Celtic and British Orthodox Saints' Commemoration
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SEP 20, / SEP 7,
* Dunstan (+988), Abbot of Glastonbury, twenty-sixth Archbishop of Canterbury (see also May 19) (988)
JUN 1, / May 19,
St. Dunstan, Dunstan,(26th) Archbishop of Canterbury, abbot of Glastonbury, (see also SEP 7), (988)
Troparion Tone 8: By thee, O Dunstan, hath the whole land of England been wondrously adorned, for thou didst labor unceasingly to restore all the monastic houses laid waste by the heathen, to people them again with zealous monks and nuns, and to provide them with strict rules of pious order wherewith to govern their lives. Wherefore, the Church of Christ doth ever praise thine all-honorable name, O holy bishop.
Kondakion Tone 3: Like a master helmsman, O Dunstan, thou didst ably pilot the ship of Church and state in England, skillfully avoiding the treacherous rocks and reefs hidden beneath the tides of thy times, and bringing it safely to the calm harbour of heaven, fully laden with its freight of men's souls, which thou didst deliver, rejoicing, to Christ thy Master.
Glory Tone 4: Come, ye who love the saints of the Church, and with hymns and spiritual songs let us honor the holy hierarch Dunstan, for, from youth, he loved to hear the lives of the martyrs and favourites of Christ, and related them to the faithful with great delight. Wherefore, he now abideth eternally with them in the mansions of heaven, sharing with them the supernal vision of the divine Countenance, joining chorus with them before the all-splendid throne of the Godhead, and lifting up his voice with them in continual hymns of praise to the All-holy Trinity.
Sessional hymn Tone 5: With hymns let us honour the holy bishop of the Lord as a true man of prayer who smote the passions with the cudgel of abstinence, who with skill truly put the adversary to shame and set his arrogance at nought, and now prayeth earnestly that his native land be made steadfast in Orthodoxy.
NOV 3, / OCT 21,
Ordination of Dunstan, archbishop of Canterbury, England
NOV 5, / OCT 23,
Ethelfleda, abbess of Romsey, England, mentor of St Dunstan
NOV 16, / NOV 3,
Translation of the holy relics of St. Edith of Wilton, English nun. (Elevation of the Relics of Edith), Abbess of Wilton, by St Dunstan
JAN 21, / JAN 8,
Athelm, Æthelhelm, the first Bishop of Wells, and later Archbishop of Canterbury, England, uncle of St Dunstan [Paternal uncle of St Dunstan. A monk and then Abbot of Glastonbury in England, he became first Bishop of Wells in Somerset and in 923 21st Archbishop of Canterbury.] (926)
Wulsin, Wulfsige III (Wulfsin) bishop of Sherborne, England, a monk [at Glastonbury] whom St Dunstan loved as a son, became Abbot of Westminster in 980, and Bishop of Sherborne in 992 /993, Founder of the Sherbrorne monastery around 998, a scholar, he wrote many works – his correspondence is extant [one of the holy Bishops reviving British monasticism in 10 c.] (1002)
FEB 9, / JAN 27,
Translation of the Relics of Ethelfleda, abbess of Romsey, England, mentor of St Dunstan
St. Dunstan, (26th) Archbishop of Canterbury
TRANSLATED FROM RUSSIAN
For the Orthodox it is typical to represent all human achievements in trinity, in other words – to depict the life of man through envisioning the Holy and Life-Giving Trinity. After the Holy Apostle Paul, Saint Dionysius the Areopagite also spoke of the nine angels ranks (three by three); On January 30 we celebrate the day of three saints – Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom. In the Russian Church there was a holiday of the three Russian Saints – Metropolitan Peter of Moscow, Alexy and Jonah. This holiday (October 5th) was recently supplemented by three more names of Saints (three by two), and thus, they became six: Peter, Alexy, Jonah, Philip, Ermogen and Tikhon[1]. On March 23 the Orthodox Portuguese also celebrate the day of three saints of Portugal: St. Peter [of Rates], Metropolitan of Braga (Braga is a kind of a Portuguese Canterbury), St. Gens, Bishop of Lisbon, and St. Mantius, Bishop of Évora. The Church of England can also have a holiday in honor of three of its saints. Saint Dunstant of Canterbury, St. Æthelwold of Winchester and St. Oswald of Worcester together led England in the 10th century to a church, political and cultural flourishing. Who were these three saints, and what feats were they glorified for
Saint Donstan
Saint Dunstan was born in 909 in the town of Baltonsboro near Glastonbury in a noble family. His father was called Cheorstan, and his mother was named Keenfrith. Saint Dunstan had also a brother named Woolfich. All members of this family were loyal and pious Christians, observed all the holidays and fasts in the ancient monastery of Glastonbury. According to legend, before the birth of St. Dunstan there was a heavenly sign. On the feast of the introduction to the temple of the Most Holy Virgin, the parents of St. Dunstan were in the Glastonbury church. Suddenly all the candles in the temple were extinguished, and the one that his mother held, lit up on its own, so Keenefrith was able to light with it all the other candles.
Already in childhood the saint Dunstan had visions . In one of them a venerable old man in sparkling white sticharion appeared to him and pointed to a new monastery in Glastonbury with a magnificent church and just as beautiful cells. St. Dunstan devoted a lot of time time to reading, he also played the harp, which was a sign of culture for the English of that time. The uncle of St. Dunstein Athelm was the bishop of Wells. When in 923 St. Plegmund, Archbishop of Canterbury, reunited with the Lord, Athelm became his successor.
Dunstan, a young promising scientist, went to Canterbury and settled in the Archbishop house. Possibly, he attended the anointing on the 4 of September 925 into Archbishop of King Æthelstan in the town of Kingston-upon-Thames. Soon Saint Dunstan grew close to the royal court. He had the opportunity to communicate a lot with those who came from Europe, who have always enjoyed a kind reception by the king. At the court Dunstan had great success in many arts: making tapestries, casting, music, painting and poetry. But his talented nature aroused envy: he was slandered and removed from the royal court. Saint Dunstan looked for consolation in prayer. He went to Glastonbury, and then to Winchester, where he became close with his relative, the Holy Bishop Ethelfleda [Alphege?]. In 936 St. Dunstan decided to vow celibacy and devote himself to monastic life.
So, St. Dunstan became a monk of the monastery in Glastonbury. In this monastery he lived as a hermit in a tiny cell, engaged in painting, embroidery and blacksmith work. The young ascetic had visions, too, and even the tempter himself appeared to him in the flesh. In 939 Edmund became king, he summoned again St. Dunstan to the court. And once again - by slanderers - Dunstan was exiled. In fact, soon the young king summoned the saint back, repenting of the sins of malice and injustice. This happened after Edmund miraculously escaped death near the gorge of Cheddar, where he had a house. Saint Dunstan was not only close to the king, but was also appointed abbot of the Glastonbury Monastery. The king made generous gifts to this monastery. So that in 940, by the works of St. Dunstan there began in England the revival of monasticism, which had fallen into complete decline due to the numerous Viking raids in the previous century. By his work to restore monastic life in the country Saint Dunstan earned himself the nickname “the first abbot of the English people.” During the the next thirteen years, St. Dunstan restored Glastonbury, acquired books, taught, while maintaining a close relationship with the royal family. St. Dunstan was even entrusted with keeping in Glastonbury part of the royal Treasury. In 951, St. Dunstanz was offered to occupy the episcopal see of Winchester, and in 953 - the see of Crediton. On both occasions the saint refused the honor.
In 956 Saint Dunstan left England for a while. Some suggest that this was related to the accession to the throne of King Eadwig - a ruler with vicious manners, or maybe the reason was the hatred of the barons and other people who feared the revival of monasticism. Saint Dunstan spent more than a year in the monastery of the city of Ghent in Flanders, where he witnessed how monasticism on the continent was reviving. In that monastery he was strengthened by a vision from which he learned that he would soon return to England, and his opponents would be unable to complete what they intended doing. In the meantime, Eadwig's brief reign was over. The next King became Saint Edgar. Saint Dunstan was asked to return to England, where in 957 he was ordained bishop. The saint became a permanent adviser to the king. Between 957 and 959 St. Dunstan was Bishop of Wuster [Worcester], and in 959 he became bishop of London. Here he took to reviving the monastic life in the monastery of the Saint Peter in Westminster, [which was] initially, with only twelve monks. Reminiscent of that period today are two surviving capital city churches: the temple of St. Dunstan-in-the-East and the temple of St. Dunstan-in-the-West.
21 October 960, by God's Providence, St. Dunstan became in Canterbury the Metropolitan of all the English people. In Canterbury monastery he strictly observed all the monastics prescriptions. When the Saint served Divine Liturgy his face was concentrated in the contemplation of the heavenly, virtually "as if he communicated with God Himself one on One." In the church of Canterbury St. Dunstan preached and instructed, admonishing not to retreat from the faith, and at night he secretly stood up for a long prayer. Saint Dunstan reverently venerated the Saints of Canterbury, especially his predecessor, the saint Oda, whom he called the good Oda. It was Saint Ode who ordained saint Dunstan as Bishop of Worcester. They tell how one night St. Dunstan heard the victorious song of the saints whose relics rested next to him. Christ was glorified in this song, and Saint Dunstan wept from the beauty of that wondrous song. Saint Dunstan studied the history and teachings of the Holy Church, he corrected manuscripts; he revived monastic life in Canterbury, as well as in Glastonbury and Westminster. He laboured hard to plant monastic life throughout South England, not leaving unattended his first love, too - the abode in Glastonbury, which gave England a host of holy abbots and bishops. Among the monasteries, revived by St. Dunstan, are the one [abodes] in Ætheling, Mechelen, Malmesbury and Bath. In 970 St. Dunstan participated in the preparation of a document entitled "Regularis concordia," which was a set of monastic rules, mandatory for all the newly restored monasteries. Thanks to the efforts of the saint a total of about 30 monasteries were restored. But even so active participating in the arrangement of monasticism in England, the saint did not forget his obligations to the royal house.
An ascetic-contemplator, Saint Dunstan was at the same time a statesman, too. He was an advisor to the young King Edgar, who ascended the throne at the age of 14; he was looking for the royal patronage of new monasteries. This collaboration exactly of the Archbishop and King was the foundation of that era in the history of English church life, which is called the “Golden Age”. Edgar himself - after a turbulent youth - turned to repentance and piety, becoming not only a great king, but also a saint - Saint Edgar the Peaceable. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that “Lord gave him a peaceful life. Spreading widely the news of the Lord's greatness, Edgar who himself loved the law of God, assisted peace among the people." After the 11th century horrors St. Edgar affiliated the Danish settlers who settled in Northern and Eastern England, with the English way of life, showing extraordinary patience. And much was achieved thanks to the influence and wisdom of St. Dunstan. Influenced by the Saint St. Edgar passed also some other laws.
Saint Dunstan was a strict bishop, who firmly insisted on the observance of fasting and marriage laws; he built new churches and restored old ones, encouraged the priests to master any craft.
By Byzantine model the Saint compiled the rite of coronation, which for the most part is performed even today.
In 973, on May 11, the Feast of Pentecost, in the Cathedral of the city of Bath St. Dunstan crowned Edgar as King of all England, waiting for him to turn 30 years old - the canonical age to enter the priesthood. The rite of coronation itself reflected and expressed views Saint Dunstan on the essence of royal power: a Christian king, the Saint thought, must become an icon of the incarnate God, the anointed of God, mediator between clergy and laity. Saint Dunstan was convinced that the central royal power, opposing the will of the local barons, strengthens the unity of England (Saint Edgar was the first king of all England) and prevents the possibility of unleashing feudal internecine wars, in which subsequently, in the 12th century, the Norman barons would be involved.
Once a certain "nobleman" of noble origin, excommunicated by Saint Dunstan from the Church for a canonically inadmissible marriage because of close kinship (to a [lady] cousin), having complained to the Pope in Rome, received from him a written command to allow the marriage. But St. Dunstan did opt for concessions and, as a true Christian replied that he would "rather give his life than be unfaithful to Christ." Subsequently, this count was brought to public repentance.
At the end of the 10th century, Alfric [of Abingdon], a monk from Cerne in Dorset, wrote the following words about the reign of King Edgar: “We can tell truthfully say that this was a joyful and happy for the British time when King Edgar spread Christianity and erected many monasteries. His kingdom lived in peace.”
In 975, Edgar died, and his son and disciple of St. Dunstan Edward came to the throne. Years of misfortune began for the English land. When the sovereign rule of the Saint Edgar, who patronized the monasteries, ended some barons began to seize the land of many a monastery. At the Clergy Synod in Winchester in 975, when married priests expressed a desire to re-settle in the monasteries, which they had previously been rightly asked to leave, a voice came from the crucifix hanging on the wall: “May this not be, may this not be.” In 977 in the city of Calne, Wiltshire County, at another Synod [council], which was very tense, the top floor of the buildings where everyone was, suddenly collapsed. Several people were killed, but Archbishop Dunstan, who clang to a beam, remained unharmed.
King Edward, just as his father did, patronized the monasteries, but he was still too young, so he was betrayed even by members of the royal family, including his stepmother. This King is known to the Church as Saint King Edward the Martyr, for in 979 (or, as some say, in 978), not reaching 20 years, St. Edward was treacherously killed by conspirators, among whom were Barons who hated monasticism and rallied against St. Dunstan and the Church. After St. Edward his half-brother Æthelred the Unready became the king, who partly condoned the conspiracy against Edward. Legend has it that when St. Dunstan crowned Æthelred, he predicted that, beginning with the reign of Æthelred, innumerable disasters will befall the royal house and the whole of England as ounishment for the sin of regicide. Since that time, the Primate of the Church of England, who was already 70 years old, began to move away from state affairs; he now left Canterbury only to participate in the most important holidays and ceremonies, such as the transfer of the relics of St. Edward to Shaftsbury and the consecration of the new Cathedral in Winchester - the residence of the English court - in 980, as well as the transfer of the relics of St. Aldhelm from Malmesbury in May 986, when the threat of attack by the Danes reappeared.
In these last years of the earthly life of the saint he often had visions, revealed to him were terrifying prophecies about the future of the English people.
All his life St. Dunstan struggled against the devil who appeared in the flesh to the Saint, and folk traditions are full of stories about this. All these years St. Dunstan was especially inspired by his heavenly patron St. Andrew. The Archpastor composed the music and processed metal (his personal metal processing tools are stored in the convent of Mayfield in the County of Sussex); he saw a dove that came down from heaven (during his first liturgy in Canterbury), he foresaw the departure [from earthly life] of others into eternity (for example, St. Edith. – Note. by tr. to RU). Saint Dunstan received from the Lord the gift of insight; he had the power to comprehend God and the gift of tears; he was always focused when praying: “He was talking unto heaven.”
17 May 988, the feast of Ascension, St. Dunstan, who was almost 80 years old, said three sermons, he tasted a little food and lay down to rest. He was no longer destined to stand up. On Friday, he lay down in his cell, his mind was, however, far from the earthly. After the matins on Saturday, May 19, he summoned the priests of the Canterbury Synod. One of them served liturgy in his cell, and St. Dunstan had communion. With the words of the 110-th Psalm on his lips: “He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion. He hath given meat unto them that fear him: " the Archbishop of the spiritual capital of England released his spirit [last breath]. The loss of such an Archpastor was a grave loss [deprivation]. In one letter of that time, he is called "the very Daniel of Israel, who has appeared to the English in these difficult, dangerous times. He had just gone to eternity, and the people began to honor him as a saint of their Church and their islands. At the beginning of the 11th century, people turned to St. Dunstan in prayer with such pleas:
“O faithful pastor!
Your flock everywhere is oppressed and suppressed;
O servant of Christ!
We are dying at the hands of the pagans.
Oh, priest! Bring that same offering:
Your prayers are pleasing to Christ,
By them our sins are forgiven
And we are freed from the eye of evil.
Pray to the unfaithful and the evil-doers
Cease to do evil on the English land and among the children of the Church.
St. Dunstan was called "Steadfast"; he was admired as a true shepherd; he was loved for he had living in him the spirit of peace; they loved him for his friendship with the weak and needy, for his love and ability to be a teacher of faith. It was written about St. Dunstan, “All England is filled with light.” The Chronicler Edmer wrote: "As soon as the soul of St. Dunstan ascended to heaven, England immediately became prone [open] to the invasion of foreign enemies.” Modern-day poet Sheila Kaye-Smith (1887–1956) wrote about him in 'The Sussex Saints' like this:
"On the Mayfield Hills the iron
Of Danstan's anvil rings,
As he hammers gates for Zion.
And fights Unholy Things.”
