The Journey with St. Cuthbert
Overview of St Cuthbert
A Menagerie of Miracles: The Illustrated Life of St Cuthbert
Bede: The Life and Miracles of St. Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne (721)
Other less known Saints
The History of St Cuthbert by Rev. Monsignor C. Eyre
The History of St. Cuthbert: Or an Account of His Life, Decease, and Miracles of the Wanderlings with His Body at Intervals During 124 Years (etc.)
St. Cuthberts Way
St. Cuthbert: Cuddy Beads
ST AIDAN’S PRAYER FOR THE HOLY ISLAND OF LINDISFARNE Lord, this bare island, make it a place of peace. Here be the peace of those who do Thy will. Here be the peace of brother serving man. Here be the peace of holy monks obeying. Here be the peace of praise by dark and day. Be this Island Thy Holy Island. I, Lord, Thy servant, Aidan, make this prayer. Be it Thy care. Amen. (from the Daily Office of the Northumbria Community)
A story to introduce an RE Lesson on the life of St Aidan, the pioneer missionary of Celtic Christianity in Northumbria
The following story is written as a way into the story of St Aidan for a Key Stage 2 class. It needs to be used in conjunction with the lesson follow-up ideas in The Present – an RE lesson outline on the life of St Aidan.
Aidan and new monasticism
From Their Website: sayings-of-celtic-saints
The Prayer of St. Columba
Be a bright flame before me, O God
a guiding star above me.
Be a smooth path below me,
a kindly shepherd behind me
today, tonight, and forever.
Alone with none but you, my God
I journey on my way;
what need I fear when you are near,
O Lord of night and day?
More secure am I within your hand
than if a multitude did round me stand.
St. Columba was born on December 7, ca. 521 A.D. to Fedhlimidh and Eithne of the Ui Neill clan in Gartan (Donegal). As a young man, Columba soon took an interest in the church, joined the monastery at Moville, and was ordained a deacon by St. Finnian. After studying with a bard called Gemman, Columba was ordained a priest by Etchen, the bishop of Clonfad. Columba entered the monastery of Mobhi Clarainech, and when disease forced the disbanding of that monastery, Columba went north and founded the church of Derry. Tradition has it that after founding several other monasteries, Columba copied St. Finnian’s psalter without the permission of Finnian, and thus devalued the book. When Finnian took the matter to High King Dermott for judgement, Dermott judged in favor of Finnian, stating “to every cow its calf; to every book its copy” (I am borrowing this quote from Cathach Books in Dublin). Columba refused to hand over the copy, and Dermott forced the issue militarily. Columba’s family and clan defeated Dermott at the battle of Cooldrevny in 561. Tradition further holds that St. Molaisi of Devenish, Columba’s spiritual father, ordered Columba to bring the same number of souls to Christ that he had caused to die as pennance. In 563, Columba landed on Iona with 12 disciples, and founded a new monastery. After founding several more monasteries, confounding the local druids, and participating in another battle (this time against St. Comgall over who owned the church of Colethem), Columba died on June 9, 597.
Source: Life of Saint Columba, Founder of Hy. Written by Adamnan, Ninth Abbot of that Monastery, ed. William Reeves. (Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1874) I
The LATIN TEXT of Book I, and Book II, cc. 1-30 is also available.
This St. Columba Page [at Utah State University] presentd this text in a mark-up by Seth Sefried, who scanned the text, which presents the Latin and English text side by side, one chapter at a time.