The Anglo-Saxon saints, along with the rest of the early Church, had a completely different view of Christian suffering to us. For them, pain and illness, although not to be sought, was participation in the suffering of Christ on the cross, and thus an involvement in the redemption of the world. A quick or sudden death, therefore, cheated them out of this privilege, meaning that they were somehow found to be unworthy of sharing in Christ’s work. The granting of Eadberht’s wish, to die through a ‘long and wearing illness’, gave him the right to be buried close to Cuthbert’s uncorrupted body, as he, too, had been found worthy of sharing in Christ’s redeeming work.
Cuthbert’s body has been in the ground sufficiently long for the worms to have done their work, such that his clean bones may now be translated to the church in a new casket. But, terrifyingly, the monks find his body untouched, looking as if asleep, and his clothes bright and fresh.
Bishop Eadberht, carrying out his Lenten fast on the tiny St Cuthbert’s Isle just next to Lindisfarne, links the preservation of Cuthbert’s body with the resurrection (Jonah in the fish), being called by God to be his own (Israel in the desert), protection through the fire of judgement (Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego), and Christ’s second coming. This is no disembodied existence – the inseparable but personal link between the saint’s material and spiritual existence acts as a conduit for the healing power of heaven to be made present. The saint, being in Christ’s presence, means Christ’s presence is also here.
Day 42 of Morning Prayer with St Cuthbert can be found here.
Turmoil and uncertainty all around. From the crisis in social care, to terrifying food, energy, and mortgage inflation; from government sleaze to the ‘invasion’ by the destitute and homeless; from children dying of starvation to personal rockets to the moon; from the Trumpeting of the end of democracy to the rise of nationalism and xenophobia; from corporate mega-profits to the extinction of the human race through catastrophic climate change: take your pick. We can find glimpses of goodness in the personal, but broaden out and there is injustice and injustice at every turn.
Job is devastated by a hurricane of disasters, yet still hopes. The Thessalonian church is persecuted and perplexed, but still believes. The Sadducees know talk of ‘life after death’ is utter nonsense, and for whom there is no ‘yet’ or ‘but’. In the midst of it all is the God who stills the storm by taking it all into his Son…
The Bewcastle Benefice sermon for the 3rd Sunday before Advent can be found here.
Morning Prayer with St Cuthbert – Day 42
Cuthbert’s body has been in the ground sufficiently long for the worms to have done their work, such that his clean bones may now be translated to the church in a new casket. But, terrifyingly, the monks find his body untouched, looking as if asleep, and his clothes bright and fresh.
Bishop Eadberht, carrying out his Lenten fast on the tiny St Cuthbert’s Isle just next to Lindisfarne, links the preservation of Cuthbert’s body with the resurrection (Jonah in the fish), being called by God to be his own (Israel in the desert), protection through the fire of judgement (Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego), and Christ’s second coming. This is no disembodied existence – the demonstrable link between the physical and the spiritual in the saint allows the power of heaven to break through.
Day 42 of Morning Prayer with St Cuthbert can be found here.
Cuthbert may be dead, but his body, like that of Jesus, was integral to his life of holiness and, more than this, being made of the soil of the earth, again like that of Jesus, creation was being sanctified through it. Even after his death, his body retains a connection with his spirit, as it awaits resurrection. And through this connection God’s Holy Spirit works its healing power through soil and water on a poor lad suffering from some terrible mental illness. There is a profound integration of matter and spirit here.
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News of Cuthbert’s death is relayed from Farne to Lindisfarne by torches, as the monks on both islands are singing Psalm 59 at Lauds. But Cuthbert’s death results in the fragmentation of the community, dissension and division. It seems the peace and concord between the Iona and Roman groups embodied in Cuthbert, and for which he longed and prayed, was too fragile to last without his wise hand at the tiller, until another godly leader was found in Eadberht, a year later. Cuthbert was buried in the church on Lindisfarne. Day 40 of Morning Prayer with St Cuthbert.
We have reached Cuthbert’s last hours among us. He spends his final, disease-ridden moments lying in the corner of his tiny oratory, opposite the altar. Herefrith is with him, and through the course of the day, coaxes some halting words as a final legacy. He receives the sacraments in the evening, and then releases his spirit. This is a holy death, in peace, pain, and virtual solitude, but with the unseen company of heaven present – Cuthbert is going home. Day 39 of Morning Prayer with St Cuthbert.
After a long hiatus, the next instalment of morning prayer with St Cuthbert is available.
Cuthbert is weak. His strength is gone and his body failing. He allows another, sick, monk to accompany him into his cell for the first time in many years. But the power of God’s Spirit to bless and to heal is not limited by a man’s frailty. Perhaps it’s even enhanced by it…
An extended morning prayer due to the long narrative detailing Cuthbert’s last few days on earth. There is nothing romantic here. The pain and the suffering are not glorified or exaggerated. There is simply the eye-witness account of those who loved and looked up to him. But the story is harrowing in its detail and awfulness – there are no special privileges just for being a ‘holy man’. Day 37 of morning prayer with St Cuthbert.
At 52 years of age, and after just two years as bishop, Cuthbert’s harsh lifestyle begins to take its toll and he knows the end is approaching. He retires to his beloved Farne Island for his final days, preparing to meet his Lord. A group of monks visit, and for some inexplicable reason, they can’t be bothered to cook the goose Cuthbert gives them for their last meal. The consequences are unexpected… Day 36 of morning prayer with St Cuthbert.
Cuthbert visits a monastery of women on the north bank of the Tyne, where, like Jesus at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee, Cuthbert asks for some water, but those around him taste something else… Day 35 of morning prayer with St Cuthbert.
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