Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Feast of St Oswald of Northumbria


The Mad One has a lovely post up on St Oswald of Northumbria, in the context of which today's prayer list is found. I commend it to you all.

As a former vicar of a church dedicated to St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, I found myself caught up in the golden age of Northumbria, the era rich in saints and in cultural interaction and artistic production. When I was in Durham we had some day trips.

On one trip we stopped at Heavenfield where Oswald was victorious over his foes. G'wan, read the story at Maddy's.

The church felt hallowed by prayer and leaflets in the pews invited visitors to pray. I did.

Oswald was considered a martyr. His head wound up buried with Cuthbert. Sometimes Cuddy is depicted holding Oswald's head.

We who have historic and spiritual roots in the British Isles owe a debt to this man. Our heritage would have been so very different if he had not invited Aidan to evangelize.

Holy Oswald, pray for us. Pray that Christ will teach us in our day to make the Good News available in a language understanded of the people as you once translated for Aidan.



Twelfth century mural of Oswald in Durham Cathedral (courtesy of Wikipedia)

--the BB

No comments: