Theodore was a Greek monk who was appointed to be Archbishop of Canterbury. He came to England with Adrian (or Hadrian) the African, a North African monk who headed up the archbishop's school in Canterbury. Together they brought a great deal of scholarship to the English Church. Theodore died on this day in 690 CE.This was all during a time of incredible cross-fertilization of cultures. The Celtic and Roman usages were still sorting themselves out and influencing each other (it's not as if the Council of Whitby ended all influence). Benedict Biscop had traveled to Rome and brought back not only relics and icons but also imported Italian and Gallic artisans for Monkwearmouth and Jarrow. Celts and Saxons were influencing each other's cultures. It was an era of many saints and a flourishing culture (the Golden Age of Northumbria).
As we look back to those days and the legacy we enjoy from them, perhaps we might be less anxious about the multi-culturalism of our own era and choose instead to rejoice at the riches we enjoy from one another.
You can read more about Theodore here and here and here. For a decidedly different perspective (and one with more than a tint of lavender) there is a fictional work on him here.
Almighty God, you called your servant Theodore of Tarsus from Rome to the see of Canterbury, and gave him gifts of grace and wisdom to establish unity where there had been division, and order where there had been chaos: Create in your Church, by the operation of the Holy Spirit, such godly union and concord that it may proclaim, both by word and example, the Gospel of the Prince of Peace; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.How timely. Amen and amen.
--the BB
1 comment:
Yeah, I'm on it, dude!
A very nice post.
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