Lives of the Saints

A shy and unmusical stable-hand suddenly began to sing wise and moving hymns.

In 657, a monastery was founded in Whitby, in the Kingdom of Northumbria. It gave employment to several labourers, including an elderly stable-hand named Caedmon who would do anything to avoid singing.

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The popular monk was elected as bishop of Menevia in Wales in 550.

St David is the Patron Saint of Wales. His life shows just how closely connected the churches of Britain were to those of the Mediterranean world, even before the arrival of St Augustine of Canterbury in 597.

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The Blessed Virgin Mary adds four years to the life of Bishop Wilfrid, and an angel suggests a suitable thank-you.

Wilfrid, bishop of Hexham, visited Rome in 703-704, to resolve an ongoing dispute with the King of Northumbria. On his way back, he fell ill.

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A monk of the Egyptian desert helped a desperate mother, and was richly rewarded.

Macarius (301-391) was a disciple of St Anthony, the first Christian monk. Here, he does a favour for a friend in need.

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Why did a kindly old priest refuse to show his respects to St Nektarios?

St Nektarios of Aegina (Anastasios Kephalas, 1846-1920), is one the most beloved saints of Greece, known for countless miracles in his lifetime and after his death. Some years ago in Lavrio, Attica, a priest undertook to build a church in the saint’s honour; but he had cancer, and the pain was so intolerable that he tore his own clothes, and often hid from visitors.

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A hungry monk thought he had got away with the tastiest of crimes, but St Cuthbert kept his promise to his beloved birds.

St Cuthbert the Wonderworker of Lindisfarne (?634-687) is one the the most famous of all English saints. He lived in solitude on Inner Farne off the coast of Northumberland, surrounded by the birds he loved, and promised to take care of them even after he was gone.

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