing with them thy Presence, may not only heal but bless, and shine as lanterns of hope in the darkest hours of pain and fear; through Jesus Christ, the healer of body and soul, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

From Florence Nightingale, a British nurse and social reformer, the founder of modern nursing, nicknamed "The Lady with The Lamp" for her dedication when nursing wounded soldiers during the Crimean War, who died this day 112 years ago. pic.twitter.com/GF4gpbq4Ff

— A. Zaky (@zakyarin97) August 12, 2022

O God, whose blessed Son became poor that we through his poverty might be rich: Deliver us, we pray thee, from an inordinate love of this world, that, inspired by the devotion of thy servant Clare, we may serve thee with singleness of heart, and attain to the riches of the age to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever.

Today the Church of England celebrates Clare of Assisi, Founder of the Minoresses (Poor Clares), 1253 https://t.co/UaZjRifJv5

Image: Stained glass window in St Stephen's, Gloucester Road; Photo by Oxfordian Kissuth, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia pic.twitter.com/VA9hzu0XOP

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) August 11, 2022

Almighty God, by whose grace and power thy servant Laurence didst triumph over suffering and didst despise death: Grant, we pray, that we, steadfast in service to the poor and outcast, may share with him in the joys of thine everlasting kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Pour out thy grace upon thy church, O God, that like thy servant Edith Stein we may always seek what is true, defend what is right, reprove what is evil, and forgive those who sin against us, even as thy Son hath commanded. All this we ask through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.

The Episcopal Church also celebrates Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta of the Cross), Philosopher, Monastic, and Martyr 1942 https://t.co/aV2LUikHii

Image: Icon in the Dominican church of St Vincent Ferrer in New York City. Photo by Lawrence OP, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, via flickr pic.twitter.com/JJ7IpE1bsA

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) August 9, 2022

Almighty God, whose servant Dominic grew in knowledge of thy truth and formed an order of preachers to proclaim the good news of Christ: Give to all thy people a hunger for your Word and an urgent longing to share the Gospel, that the whole world may come to know thee as thou art revealed in thy Son Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today the Church of England celebrates Dominic, Priest, Founder of the Order of Preachers, 1221 https://t.co/GGr4HzaTTJ

Image: Window in the chapel of the Dominican House of Studies, Washington DC showing Dominic sending out the friars. Photo by Lawrence OP, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. pic.twitter.com/xO8YF55a2U

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) August 8, 2022

We give thee thanks, O Lord, for the vision and skill of Albrecht Dürer, Matthias Grünewald and Lucas Cranach the Elder, whose artistic depictions helped the peoples of their age understand the full suffering and glory of thine incarnate Son; and we pray that their work may strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ and the mystery of the Holy Trinity; who livest and reignest, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Lamentation Over Christ, 1507 #albrechtdurer #durer https://t.co/8EwK0N1TFp pic.twitter.com/nBMll1lUvi

— Albrecht Durer (@artistdurer) August 3, 2022

Almighty God, who didst reveal the resurrection of thy Son to Joanna, Mary and Salome, as they faithfully came bearing myrrh to his tomb: Grant that we too may perceive the presence of the risen Lord in the midst of pain and fear, that we may go forth proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

Today the Episcopal Church celebrates Joanna, Mary, and Salome, Myrrh-Bearing Women https://t.co/hDhvGd28pc

Image via https://t.co/YbNa0dFpNL pic.twitter.com/n8jmAuCSdC

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) August 3, 2020

Almighty God, who didst raise up thy servant Samuel Ferguson and inspire in him a missionary vision of thy Church in education and ministry: Stir up in us through his example a zeal for a Church, alive with thy Holy Word, reaching forth in love and service to all; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Merciful God, whose servant Joseph of Arimathaea with reverence and godly fear did prepare the body of our Lord and Savior for burial, and did lay it in his own tomb: Grant, we beseech thee, to us thy faithful people grace and courage to love and serve Jesus with sincere devotion all the days of our life; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Today the Episcopal Church commemorates Joseph of Arimathea https://t.co/3UOiS4KuK2

Image: Stained glass (1936) in the north window of St John the Baptist, Glastonbury (Photo by Peter Kowal https://t.co/V5g37L5jCM) pic.twitter.com/Q08eG7dzYQ

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) August 1, 2022

It was in 1787 that he first decided to put down a motion in the House of Commons about the slave trade. This nefarious traffic had been going on for three centuries, and the West Indian slave-owners were determined to oppose abolition to the end. Besides, Wilberforce was not a very prepossessing man. He was little and somewhat ugly, with poor eyesight and an upturned nose. When Boswell heard him speak, he pronounced him ‘a perfect shrimp’, but then had to concede that ‘presently the shrimp swelled into a whale.’ In 1789 Wilberforce said of the slave trade: “So enormous so dreadful, so irremediable did its wickedness appear that my own mind was completely made up for the abolition…. let the consequences be what they would, I from this time determined that I would never rest till I had effected its abolition.

So abolition bills (which related to the trade) and Foreign Trade Bills (which would prohibit the involvement of British ships in it) were debated in the commons in 1789, 1791, 1792,194, 1796 (by which time Abolition had become ‘the grand object of my parliamentary existence’), 1798 and 1799. Yet they all failed. The Foreign Slave Bill was not passed until 1806 and the Abolition of the Slave Trade Bill until 1807. This part of the campaign had taken eighteen years.

Next, soon after the conclusion of the Napoleonic wars, Wilberforce began to direct his energies to the abolition of slavery itself and the emancipation of the slaves. In 1823 the Anti-Slavery Society was formed. Twice that year and twice the following year, Wilberforce pleaded the slaves’ cause in the House of Commons. But in 1825 ill-health compelled him to resign as a member of parliament and to continue his campaign from outside. In 1831 he sent a message to the Anti-Slavery Society, in which he said, “Our motto must continue to be PERSEVERANCE. And ultimately I trust the Almighty will crown our efforts with success.” He did. In July 1833 the Abolition of Slavery Bill was passed in both Houses of Parliament, even though it included the undertaking to pay 20 million pounds in compensation to the slave-owners. ‘Thank God,’ wrote Wilberforce, that I have lived to witness a day in which England is willing to give 20 million pounds for the abolition of slavery.’ Three days later he died. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, in national recognition of his FORTY-FIVE YEARS of persevering struggle on behalf of African slaves.

— John R W Stott, Issues facing Christians Today (Basingstoke: Marshall, Morgan and Scott, 1984), p. 334

Died #onthisday 1833, knowing that the Slavery Abolition Act for which he had long campaigned was shortly to become law, William Wilberforce, MP for his native Hull 1780-4, and for Yorkshire 1784-1812 & Bramber 1812-25. He was buried in Westminster Abbey. https://t.co/kgE25wRliE pic.twitter.com/l0VcPMafEQ

— TheVictorianCommons (@TheVictCommons) July 29, 2022

Let thy continual mercy, O Lord, enkindle in thy Church the never-failing gift of love, that, following the example of thy servant William Wilberforce, we may have grace to defend the poor, and maintain the cause of those who have no helper; for the sake of him who gave his life for us, thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Today the Church remembers William Wilberforce (1759-1833), politician, social reformer & leading English abolitionist. His campaigning was instrumental in passing the 1807 Act abolishing the slave trade in the British Empire & the Act abolishing slavery in 1833. [MT1163.W5] pic.twitter.com/6kuhcdEhAU

— LambethPalaceLibrary (@lampallib) July 30, 2022

O God, heavenly Father, whose Son Jesus Christ enjoyed rest and refreshment in the home of Mary and Martha of Bethany: Give us the will to love thee, open our hearts to hear thee, and strengthen our hands to serve thee in others for his sake; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Sts. Mary, Martha & Lazarus lived in Bethany, outside of Jerusalem. Mary and Martha called on Jesus when Lazarus died & Jesus raised him from the dead. They are the patron saints of siblings.
(Image/Andrewrabbot/Wikimedia Commons: https://t.co/MXBLhli3MN) pic.twitter.com/pbO7MnFVAD

— Diocese of Richmond (@RichmondDiocese) July 29, 2021

Almighty God, beautiful in majesty and majestic in holiness, who dost teach us in Holy Scripture to sing thy praises and who gavest thy musicians Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frederick Handel and Henry Purcell grace to show forth thy glory in their music: Be with all those who write or make music for thy people, that we on earth may glimpse thy beauty and know the inexhaustible riches of thy new creation in Jesus Christ our Savior; who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today the Episcopal Church commemorates Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer, 1750 https://t.co/zbvaNYoORR

Portrait of Bach by Elias Gottlob Haussmann (1748), in the Bach Archive, Leipzig (https://t.co/2hm7L965t8). Image: Public Domain via Wikimedia pic.twitter.com/eiQm3hKj0p

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) July 28, 2022

So how large is the Anglican Communion? The official figures for 1997 claim 63 million. A Sunday Times survey, however, claimed that only 23 million actually attend church on a given Sunday. The most embarrassing statistic is that while England claims 26 million baptized members, only a million attend church. Archbishop Robin Eames of Ireland explained that this gap “simply reflects the reality that not every baptised member is in church on Sunday every week.” Huh? Denials like this are part of the problem.

It is hard to see that the Decade of Evangelism, approved at Lambeth 1988, has had any impact in the West. But then the Decade of Evangelism was the Third World’s baby to begin with. (To be sure, the idea of calling the 90’s a Decade of Evangelism came from Bishop Alden Hathaway and was presented to the Episcopal Church in 1988.) But one gets the sense that many Western bishops humored their Third World comrades by voting for it. After all, who can oppose evangelism, especially if one is free to identify it with one’s own pet projects?

I have just seen the Report of the mission section “Called to Live and Proclaim the Good News.” It is not bad overall, it has some helpful analysis of the missionary setting of the churches. Still, there is something missing, the urgency, the boldness, the sacrificial spirit that is called for by the Risen Lord. The problem is not in the plans but in the will to evangelise.

Read it all.

"Trinity and the Renewal Movement" by the Rev. Dr. Stephen Noll, from our Spring/Summer issue of Seed & Harvest magazine. https://t.co/k4fgmWVtY0#TrinitySchoolforMinistry #SeedandHarvest pic.twitter.com/SswxxwVbRf

— Trinity School for Ministry (@TS4Ministry) June 11, 2020

O Lord our God, we thank thee for instilling in the heart of thy servant William Reed Huntington a fervent love for thy Church and its mission in the world; and we pray that, with unflagging faith in thy promises, we may make known to all peoples thy blessed gift of eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Pach Brothers Studio, William Reed Huntington, c. 1900 https://t.co/1zHsyD8HYN #npg #pachbrothersstudio pic.twitter.com/zqBATtcbTP

— SI: National Portrait Gallery (Bot) (@si_npg) December 21, 2021

Almighty God, heavenly Father, we remember in thanksgiving this day the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and we pray that we all may be made one in the heavenly family of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever.

Today the Church of England celebrates Anne and Joachim, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary https://t.co/HDilxG0l6C

Image: Stained glass in the Lady Chapel, Church of All Saints, Gresford, Wrexham. Photo by Martin Crampin, via https://t.co/MjRkCgcMuR pic.twitter.com/IafNtmRRIY

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) July 26, 2022

O gracious God, we remember before thee this day thy servant and apostle James, first among the Twelve to suffer martyrdom for the Name of Jesus Christ; and we pray that thou wilt pour out upon the leaders of thy Church that spirit of self-denying service by which alone they may have true authority among thy people; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

On his feast #otd 25 July

St James the Greater,
Jusepe de Ribera, c. 1615 – 1616

(Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main) pic.twitter.com/4znfawoXM2

— John McCafferty (@jdmccafferty) July 25, 2022

Almighty God, whose blessed Son restored Mary Magdalene to health of body and mind, and called her to be a witness of his resurrection: Mercifully grant that by thy grace we may be healed of all our infirmities and know thee in the power of his endless life; who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever.

July 22 is the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, “Apostle to the Apostles”. pic.twitter.com/UiAZRqBBdC

— Tradical (@NoTrueScotist) July 22, 2022

O Creator and Giver of Life, who didst crown thy martyr Maria Skobtsova with glory and didst give her as an example of service to the suffering and poor even unto death: Teach us to love Christ in our neighbors, and thereby battle injustice and evil with the light of the Resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God in glory everlasting. Amen.

Saint Maria Skobtsova (of Paris) died 31 March 1945 in Ravensbrück concentration camp, Germany. Mother Maria lived in very troubled times (WW2) when – much like today – injustice, "alternate truths", and de-humanization prevailed (for a while). She spoke truth to power and… pic.twitter.com/hw9EaH0ziN

— Dragos Herescu (@DragosHerescu) March 31, 2022

It has been suggested that the shift from resolutions to Calls is intended to retrospectively downplay the authority of resolution 1.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference. I do not know if that is what the change of name is intended to achieve. However, if it is, then neither the archbishop’s video nor the accompanying leaflet achieve this purpose effectively. This is because it has never been held by any well-informed Anglican that resolution 1.10 was legally binding in the sense of being automatically legally enforceable in terms of the Canon law of the individual provinces of the Anglican Communion. As noted above, no Lambeth Conference resolution has ever possessed this kind of authority. In that sense it is correct to say that resolution 1.10 does not ‘order people about.’

However, this does not mean that the resolution does not possess authority. It does possess binding authority in two ways.

First, as an unrepealed and unreplaced Lambeth resolution, it possesses binding moral authority as a decision made by the bishops of the Anglican Communion meeting together in council as the senior leaders of their churches.

Secondly, it possesses binding theological authority because what it says is theologically correct and Anglicans, just like all other Christians, have an obligation to shape their thinking and their actions in the light of what is theologically correct.

The encyclical letter sent out by the bishops of the Lambeth Conference of 1920 declares, in words which have become famous among students of Anglicanism:

‘For half a century the Lambeth Conference has more and more served to focus the experience and counsels of our Communion. But it does not claim to exercise any powers of control or command. It stands for the far more spiritual and more Christian principle of loyalty to the fellowship. The Churches represented in it are indeed independent, but independent with the Christian freedom which recognizes the restraints of truth and of love. They are not free to deny the truth. They are not free to ignore the fellowship.‘[6]

The reason Anglicans are not free to reject resolution 1.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference is because Anglicans are not free ‘to deny the truth’ or ‘to ignore the fellowship’ (ignoring the fellowship involving among other things rejecting joint decisions properly arrived at by the bishops of the Communion). Nothing said in the archbishop’s video or in the accompanying leaflet changes that fact.

Read it all.

Merciful God, who didst call thy servant Macrina to reveal in her life and her teaching the riches of thy grace and truth: Mercifully grant that we, following her example, may seek after thy wisdom and live according to her way; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

St. Macrina the Younger (d. 380 A.D.) was born in Cappadocia to a family of saints. Her mother was St. Emelia, and her father was St. Basil the Elder. Her grandmother was St. Macrina the Elder, after whom she was named. Her holy parents had… https://t.co/vZ0YoAJ87Z

— Fr. David Abernethy ☦️ (@philokalia_min) July 19, 2022

Eternal God, we offer thanks for the witness of Bartolomé de las Casas, whose deep love for thy people caused him to refuse absolution to those who would not free their Indian slaves. Help us, inspired by his example, to work and pray for the freeing of all enslaved people of our world, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Op deze dag in 1566 overleed de Spaanse monnik Bartolomé de las Casas. Hij was bisschop in het pas ontdekte Amerika. Hij nam het in zijn geschriften op voor de inheemse bewoners. Met succes: zij werden formeel als mensen (!) erkend en slavernij werd aan banden gelegd pic.twitter.com/LCbpwZwRVC

— Boudewijn Steur (@boudewijnsteur) July 18, 2022

Today is St Swithun’s Day, when the weather-gods obey the saint of Winchester – ‘St Swithun’s day if thou dost rain / For forty days it will remain’, and all that. So let’s look at a few extracts from an Old English homily for St Swithun’s Day, written by Ælfric in the last decade of the tenth century.

Ælfric had a personal connection to Swithun’s story, and in this homily he adds in one or two comments to remind us of it. Swithun was an obscure ninth-century Bishop of Winchester whose fame is almost entirely the work of Æthelwold, his successor at Winchester more than a century later. Winchester was the royal city of Wessex but it was surprisingly short on saints, so Æthelwold did his best to elevate some of his predecessors to that status, including Swithun and St Birinus (a better-attested saint, though his popularity never caught on as Swithun’s did). On 15 July 971, Æthelwold had Swithun’s remains translated to a new shrine inside the Old Minster, Winchester. Ælfric, who was educated at Winchester under Æthelwold and had a great respect for his bishop, would have witnessed much of this, and by the time he wrote about it, around 25 years later, he had come to see Æthelwold’s time – his own youth – as a kind of golden age for the English church, when the king and holy bishops worked together and religion and peace flourished in the land. By the 990s, with the Vikings suddenly once more a pressing threat, this seemed to him like a bright but vanished world.

Read it all.

Happy #HampshireDay! Where's your favourite historic place in Hampshire?

Today is the feast day of St Swithun, the patron saint of Winchester Cathedral. pic.twitter.com/Z8Y6KxbFIP

— Historic England (@HistoricEngland) July 15, 2022