Who? I hear you ask. I have a calendar from the White Fathers and they obviously are not using the National Calendar for England and Wales. Today is the Feast of St Baldred and St Billfrith.
First of all, I misread it and I thought it said . . . but no it wasn't St Baldrick - shame, that would have made my day!
I've always liked these Celtic and Old English Saints. I know very little about them but the names are just so appealing.
St Baldred of Glasgow was a Scottish bishop said to have succeeded St Kentigern (Mungo) at Glasgow. St Baldred died at Tyningham in 756 and was buried there but the monastery was destroyed by the Danes two hundred years later. His relics were lost until discovered by Elfrid, a priest from Durham and they were enshrined with those of St Billfrith (Bilfred).
St Billfrith was a contemporary of St Baldred, a monk hermit at Lindisfarne. He was an expert goldsmith. He was responsible for the cover of the Lindisfarne Gospels. Another great loss as the cover of gold, silver and gems was melted down at the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
If parents nowadays are tired of the traditional saints' names and are looking for something different for their children, how about looking to these old Celtic and English saints for inspiration? How cool would it be to have a Baldred, an Elfrid or an Erconwald in your class!
6 comments:
Beware of odd Saints . . !
How about S. Uncumber, S. Hyacinth (Bouquet ?), or S. Zosimus ? :-)
Well, you know I'd have to go and look them up straight away Dominic Mary!
St Uncumber certainly sounds an 'odd Saint' but the other two sound fairly orthodox, although I don't think you'd get away with naming a child after them! :0)
There were actually several S. Hyacinths - all of them, as far as I know, men - and S. Zosimus was a fairly early Pope.
Uncumber was the early English name for S.Wilgefortis, who was almost certainly fictitious anyway, but was the patron saint of women who wanted to avoid marriage !
Wikipedia is quite informative . . .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilgefortis
You might also consider S. Ctesiphon ! (A Bishop, apparently)
DM - Yes, I had actually looked them up - that's what I meant in my comment. I only found 1 St Hyacinth though so thanks for the added info. Thanks too for the link on your blog.
"If parents nowadays are tired of the traditional saints' names and are looking for something different for their children, how about looking to these old Celtic and English saints for inspiration?"
That's a "cunning plan" as Balrick would say.
This post is a wonderful history lesson. I had not heard of either Saint. Thank you so much for posting it.
Will you be researching more unknown Saints for us?
Thanx and God bless you.
Thanks Victor, as I said I've always found these unusual names appealing. It makes me want to find out a bit about who they were and it's interesting to learn a little about our own 'native' saints.
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