St Cuthbert’s Day is on 20 March. This is a day when we can celebrate our very own patron saint here in North East England, or Northumbria, as it was known in the time of St Cuthbert. As we shall see, Cuthbert can still be an inspiring figure for us today and even after all these centuries, we can still go and visit his tomb. The life and times of St. Cuthbert really do make for quite a story.
Dunbar
Cuthbert was born in about 635 AD in Dunbar, in what is now East Lothian in Scotland, but was then part of the kingdom of Northumbria. He may have been born into a noble family, although the evidence for this is not clear. He was born about ten years after the conversion of King Edwin of Northumbria to Christianity in 627 AD. This was followed by the rest of the population of the kingdom, but despite this it was still a very violent time.
Although it is said by some that Cuthbert became a shepherd boy, he was thought to be of noble birth, so it is also argued that by the time Cuthbert had become a boy, he had become a warrior. During one particular night, when he was about 17, as he was guarding a flock of sheep in the Lammermuir Hills, between Dunbar and what is now Kelso, in south east Scotland, and Cuthbert’s life changed for ever. In the dark of the night, the young Cuthbert had a vision of a light descending from heaven to earth and back to heaven. He later found out that Saint Aidan had died in the night. The vision was surely a sign of where Cuthbert’s life should lead.
Melrose
So it was that Cuthbert headed to the abbey at Melrose. Cuthbert was to be with the Melrose monks for the next 13 years before going as part of the founding party to Ripon, when Melrose was given land to build a monastery there and was made guest master. However, in his late twenties Cuthbert returned to Melrose and found that his former teacher and friend, the prior Boisil, was dying of the plague. Following the death of Boisil, Cuthbert became prior (second to the Abbot) at Melrose.
Cuthbert had grown up, like many Northumbrians, in the Celtic tradition of Christianity, but the Synod of Whitby in 664 AD decided that Northumbria should look to the continent of Europe rather than Ireland for its spiritual leadership. It is reported that the Irish monks of Lindisfarne, with others, went back to Iona, but Cuthbert accepted the change to Roman ways and consequently the abbot of Melrose subsequently became also abbot of Lindisfarne and Cuthbert became its prior.
Cuthbert became known as a man of great piety and his reputation for this aspect of his character and his miracle-working came to the attention of the Northumbrian royal family. Indeed, it has been noted that “Æbbe, sister of King Oswiu of Northumbria (r. 642-670), she invited him to visit her at her own monastery near Coldingham”.
Lindisfarne
At Lindisfarne, Cuthbert continued to preach and continued to develop his reputation for performing miracles and healing the sick through prayer. He was also known to pray for hours on end and sometimes even for days, while he often wept openly during services.
Cuthbert continued in this work on Lindisfarne for ten years, before deciding to retire to the Farne Island and become a hermit, building himself a small hut made of wood. Altogether Cuthbert made an oratory and cell and devoted himself to prayer and decided that he wanted to protect the ducks he shared his life with.
Conservation Laws
So it is that we come to perhaps the most important part of Cuthbert’s story for us living so many centuries later. It was noted by the BBC in June 2013 that Cuthbert had brought in the world’s first conservation laws. It was said that while St Cuthbert had been one of the most revered saints of early Christianity, there were still few people who knew that he was arguably the world’s first nature conservationist. It was stated that: “When he visited the Farnes around AD 675 in a period of solitude and reflection, St Cuthbert became interested in the sea birds which lived on and around the islands. He also discovered local people liked to eat the eider ducks and their eggs. As a result, St Cuthbert introduced the world’s first bird protection laws to protect the eider ducks and other sea birds nesting on the islands. These are believed to be the earliest bird conservation laws in the world, dating centuries before the Sea Birds Preservation Act of 1869 and the Wild Birds Protection Act of 1880 in Victorian Britain.”
Now, we must be careful here not to turn a saint who lived over 1300 years ago into some kind of modern eco-saint, but surely this is an inspirational story here and one that we can draw upon as we move into the new green era in our region. That our patron saint was behind such early conservation laws is something we should be proud of and help us to make similar leaps forward today.
Travelling to seek his aid
Meanwhile, it has been reported that: “people came from Lindisfarne and from all over Britain to seek his aid with their troubles and afflictions. Among them was Ælflæd, Abbess of Whitby and sister of King Ecgfrith (r. 670-685), who was then suffering from a dangerous illness that had left her unable to walk. Cuthbert sent her a girdle, and when she put it on, she found herself able to walk once more. Not long after, she was fully recovered.”
Cuthbert was elected bishop at a synod in the presence of Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, and King Ecgfrith. It has been noted that Cuthbert had been reluctant, but Ecgfrith visited him at his hermitage and Cuthbert eventually accepted. He was offered the Bishopric of Hexham, but asked to swap with Eata and consequently Cuthbert was consecrated by Archbishop Theodore at York, in early 685.
Another of Northumbria’s great saints, the Venerable Bede has been quoted as saying of Cuthbert that: “gladly and diligently he practised his wonted frugality and, amid the thronging crowds, rejoiced to preserve the rigours of monastic life. He gave food to the hungry, clothing to the suffering, and he was duly adorned with all else that should mark the life of a bishop. And signs and miracles whereby he shone outwardly gave witness to the inward virtues of his mind.” (Colgrave 237)
There is also a cave in the hills to the west of Lindisfarne, which bears Cuthbert’s name, and it is thought that he may also have stayed there for a time.
Cuthbert made several prophecies in his life, but none was more poignant as his own death. He first predicted his own death in 684. Knowing that his death was fast approaching, he returned to his hermitage. On being asked when he would return Cuthbert s said to have replied: “When you bring my body back here”.
Cuthbert stayed in his hermitage for a couple of months before becoming gravely ill. Even then he continued to heal people, while talking about his wishes for his burial and exhorting visitors to continue with the Roman rites and not return to the Celtic traditions.
Cuthbert’s Death
On 20th March 687, Cuthbert passed away.
But that is not the end of our story…
Cuthbert was buried on Lindisfarne. His tomb was opened 11 years after his burial and his body was found to be in perfect condition and had not decomposed at all. Indeed, it is said that he just looked like he was sleeping.
Although Cuthbert was buried on Lindisfarne, after numerous Viking raids on the island, beginning in 793, Cuthbert’s body was removed in 875. The monks who took him wandered for 7 years keeping Cuthbert’s body safe, until they were finally given a church near to Chester-Le-Street.
In the late 10th century, after threats of more Viking raids, Cuthbert’s body was moved to Ripon, where Cuthbert had lived and worked all those years before. Cuthbert’s body only stayed at Ripon a few months before it was taken north again. It is said that the intention was to return to Chester-Le-Street, but when the body lay in Durham, there were apparently signs that this was where he wished to remain, and Cuthbert’s body stayed in Durham.
Indeed, it can now be seen at the east end of Durham Cathedral, with the body of another great Northumbrian saint, Bede, at the western end. This seems very appropriate as of course Bede was the first English historian, and it is thought that he may well have been responsible for at least some of the spread of Cuthberts fame.
In Northumbria, we are left with a legacy of a man of great piety and devotion to God, who was known for the numerous miracles attached to his name and of course also for being the man who brought in the world’s first known conservation laws. We have much to be thankful for regarding our patron saint.
