Statue - St John of Beverley on the Minster, Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire.
Saint Jean d'York
Évêque et archevêque
d'York (+ 721)
ou Jean de Beverley.
Moine de Withby, il eut
pour pères spirituels saint Adrien et saint
Hilde. Il était évêque d'York quand il éleva au sacerdoce Bède
le Vénérable dont il avait remarqué la science des Saintes Écritures
et sa connaissance de la théologie.
À Beverley, en Northumbrie
d’Angleterre, l’an 721, le trépas de saint Jean, qui fut moine à Whitby, puis
évêque d’Hexham, enfin d’York, joignant le soin pastoral à la prière solitaire.
Après avoir déposé sa charge épiscopale, il se retira dans le monastère de
Beverley, qu’il avait fondé, pour terminer ses jours comme simple moine.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/1112/Saint-Jean-d-York.html
Saint John de Beverley
Évêque
+721.
John naquit au VIIe siècle
dans le village de Harpham, province de Deirie qui comprenait les comtés
d’York, de Lancastre et la partie du royaume de Northumbrie située au sud de la
Tyne. Un désir ardent de se donner au service de Dieu l’attira tout jeune dans
le royaume de Kent où il fit de rapides progrès dans la science et la piété,
sous la direction de l’abbé Adrian de Cantorbury. Il retourna ensuite dans son
pays, reçut l’habit monastique dans l’abbaye de Withby, alors gouvernée par
sainte Hilda1 .
Au commencement du règne
d’Alfred, à la mort d’Eata, John fut tiré de sa solitude pour être placé sur le
siège de Hexham (687). Il continua néanmoins la vie qu’il menait dans le
cloître et consacrait à la contemplation céleste les moments qui n’étaient pas
occupés par l’exercice des fonctions épiscopales. Le lieu de sa retraite était
une cellule située dans le cimetière de Saint-Michel, au-delà de la Tyne, à
près de deux milles de Hagulstad : il y passait en particulier les quarante
jours du Carême. Il y prenait pour compagnon quelque pauvre malade auquel il
donnait ses soins : une année, il se chargea d’un pauvre muet dont la tête
était couverte d’une dartre hideuse. Pendant qu’un médecin soignait ce mal,
Jean donnait sa bénédiction aux remèdes qui eurent raison du mal ; de plus, il
rendit au muet l’usage de la parole et lui apprit à lire.
Ce fut le même John,
évêque de Hexham, qui donna le diaconat et la prêtrise au vénérable Bède2 ,
sur la présentation de l’abbé Céolfrid. C’est à Bède que nous devons divers
témoignages sur la sainteté et les miracles de John.
John fonda un monastère,
dans une forêt à vingt-sept milles d’York. Conformément à l’usage du temps, il
y avait là un double monastère, l’un pour les hommes, placé sous la direction
de Berchtun, son disciple, l’autre pour les femmes. Ce monastère est à
l’origine de la ville de Beverley.
En 705, John fut promu au
siège de York, qu’il gouverna pendant sept ans. Accablé par l’âge et les
fatigues, John se donna un successeur dans la personne de saint Wilfrid, dit le
Jeune, et se retira définitivement en 717 dans le monastère de Beverley. Il y
passa les quatre dernières années de sa vie dans l’accomplissement exact de la
règle monastique et mourut le 7 mai 721.
Le tombeau de John,
illustré par ses miracles, devint un des principaux lieux de pèlerinage de
l’Angleterre. En 1037, l’archevêque de York, Alfric, fit une translation des
reliques de John et c’est alors que John fut officiellement canonisé. Les
nombreux miracles de guérisons attribués à John le rendirent très célèbre
durant tout le Moyen-Age et furent en même temps un facteur de grande
prospérité pour la ville de Beverley.
Un siècle après, il est
question de la “bannière de saint John”. Au treizième siècle, lorsqu’on devait
lever des impôts dans le Yorkshire, il suffisait, pour la ville de Beverley,
qu’un homme allât se présenter avec cette bannière.
A la fin du treizième siècle,
le Chapitre de la cathédrale de Beverley commanda une châsse en or et en argent
à un certain Roger, lequel s’engageait à n’entreprendre aucun autre travail
avant l’achèvement de cette châsse.
Edward Ier avait une
réelle dévotion pour saint Jean de Beverley. Il alla plusieurs fois s’y
recueillir, notamment pour aller combattre les Ecossais en 1300. Le roi
s’estima redevable de sa victoire à l’intercession du saint évêque et fit bâtir
sur l’emplacement de l’ancien monastère, détruit par les Danois, une riche
collégiale sous le vocable de John. D’autres rois utilisèrent à leur tour cette
sainte bannière dans leurs campagnes militaires. Quatre siècles plus tard,
Henri V se déclara redevable de la victoire d’Azincourt à la protection de John
de Beverley qu’il avait invoqué. En conséquence, il voulut que la fête fût
chômée dans toute l’Angleterre (1416). La victoire avait eu lieu précisément au
jour anniversaire de la translation de John, et ce jour-là on avait remarqué
que la tombe faisait jaillir du sang et de l’huile.
En 1541, le roi Henri
VIII ordonna la destruction de cette châsse. Mais en 1664, des artisans
découvrirent sous le dallage de l’allée centrale de la cathédrale un caveau
contenant diverses reliques avec une inscription attestant l’appartenance de
ces reliques à saint John de Beverley. En 1738, lors de la réfection du
dallage, les mêmes reliques furent remises en honneur par la construction d’une
tombe recouverte d’une large plaque de marbre.
Encore récemment, lors de
la fête du 7 mai, une procession a lieu entre Harpham et l’église, où les
enfants déposent autour de la tombe de saint John des fleurs qu’ils ont
cueillies dans les champs alentour.
La Bienheureuse Julienne
de Norwich (1342-1416), mystique anglaise, était dévote de saint John de
Beverley, ainsi que le saint chancelier John Fisher3 ,
lui-mÍme natif de Beverley.
Pour être complets sur ce
grand saint anglais que nous ne connaissons guère, nous retiendrons ici les
œuvres attribuées à saint John, recensées par J. Bale, et dont certaines ont
malheureusement été perdues : une “Exposition sur saint Luc”, des
“Homélies sur les Évangiles”, des Lettres à Herebaldum, Audena et Bertin, des
Lettres à l’Abbesse Hyldant.
1 Sainte Hilda est
fêtée le 17 novembre.
2 S.Bède
le Vénérable est fêté le 25 mai.
3 Bse
Julienne de Norwich (1342-1416), fêtée le 14 mai ; s. John Fisher (1469-1535),
fêté le 22 juin.
SOURCE : http://nouvl.evangelisation.free.fr/john_de_beverley.htm
"Vision
of St John of Beverley" (York
Minster)
Also
known as
John of York
25 October (translation
of relics)
12 October on
some calendars
Profile
Studied at Canterbury under Saint Adrian and Saint Theodore. Benedictine monk at Whitby. Bishop of Hexham, England in 687. Metropolitan of York, England in 705.
Founded a monastery at Inderawood (later
Beverley), which became an important ecclesiastical center. Ordained the Venerable Bede who wrote of
him, and recorded miracles worked
by him. John always preferred the contemplative life and retired to the Inderawood
Abbey in 717. King Henry
V’s victory at Agincourt was attributed to the aid of Saint John
and Saint John
of Bridlington.
Born
at Harpham,
Yorkshire, England
7 May 721 at Inderawood
Abbey, England of
natural causes
relics in
the Beverley cathedral
his tomb was a
popular pilgrimage point
for centuries
1037 by Pope Benedict
IX
in England
Middlesbrough, diocese of
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
English
Martyrologe, by Father John
Wilson (7
May)
English
Martyrologe, by Father John
Wilson (25
October)
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Roman
Martyrology, 1914 edition
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
Saints
and Their Attributes, by Helen Roeder
other
sites in english
images
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
nettsteder
i norsk
MLA
Citation
“Saint John of
Beverley“. CatholicSaints.Info. 5 April 2024. Web. 13 April 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-john-of-beverley/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-john-of-beverley/
Book of Saints –
John of Beverley
Article
(Saint) Bishop (May 7)
(8th century) Born in Yorkshire and trained at Canterbury by Saint Theodore,
this Saint became successively Bishop of Hexham and Archbishop of York. Among
his pupils was his future biographer, Venerable Bede. He passed away May 7,
A.D. 721. One of his miracles, the restoring speech and hearing to a man that
was deaf and dumb, has led to his being regarded as the special Patron of those
so afflicted. His shrine at Beverley, where he had built a monastery, was a
famous place of pilgrimage in Mediaeval England; and October 25, the
anniversary of the Translation of his relics, was regarded as his chief
festival.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate. “John
of Beverley”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info.
18 April 2017. Web. 13 April 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-john-of-beverley/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-john-of-beverley/
St. John of Beverly
Feastday: May 7
Death: 721
John was born at Harpham,
Yorkshire, England. He studied under Adrian at St. Theodore's School in Kent,
and on his returen to his native land, became a monk at
Whitby. He was named bishop of
Hexham in 687 and then transferred to York as metropolitan in
705, succeeding St. Bosa. John was known
for his holiness, his preference for the contemplative life, and his miracles,
many of which are recounted in Bede's Ecclesiastical History, the author of
which he had ordained. In ill health, John resigned the
bishopric of York in 717 and retired to Beverly Abbey, which he had founded,
and remained there until his death on May 7. His shrine was for centuries one
of the most popular pilgrim centers in England. He was canonized by Pope Benedict IX in
1037. His feast day is
May 7.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=691
New
Catholic Dictionary – Saint John of Beverley
Article
Confessor, Bishop of
Hexham, afterwards of York, born Harpham, England; died Beverley, England, 721.
He joined the Benedictine
Order, lived for some time in the monastery at
Whitby, and was consecrated Bishop of Hexham, 687.
He founded a monastery at
Inderawood (later Beverley), which became an important ecclesiastical center,
and there he spent the last years of his life. Canonized, 1037.
His relics were preserved in Beverley cathedral. Feast, 7
May.
MLA
Citation
“Saint John of
Beverley”. New Catholic Dictionary. CatholicSaints.Info.
18 April 2017. Web. 13 April 2026. <https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-john-of-beverley/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-john-of-beverley/
John of Beverley, OSB B
(RM)
Born in Harpham
(Humberside), Yorkshire, England; died at Beverley, England, May 7, 721;
canonized in 1037; feast of translation, October 25. Saint John trained for the
priesthood and monastic life in Kent under the direction of SS. Adrian and
Theodore, but returned to Yorkshire upon completing his studies to become a
monk at Whitby Abbey, which was then under the rule of Saint Hilda.
John founded a monastery
in Humberside, England, on the site of a small church dedicated to Saint John
the Evangelist, where he asked to be buried. In 687, after the death of Saint
Eata, John he was consecrated bishop of Hexham. He is said to have shown
special care for the poor and the handicapped. Whatever time he could spare
from his episcopal duties he spent in contemplation. At regular seasons,
especially during Lent, he retired to pray in a cell by the church of Saint
Michael beyond the Tyne, near Hexham. He would take with him some poor person,
whom he would serve during his retirement.
He was transferred York
as archbishop upon the death of Saint Bosa in 705, and Saint Wilfrid succeeded
him at Hexham as part of the final settlement of the latter's long dispute with
the Northumbrian kings. He continued his practice of periodic retirement for
spiritual refreshment. His chosen retreat was an abbey that he had built at Beverley,
then a forest. Not until old age had worn him out did he resign his office to
Saint Wilfrid the Younger in order to spend the last four years of his life in
the peace of his beloved abbey at Beverley.
According to the
Venerable Bede in Ecclesiastical History, who was ordained both deacon and
priest by John when he was bishop of Hexham, John of Beverley possessed the
gift of healing. He cured a youth of dumbness, even though the boy had never
utter a single word. (The boy was apparently bald from a terrible scalp disease
also.) On the second Sunday of Lent, John made the sign of the cross upon the
youth's tongue, and loosed it. Bede tells of how the saint patiently taught the
boy the alphabet. He taught him to say "gea," which signifies in
Saxon "Yea"; then the letters of the alphabet, and afterwards
syllables. Thus the youth miraculously obtained his speech. Moreover, by the
saint's blessing and the remedies prescribed by a physician whom he employed,
his head was entirely healed, and became covered with hair.
Bede also records that
John cured a noblewoman of a pain so grievous that she had been unable to move
for three weeks. Several people who seemed in immediate danger of death were
saved by his prayers. In addition to his own eye-witness accounts, Bede tells
us of cures witnessed by Abbot Bercthun of Beverley and Abbot Herebald of
Tinmouth.
After the saint's death,
such miracles continued around his shrine, which became a famous pilgrimage
site. The Bollandist Henschenius devoted four books to the miracles wrought at
the holy bishop's shrine. So many were drawn there that the magnificent
Beverley Minster was built, which rivals some of England's great cathedral
churches. Alcuin also records miracles worked at John's intercession. For
example, King Athelstan invoked John's intercession for victory against the
Scots. In 1307, his relics were translated--the occasion of a vita written by
Folcard. Some of the sweet-smelling relics were discovered in September 1664,
when a grave was being dug, in a lead box within a vault of freestone. These
relics had been hidden in the beginning of the reign of king Edward VI.
It was not just miracles
that led to John's canonization. He led a life of remarkable holiness. Other
devotees include Blessed Julian of Norwich, King Henry V (who attributed the
victory of Agincourt to his intercession), and Saint John Fisher, who was born
at Beverley (Benedictines, Bentley, Farmer, Gill, Husenbeth, Walsh).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0507.shtml
St. John of Beverley
Bishop of Hexham and
afterwards of York; b. at Harpham, in the East Riding of Yorkshire; d. at Beverley,
7 May, 721. In early life lie was under the care of Archbishop
Theodore, at Canterbury,
who supervised his education,
and is reputed to have given him the name of John. He became a member of
the Benedictine
Order, and for a time was an inmate of St.
Hilda's monastery at Streaneshaleh
(Whitby). Afterwards he won renown as a preacher, displayed marked
erudition in expounding Scripture, and taught amongst other subjects. On 25
August, 687 was consecrated Bishop of Hexham,
a district with which he was not unfamiliar, as he had for a period led a life
of retreat at Erneshowe (Herneshou), on the opposite bank of the Tyne. Here,
too, he was afterwards wont to resort for seclusion, especially during Lent,
when the cares of his episcopal ministration permitted of his so doing. John
was present at the synod on the Nidd in 705, convened by Osred, King of
Northumbria, to decide on Wilfrid's case. In the same year (703), on the death
of Bosa,
John was translated to York after eighteen years of labour in the See
of Hexham, where he was succeeded by Wilfrid. Of his new activity little is
known beyond that he was diligent in visitation, considerate towards the poor,
and exceedingly attentive to the training of students whom he maintained under
his personal charge. His little company of pupils is said to have
included: Bede,
whom he ordained;
Berethume, afterwards Abbot of
Beverley; Herebald, Abbot of
Tynemouth; and Wilfrid "the Younger", John's successor (718) in the
See of York. Having purchased a place called Inderawood, to which a later age
has given the name of Beverley, John established a monastery there
and also handsomely endowed the place, which became even in its founder's day
an important ecclesiastical centre.
To this monastery of Beverley,
after resigning the See of York to his pupil Wilfrid, John retired and spent
the remainder of his life with Abbot Berethune, a one time favourite scholar.
In 1037 he was canonized by Benedict
IX; His bones were translated by Ælfric, Archbishop of York,
and placed in a costly shrine. A second translation took place in 1197. The
remains were discovered in 1664 and again brought to light in
1736. (See BEVERLEY
MINSTER.)
Sources
Acta SS. Bolland., II,
165 sqq.; Sanct. Dunelm. et Beverlac., edited by SURTEES SOCIETY, P. 98;
DUGDALE, Monasticon, II, 127; WILKINS, Concilia, III, 379; RAINE
in Dict. Christ. Biog., s.v. Joannes Beverlacensis, JOCHAM in Kirchenlex.,
s.v. Johannes von Beverley; HUNT in Dict. Nat. Biog., s.v.; BIHLMEYFR in
BUCHBERGER, Kirchliches Handlex., s.v. J. v. Beverley. The authenticity of
the works ascribed to John of Beverley in BALE, Script. Illustr. Brit.
Catal., is doubtful.
MacAuley, Patrick.
"St. John of Beverley." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York:
Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 6 May 2015
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08469b.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Tom Burgoyne. In memory of
Father Baker, founder of Our Lady of Victory Homes.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08469b.htm
St. John of Beverley,
Bishop and Confessor
THIS illustrious saint
was born at Harpham, a village in the province of the Deiri, which comprised
Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the rest of the kingdom of the Northumbers, on the
south side of the Tyne; what lay beyond it being called Bernicia. An earnest
desire of qualifying himself for the service of God, drew him young into Kent,
where he made great progress in learning and piety, in the famous school of St.
Theodorus, the archbishop, under the direction of the holy abbot Adrian. 1 Afterwards
returning into his own country, he pursued the exercises of piety in the
monastery of men under St. Hilda, at Whitby; till in the beginning of the reign
of king Alfred, upon the death of Eata, he was made bishop of Hagulstad, or
Hexam. What time he had to spare from his functions he consecrated to heavenly
contemplation; retiring for that purpose into the church-yard of St. Michael’s,
beyond the river Tyne, about a mile and a half from Hagulstad, especially
during the forty days of Lent. He was accustomed to take with him some poor
person, whom he served during that time. Once in the beginning of a Lent, he
took with him a dumb youth, who never had been able to utter one word, and
whose head was covered with hideous scabs and scales, without any hair. The
saint caused a mansion to be built for this sick youth within his inclosure,
and often admitted him into his own cell. On the second Sunday he made the sign
of the cross upon his tongue, and loosed it. Then he taught him to say Gea, which
signifies in Saxon Yea, or Yes; then the letters of the
alphabet, A, B, C, and afterwards syllables and words. Thus the youth
miraculously obtained his speech. Moreover, by the saint’s blessing the
remedies prescribed by a physician whom he employed, his head was entirely
healed, and became covered with hair. When St. Wilfrid returned from
banishment, St. John yielded up to him the see of Hagulstad: but some time
after, upon the death of Bosa, a man of great sanctity and humility, as Bede
testifies, he was placed in the archiepiscopal chair of York. Venerable Bede,
who received the holy orders of deacon and priest from his hands, gives ample
testimony to his sanctity; and relates the instantaneous cure of the sick wife
of a neighbouring thane or lord, by holy water, and several other miracles
performed by him, from the testimony of Bercthun, abbot of Beverley, and
Herebald, abbot of Tinmouth, who had been eye-witnesses to several of them. St.
John made frequent retirement his delight, to renew thereby his spirit of devotion,
lest the dissipation of exterior employs should extinguish it. He chose for his
retreat a monastery, which he had built at Beverley, then a forest, now a
market-town, twenty-seven miles from York. This monastery, according to the
custom of those times, he erected for the use of both sexes, and put it under
the government of his disciple, Bercthun, or Brithun, first abbot of Beverley,
then called Endeirwood, or wood of the Deiri. In 717, being much broken with
age and fatigues, he resigned his bishopric to his chaplain, St. Wilfrid the
younger, and having ordained him bishop of York, he retired to Beverley, where
he spent the remaining four years of his life in the punctual performance of
all monastic duties. He died there the death of the just, on the 7th of May,
721. His successor governed the see of York fifteen years, was a great lover of
the beauty of God’s house, and is named among the saints, April the 29th. The
monastery of Beverley having been destroyed by the Danes, king Athelstan, who
had obtained a great victory over the Scots, by the intercession of St. John,
founded in his honour, in the same place, a rich collegiate church of canons.
King Henry V. attributed to the intercession of this saint the glorious victory
of Agincourt, on which occasion a synod, in 1416, ordered his festival to be
solemnly kept over all England. 2 Henschenius
the Bollandist, in the second tome of May, has published four books of the
miracles wrought at the relics of Saint John of Beverley, written by
eye-witnesses. 3 His
sacred bones were honourably translated into the church by Alfric, archbishop
of York, in 1037: a feast in honour of which translation was kept at York on
the 25th of October. On the 13th of September, (not the 24th as Mr. Stevens
says,) in 1664, the sexton, digging a grave in the church of Beverley,
discovered a vault of freestone, in which was a box of lead, containing several
pieces of bones, with some dust, yielding a sweet smell; with inscriptions, by
which it appeared that these were the mortal remains of St. John of Beverley,
as we read in Dugdale’s History of the Collegiate Church of Beverley, who has
transcribed them, p. 57. These relics had been hid in the beginning of the
reign of king Edward VI. Dugdale and Stevens testify, that they were all
reinterred in the middle-alley of the same church. Alcuin 4 had
an extraordinary devotion to St. John of Beverley, and in his poem on the
saints of York, published by Thomas Gale, gives a long history of the miracles
wrought by him from verse 1085 to 1215. Rabanus Maurus has placed Alcuin in his
Martyrology on the 19th of May, and Henschenius on that day gives his life, and
mentions several private Martyrologies in which his name is found, though he
has never been any where honoured in the office of the Church. 5 On
St. John of Beverley, see Bede, Hist. l. 5. c. 2. &c. his life compiled by
Folcard, monk of Canterbury, published by Henschenius, with other monuments, t.
2. Maij, p. 168. F. Edw. Maihew, &c.
Note 1. Bede, l. 5,
c. 2, 6. See Britannia Sancta. [back]
Note 2. See
Lynwoode, Provinciale, 104. [back]
Note 3. P.
173. [back]
Note 4. Alcuin, or
Alcwine, that is, Allwin, (the same name in the original Saxon as Victor, and
Vincentius in Latin; Nicetas and Nicephorus in Greek,) was a native of York, as
he himself declares in his poem on the saints of that diocess. Foreigners not
being accustomed to pronounce the w, he omitted it in his name; which
he mollified into Albinus, prefixing to it in France the name of Flaccus. In
his letters, he often styles himself Flaccus Albinus, never Albinus Flaccus, as
many moderns falsely call him. Alcuin was nobly born, became a monk at York,
and was made deacon of that church. He learned Latin, Greek, and the elements
of the Hebrew language, and went through the sacred studies under Egbert and
Elbert, who taught a great school in that city till they were successively
placed in the archiepiscopal chair. When Elbert succeeded Egbert in that
dignity, in 766, he committed to Alcuin the care of the school, and of the
great library belonging to that church. Eanbald, succeeding his uncle Elbert,
sent Alcuin to Rome, to bring over his pall, in 780. Charlemagne, king of
France, afterwards emperor, meeting him at Parma, earnestly desired to detain him;
but the canons obliged him to return to his own church. However, that prince
prevailed with the King of Northumberland and the Archbishop of York to send
him back into France. He appointed him to open a great school in his own
palace, and generally assisted in person at his lessons, with the princes, his
sons, and other lords. He also, by his advice, instituted an academy in his
palace, consisting of many learned men, who met on certain days to discourse on
points of sacred learning. In this academy, Alcuin took the name of Flaccus
from Horace, the king that of David, Adelard of Corbie that of Augustine,
&c. The king sent Alcuin, his ambassador to King Offa, in 790, to adjust
certain differences; he honoured him exceedingly, and usually called him his master:
by his advice he made several literary establishments, and consulted him in
affairs of state. The ingenious Gaillard (Hist, de la Rivalité de France et
l’Anglet. t. 1, p. 73,) says: The wise Alcuin disgusted Charlemagne from the
passion for conquests, by discovering to him a new source of true greatness,
far dearer to humanity. That prince, instructed by such a master, learned to
set a just value on true knowledge: he placed his glory in protecting science,
in perfecting the administration, and in extending, in every respect, the
empire of reason. This it is that has principally rendered the name of that
great prince immortal in the eyes of true judges. This great man assisted at
the council of Francfort, in 794, and at that of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 799, in
which latter he confuted Felix of Urgel, who was present. Felix and Elipandus,
another Spanish bishop, revived the Demi-Nestorian error, maintaining that
Christ, as man, was only the adoptive, not the natural Son
of God. Whence it would follow, that he assumed not only the human nature, but
also a human person: which was the heresy of Nestorius. Elipandus reproached
Alcuin for his riches, and the number of his vassals. Alcuin discovers his
disinterestedness and spirit of poverty in several letters, as in that to the
priest Eata, and in others. Writing to the Bishop of Lyons, he justifies
himself, saying: “Elipandus objects to me my riches, servants, and vassals,
which amount to the number of twenty thousand, not reflecting that the
possession of riches is vicious only from the attachment of the heart. It is
one thing to possess the world, and another to be possessed by the world. Some
possess riches, though perfectly disengaged from them in their hearts: others,
though they enjoy none, yet love and covet them.” These vassals belonged to the
several abbeys of which the king compelled him to undertake the administration,
purely that he might establish in them regular discipline, and employ the
surplus of the revenues in alms, according to the intentions of such
foundations, as Lupus, abbot of Ferriers, (ep. 11,) and the anonymous life of
St. Aldericus, archbishop of Sens, assure us: for the king had made him his
general almoner to relieve the distressed, and appointed him a house for the
reception of strangers. How tedious the hurry of a court is to a lover of
learning or solitude, any one may judge who has read the genuine description of
a court life, in the time of our King Henry II. in Peter of Blois, or John of
Salisbury. Alcuin never ceased to complain of its yoke and the dissipation
attending it, and to solicit the king for leave to retire into some monastery,
till at length he obtained his request. He petitioned to go to that of Fulda,
but the king would by no means consent that he should withdraw to so great a
distance from court: at length he suffered him to retire to that of St.
Martin’s at Tours, of which he had nominated him abbot in 796. He was still
obliged often to wait on the king; and settled the reformation of St. Benedict
of Anian in the houses which were subject to him. He had long alleged his age
and feebleness, that he might be permitted to resign the government of the
several great abbeys which had been committed to his care. At length his tears
and entreaties prevailed, and, according to his earnest desire, he was reduced
to the condition of a private monk, (others say regular canon, for he had
secularized St. Martin’s abbey at Tours, and established canons in it,) some
time before his happy death, which happened at Tours, on the 19th of May, 804,
on Whitsunday, as he had begged of God. See his life in Mabillon, Act. Bened.
t. 4, p. 146; also in his Annals of that Order, b. 25, 27. Ceillier, t. 18, p.
278. Biogr. Britann. &c.
The best edition of the
works of Alcuin was given us by the learned Andrew Duchesne, in three tomes, in
1617. His comments on the scripture consist in extracts from the ancient
fathers. He has left us the lives of St. Vedast, St. Martin, St. Riquier, and
St. Willibrord. His letters, of which we have one hundred and fifteen published
by Duchesne, sixty-seven by Canisius, several others by Usher, Baluze, and
Mabillon, are curious, and are addressed to several kings, queens, prelates,
and other great men. His moral works breathe a sincere piety: the dogmatic are
solid and close. His doctrine, in all points of faith, is most pure, and he
lets slip no opportunity of exerting his zeal in its defence. We are promised a
new, complete, and accurate edition of the works of this great man, by a monk
of the congregation of St. Vanne. [back]
Note 5. Henschenius,
t. 4, Maij. p. 334. [back]
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume V: May. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/5/073.html
The
English Martyrologe – May, The Seventh Day
Article
At Beverley in Yorkshire,
the deposition of Saint John, Bishop and Confessor, commonly called Saint John
of Beverley, who after he had governed the See of York for three and thirty
years, famous for sanctity of life, and miracles, ended his venerable days in
the year of Christ seven hundred, twenty and one. His body was first buried at
York, but afterwards with solemnity translated to Beverley, and there interred
in the Monastery which himself had built, where it was kept with great
veneration, even until our days, and visited by thousands in Pilgrimage, for
the great miracles wrought. This Monastery was in the raign of King Ethelstand
made a Sanctuary, where there was a certain Chair of Stone placed near to Saint
Johns body, with this old Inscription: Haec fedes lapi lea dicitur Freed
stool, idel, Pacis Cathedra, ad quam reus fugiendo perveniens, omnimodum habet
fecuritatem. His day was afterwards in a Councell of Bishops held at London in
the year one thousand four hundred sixteen, appointed to be kept Holy
throughout England in his Memory.
MLA
Citation
Father John
Wilson. “May, The Seventh Day”. The English
Maryrologe, 1672. CatholicSaints.Info.
15 October 2023. Web. 13 April 2026. <https://catholicsaints.info/the-english-martyrologe-may-the-seventh-day/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/the-english-martyrologe-may-the-seventh-day/
The
English Martyrologe – October, The five and twentieth Day
Article
At Beverley in Yorkshire,
the Translation of Saint John, Bishop and Confessor, commonly called Saint John
of Beverley, who after he had governed the See of York for three and thirty
years, resigned the same, and spent the rest of his days in prayer and
contemplation of heavenly things, and died in all holiness of life in the year
of Christ seven hundred seventy one, and was buried at York. But his holy body
was afterwards, on this day solemnly translated to Beverley, by Bishop Aldred
his successor, and there being put into a silver shrine richly adorned, was
visited in pilgrimage by all the Northern people, even untill the days of King
Henry the eighth. This feast was afterwards, by a Provinciall Constitution of
Henry Chichly Archbishop of Canterury, ordained to be kept solemn at the Instance
of King Henry the fifth, in memory of a famous victory he won at Agincourt in
France on this day, in the year of Christ one thousand four hundred and
fourteen.
MLA
Citation
Father John
Wilson. “October, The five and twentieth Day”. The
English Maryrologe, 1672. CatholicSaints.Info.
15 October 2023. Web. 13 April 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/the-english-martyrologe-october-the-five-and-twentieth-day/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/the-english-martyrologe-october-the-five-and-twentieth-day/
St. John of Beverley
St. John of Beverley was
the Bishop of Hexham, and later of York. He was born in Harpham,
Yorkshire, and died in Beverley on May 7, 721.
As a youth, John
manifested a strong desire to devote his life to God, and eventually left his
native Yorkshire and traveled Kent where he studied at the famous
ecclesiastical school of St. Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury.
He returned
toYorkshire upon the completion of his studies, and joined a Benedictine
monastery where he devoted himself to contemplation. He was called out of his
monastic seclusion to be consecrated as bishop of Hexham in 687, a see he
occupied for 18 years while still managing to devote time to contemplation and
the study of Scripture.
With the death of
St. Bosa, archbishop of York, John was transferred to York and served
there until his retirement from ill health in 717. He spent his last four
years in a monastery that he built at Beverley.
John was renowned
for the miracles that he performed, both during his life and those that
took place after his death. Most famously, he cured a young man who was dumb
and had reportedly never spoken a word in his life, and obtained from him the
ability to speak. He took the young man under his wing and patiently
taught him the alphabet and the fundaments of the language.
After his death in 721,
owing to the many miracles that occurred through his intercession, his
burial site at Beverley became one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in
England. He was canonized by Pope Benedict IX in 1037.
The renowned English
mystic, Julian of Norwich, and the martyred bishop, St. John Fisher, who was
from Beverley, had a great devotion to St. John.
SOURCE : http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint.php?n=469
St. John of
Beverley, Bishop of York
(Died AD 721)
John, better known as St.
John of Beverley, studied at Canterbury under St. Adrian and was later one
of St. Hilda's pupils at Whitby. "A circumstance," says Fuller,
" which soundeth something to her honour and nothing to his disgrace,
seeing eloquent Apollo himself learned the primar of his Christianity partly from
Priscilla."
St. John, whose
foundation at Beverley became one of the three centres of Christianity in Deira
(the others were York and Ripon), was born of noble parents at Harpham in the
East Riding. At an early age, he began to preach to the still half-heathen
people, arresting their attention by his powerful eloquence. The Venerable Bede
was one of St. John's pupils and was ordained by him. In August AD 687, John,
who had for some time been living in a hermitage at Harneshow, on the left bank
of the Tyne opposite Hexham, was consecrated Bishop of Hexham, the see which
had been established in AD 681. Here, he remained for eighteen years, during
which we know little of his labours or his life. He was translated to York in
AD 705, where he became a favourite with King Osred and was present at a synod
in which many enactments were made for the better regulation of the
Northumbrian Church. He was most diligent in watching over his monasteries and
in attending to the poor and to the company of pupils always gathered about
him. Whilst holding the see of York, John became the owner of Inderawood, a
village on the site of the present town of Beverley, in his native district.
There was already, at Inderawood, a small church dedicated to St. John the
Evangelist. This, the bishop enlarged and established as a monastery for both
sexes (as was then the custom). Numerous gifts were made to the new foundation
and many churches were built in the surrounding district, then thickly covered
with forest. St. John resigned the See of York, in AD 714, and retired to his
monastery at Beverley, where he died on 7th May AD 721. He was canonised, in
1037, by Pope Benedict IX and, in the same year, his relies were translated by
Archbishop Alfric and deposited in a shrine of gold. At the Reformation, they
were interred in a case of lead which has been twice exposed to the light - in
1664 and in 1736.
The reputation of St.
John of Beverley was greater than that of any northern saint, apart from St.
Cuthbert. Athelstan, on his way into Scotland in AD 934, visited the shrine and
carried off the holy banner of the saint as a protection to his host, promising
that, if he returned victorious, he would bestow many privileges on the church.
He did so accordingly, giving to it its famous right of sanctuary, and founding
a college of secular canons. The traditional words in which the grant of
sanctuary is recorded
"Als fre make I the
As hert may thenk
Or eghe may see"
are certainly very
ancient and are mentioned in a confirmation of the privileges of the church
made by King Henry IV.
The Conqueror and Stephen
were prevented, by miraculous interference, as it was alleged, from ravaging
the territory of St. John. The banner of Beverley was one of those which
floated over the host of the English at the Battle of the Standard (1138). Archbishop
Edward, like Athelstan, carried it with him into Scotland. Henry V and his
Queen visited the shrine of St. John after the victory of Agincourt on the
festival of his translation; and although St. Crispin and Crispinian shared the
honours of the day, the King attributed the victory greatly to the intercession
of St. John of Beverley.
Edited from Richard John
King's "Handbook to the Cathedrals of England: Northern Division"
(1903).
SOURCE : http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/adversaries/bios/johnbev.html
Saint John of Beverley
Jul 03, 2015 /
Written by: America
Needs Fatima
Feast May 7
John was born in Harpham,
a village in Yorkshire. As a young man he joined the famous school of St.
Theodore in Kent, where he distinguished himself.
Later, he joined the
Abbey of Whitby in his own country, where his exceptional abilities marked him
out for preferment, and when the diocesan see of Hexham became vacant, he was
appointed its bishop.
A great contemplative, he
often retired to a cell by the Church of St. Michael beyond the River Tyne
whenever his duties allowed.
At the death of St. Bosa,
John was appointed his successor as the Bishop of York. As such he ordained the
Venerable Bede who wrote of him at length in his Ecclesiastical History,
testifying to the bishop's sanctity and recording eye-witness accounts of his
numerous miracles. As Bishop of York, John continued his accustomed habit of
retiring periodically to the Abbey of Beverley, a monastery he had built around
the year 700.
Worn by age and fatigue,
John resigned his bishopric to his chaplain, St. Wilfrid the Younger, and
retired to Beverley where he spent the last four years of his life.
He died on May 7, 721.
SOURCE : https://americaneedsfatima.org/articles/saint-john-of-beverley
_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1269366.jpg)
t.
John Lee - stained glass window (2) In the centre panel is St. John of Beverley
(to whom the church is dedicated); on the left is St. Benedict; and on the
right the Venerable Bede, author of the Ecclesiastical History of the English
People - see http://www.britainexpress.com/History/bio/bede.htm.
San Giovanni di
Beverley Vescovo
Festa: 7 maggio
Nacque ad Harlam nello Yorkshire e
studiò a Canterbury sotto i Santi Adriano e Teodoro.
Entrò nel monastero di Whitby e quindi fu consacrato vescovo di Hexam. Dopo la
morte del vescovo Bosa, ne prese il posto a York. Nel 717, affaticato
dall’austerità e dai gravosi compiti episcopali, rinunciò alla carica e si
ritirò nel monastero di Beverley, dove morì il 7 maggio del 721. Questo
monastero fu distrutto poco tempo dopo dai danesi, ma il re Athelstan, ottenuta
una grande vittoria sugli scoti per la sua intercessione miracolosa, fece
costruire nello stesso luogo una grande chiesa.
Martirologio
Romano: A Beverley in Northumbria, nell’odierna Inghilterra, transito di
san Giovanni, vescovo prima di Hexham e poi di York, che associò l’impegno
pastorale alla preghiera personale e, deposto l’incarico, visse per il resto
della sua vita come monaco nel monastero da lui stesso fondato in questo luogo.
San Giovanni di Beverley era un monaco benedettino che divenne vescovo prima di Hexam e poi di York, vissuto tra i secoli VII e VIII.
Nacque probabilmente ad Harlam nello Yorkshire, da una nobile famiglia anglosassone dalla quale fu avviato alla carriera ecclesiastica. Dopo aver compiuto i suoi studi a Canterbury sotto la guida dei Santi Adriano e Teodoro, entrò come monaco benedettino nell’abbazia di Whitby, che era guidata da santa Ilda. Qui ebbe modo di conoscere anche San Vilfrido di York.
Nell’anno 687 fu eletto e consacrato vescovo di Hexam. Durante il suo episcopato ordinò diacono e poi sacerdote Beda il venerabile, che nella sua “Historia ecclesiastica”, scrisse la biografia di Giovanni di Beverley. Quel testo rimane fondamentale per accrescere la fama di Giovanni, anche se la sua figura venne arricchita con numerosi episodi leggendari di altrettante guarigioni miracolose.
Dopo la morte del vescovo Bosa, nel 705 fu nominato arcivescovo metropolita di York.
Giovanni di Beverley resse le sorti della diocesi dolo per dodici anni. Durante quel periodo fondò l'abbazia di Beverley, detta in origine di Inderawood, nell’Humberside, che diventerà uno dei principali centri religiosi inglesi dell'epoca.
Al posto di questo monastero che fu distrutto dopo la morte di Giovanni dai danesi; grazie alla grande vittoria di re Etelstano, ottenuta nel 937 per la sua intercessione miracolosa, venne costruita nello stesso luogo una grande chiesa.
Nel 717 a causa dell’austerità e dei gravosi compiti che tale carica di arcivescovo di York comportava, decise di rinunciare all’incarico e si ritirò nel monastero di Beverley.
Esattamente cinque anni dopo, il 7 maggio 721 morì.
Giovanni di Beverley venne sepolto nell’abbazia. La sua tomba divenne presto meta di numerosi pellegrinaggi; inoltre Alcuino di York raccolse numerose testimonianze circa i molteplici eventi prodigiosi che si verificavano sulla sua tomba.
Il culto per Giovanni di Beverley fu approvato ufficialmente nel 1027, dal pontefice Benedetto IX.
Il 25 ottobre del 1307 il suo corpo venne traslato dall’abbazia alla cattedrale di Beverley, che intitolata a Giovanni Evangelista.
Nel 1415, in occasione dell'anniversario della traslazione delle reliquie, il re Enrico V che vinse contro i francesi nella battaglia di Agincourt, attribuì la vittoria all'intercessione del santo di Beverley.
Con il regno di Enrico VII, il culto per san Giovanni di Beverey fu proibito nella chiesa d’Inghilterra; la sua tomba venne profanata e le sue reliquie durante il regno di Edoardo VI, vennero disperse.
Solo nel 1664, dopo il ritrovamento di alcune sue ossa, le stesse furono ricollocate nella tomba della cattedrale, anche se ormai era passata alla confessione anglicana.
Sia la chiesa cattolica che quella anglicana celebrano la festa per San Giovanni di Beverly. Il suo ricordo è stato fissato nel giorno della sua morte, il 7 maggio e in quello della traslazione delle reliquie, il 25 ottobre.
Autore: Mauro Bonato
SOURCE : https://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/91290
Икона
святого Иоанна Беверлийского, Йоркского, XX век.
Icône
de saint Jean de Beverley, York, XXe siècle.
Den hellige John av
Beverley (~650-721)
Minnedag:
7. mai
Den hellige John av
Beverley ble født rundt 650 i den delen av Northumbria i Nord-England som
ligger sør for elva Tyne og kalles Deira (den nordlige delen kalles Bernicia),
ifølge senere tradisjoner i den lille landsbyen Harpham nær Driffield i East
Riding i Humberside i Yorkshire. Han kom fra en fornem familie og dro sørover
til Kent og studerte på den hellige erkebiskop Theodor av
Canterburys berømte skole i Canterbury under den hellige abbed Hadrian, som
skal ha gitt ham navnet John.
Da han var ferdig med
studiene, vendte han tilbake til Yorkshire og trådte inn som munk hos
benediktinerne (Ordo Sancti Benedicti – OSB) i dobbeltklosteret i
Whitby (Streaneshalch). Dette var mens den hellige Hilda var
abbedisse der. I Whitby utmerket han seg for sin omsorg for de fattige og for
sin lærdom. Han ble kjent som predikant og for sin utlegging av Skriften, og
han underviste i flere fag. Han levde en tid som eremitt i en celle ved et
kapell i Harneshow (Herneshou, Erneshowe), som var viet til den hellige
erkeengelen Mikael.
På denne tid var det
visse administrative stridigheter i Kirken i Nord-England. Den hellige, men
stridbare Wilfrid
av York ble i 664 valgt til biskop av York. Etter en stund kom det
signaler fra erkebiskop Theodor av Canterbury at han som metropolitt ønsket å
dele det enorme northumbriske bispedømmet. Theodors ideal var hentet fra hans
egne erfaringer i Italia og ved Middelhavet, hvor biskopen var en aktiv hyrde i
et lite område sentrert om en by og daglig leder for sitt presteskap. . Kong
Egfrid (Ecgfrith) av Northumbria (670-85) støttet dette prosjektet, og i
tillegg klaget han over Wilfrids administrasjon og forlangte ham avsatt.
Erkebiskopen lyttet åpenbart til kongen, for bispedømmet York ble delt i fire
over Wilfrids hode og de nye bispedømmene Hereford, Lindsey (sete i Lincoln) og
Worcester ble opprettet. Theodor konsekrerte i 678 tre nye biskoper i Wilfrids
egen katedral.
Den hellige Bosa, en munk i
Whitby, ble vigslet til biskop av Deira, den sørlige halvdelen av Northumbria,
stort sett tilsvarende det moderne Yorkshire, med sete i York. Bosa regjerte
sitt bispedømme til sin død i 705, bortsett fra årene hvor Wilfrid var
rehabilitert (686-91). Den hellige Eata ble
biskop av Bernicia, den nordlige halvparten av Northumbria, med sete i
Lindisfarne (nå Holy Island), en øy utenfor kysten av Northumbria som er
landfast ved lavvann. Tre år senere ble også dette bispedømmet delt i
bispedømmene Hexham og Lindisfarne, og Eata styrte Lindisfarne fra 681 til 685,
mens Tunbert (Tunberht, Tunbeorht, Trumbert) ble biskop av Hexham (Hagulstad).
Men i 685 avsatte Theodor
biskop Tunbert av Hexham, tydeligvis for ulydighet, og den hellige Cuthbert ble
valgt til å etterfølge ham. Erkebiskop Theodor konsekrerte ham selv i
katedralen i York. Men etter gjensidig overenskomst overtok Eata som biskop av
Hexham, mens Cuthbert i stedet overtok hans bispedømme Lindisfarne. Etter at
Eata døde i 686, ble John av Beverley i 687 valgt til ny biskop av Hexham. Den
25. august 687 ble han bispeviet.
I denne stillingen var
han som rundt 792 viet den hellige Beda den Ærverdige til
diakon og rundt 703 til prest, og han ble prist i Bedas berømte
Kirkehistorie, Historia Ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (731). Biskop
John skal ha vist spesiell omsorg for de fattige og vanføre, inkludert en ung
mann som han lærte å snakke. Bedas beretning om dette er et interessant
eksempel på taleterapi. Litt etter litt, under Johns veiledning, gikk den
tidligere stumme gutten via bokstavene i alfabetet til ord og setninger.
Deretter ble en lege bedt om å kurere skabben på hodet hans, og biskopen tok
ham inn i sin husholdning.
John hadde ikke mye ledig
tid fra sine biskoppelige plikter, men han tilbrakte så mye som mulig av denne
tiden i kontemplasjon. I regelmessige perioder, spesielt i fastetiden, pleide
han å trekke seg tilbake for å be i sin gamle celle i Harneshow. Den lå på den
andre siden av elva Tyne, ikke langt fra Hexham. Han pleide å ta med seg en fattig
person som han kunne tjene mens han var i retrett.
Kong Egfrid av
Northumbrias etterfølger Aldfrid (Aldfrith) (685-704) døde i 704, og hans
halvsøster, den hellige abbedisse Elfleda av Whitby (653-714),
innkalte en synode ved elva Nidd i 705 på vegne av Aldfrids åtteårige sønn og
arving, kong Osred av Northumbria (704-16), for endelig å avgjøre saken til
biskop Wilfrid. Elfledas dyktighet som megler gjorde at Wilfrid ble forsonet
med både Canterbury og kirken i Northumbria. Hun sa til biskopene at Aldfrid på
sitt dødsleie hadde lovet å lystre pavens avgjørelse om å gjeninnsette Wilfrid,
og at han hadde påbudt sin arving Osred å gjøre det samme.
I 705 var den
hellige Bosa
av York død, og som en del av kompromisset i synoden ved Nidd, hvor
John av Beverley var til stede, ble John utnevnt til ny biskop av York og den
nå aldrende Wilfrid ble Johns etterfølger som biskop av Hexham. John hadde
aldri pådratt seg Wilfrids eller hans tilhengeres fiendskap. Nå kunne Wilfrid
ende sitt stormfulle liv i fred, og på en visitasjon til sine klostre i Mercia
døde han den 24. april 709 i Oundle i Northamptonshire, 75 år gammel.
Vi vet svært lite om
Johns virke som biskop av York, men han var flittig til å visitere og vigslet
minst en kirke. Han var en iherdig lærer, men svært tiltrukket av ensomheten.
Derfor kjøpte han et sted i det som da var i en skog i Humberside. Stedet het
ifølge Beda Inderawuda (Inderawood, Inderwood, Endeirwood), «skogen i Deira»,
et gammelt navn på East Yorkshire, men ettertiden har gitt det navnet Beverley.
Der grunnla han et benediktinerkloster ved en eksisterende liten kirke som var
viet den hellige evangelisten
Johannes, og der ba han om å bli gravlagt. Klosteret var for både menn og
kvinner, slik som skikken da var. Han utstyrte klosteret rikt, og allerede i
hans levedager ble det et viktig kirkelig senter, det tredje i Deira ved siden
av York og Ripon.
På hans gamle dager
gjorde sykdom at John ikke klarte å utføre alle sine plikter, så i 717 trakk
han seg fra sitt bispesete og trakk seg tilbake til klosteret i Beverley. Han
vigslet sin prest Wilfrid den Yngre eller
«den Andre» (for å skjelne ham fra den første Wilfrid av York) til ny biskop av
York. I Beverley ble han mottatt av sin gamle venn og disippel, den hellige
abbed Bercthun.
Fire år senere, den 7. mai 721, døde han i Beverley og ble gravlagt der.
Allerede mens han levde,
skal John ha bevirket mirakler, noe både Beda den Ærverdige og den salige Alkuin av York forteller
om på 700-tallet. Blant annet skal han ha hatt helbredende evner, for eksempel
helbredet han en kvinne som hadde slike smerter at hun ikke hadde kunnet bevege
seg på tre uker. Flere personer som syntes i akutt dødsfare, ble reddet av hans
bønner. Han helbredet også en nonne i Watton som var utpekt til å etterfølge
sin mor som abbedisse. I tillegg til sine egne øyenvitneberetninger forteller
Beda oss om helbredelser som var bevitnet av to andre av hans tidligere
studenter, de hellige abbedene Bercthun av Beverley og Herebald av
Tynemouth.1
Etter Johns død fortsatte
miraklene ved hans grav, som ble et berømt valfartsmål. Klosteret ble ødelagt
av danskene, men etter at kong Athelstan (Æthelstan) av Wessex og England
(924-39) påkalte John og vant en stor seier mot skottene i 934, fikk han bygd en
stor kirke på samme sted til Johns ære og gjorde den til en kollegiatskirke for
kanniker. Bollandisten Henschenius vier fire bøker til miraklene som skjedde
ved den hellige biskopens skrin fra 1000- til 1200-tallet. Det kom pilegrimer
fra hele de britiske øyer og til og med fra Europa, og de var så mange at den
praktfulle kirken Beverley Minster ble bygd, en kirke som kan måle seg med
Englands store katedraler. Beverleys store rikdom i middelalderen skyldtes i
vesentlig grad tilstedeværelsen av Johns relikvier. I 1377 var Beverley en av
de tolv største byene i England. På 900-tallet var hans kult også etablert i
Bretagne, spesielt i byen Saint-Jean-Brévelay, som er oppkalt etter ham.
Alkuin av York forteller
også om mirakler som skjedde på Johns forbønn.2 Det var
imidlertid ikke bare miraklene som førte til at John ble helligkåret, men også
det at han hadde levd et liv av bemerkelsesverdig hellighet. Han ble
helligkåret i 1037 av pave Benedikt IX (1032-44; 1045; 1047-48), og den 25.
oktober 1037 ble hans relikvier lagt i et kostbart gullskrin av erkebiskop
Aelfric Puttoc av York (1023-51). En ny translasjon fant sted i 1197.
Aldred (Ealdred) (d.
1069), som fra rundt 1027 hadde vært abbed av Tavistock og biskop av Worcester
fra 1044, ble i 1060 utnevnt til erkebiskop av York. Han gjorde mye for å
gjenopprette disiplinen i klostre og kirker, og han ga store gaver til
kirkelige formål. Han bygde klosterkirken St Peter i Gloucester og bygde om store
deler av kirken i Beverley. Han ga også munken, musikeren og hagiografen
Folcard fra Canterbury (d. etter 1085) i oppdrag rundt 1066 å skrive en
biografi om John av Beverley, Vita Sancti Johannis.3
Johns navn står også på
listen over helgengraver fra første halvdel av 1000-tallet, «On the
Resting-Places of the Saints», eller på gammelengelsk Secgan be þam Godes
sanctum þe on Engla lande ærost restan og de to listene som bygger på
denne, Hugo Candidus' latinske krønike om Peterborough Abbey fra midten av
1100-tallet og Breviate of Domesday, et vedlegg til Geoffrey Gaimars Description
on Britain på normannerfransk fra 1300-tallet. Hans navn står også i den
sene middelalderkatalogen over engelske helgener, Cathalogus Sanctorum in
Anglia Pausancium fra 1300-tallet.
John Leland, som reiste
rundt i England på 1540-tallet, kopierte en liste over engelske helgengraver
«fra en liten bok over steder hvor helgener hviler i England» (E libello
de locis, quibus S. in Angl[ia] requiescunt). Der står det: S. Joannes [bekjenner
strøket ut] archiepiscopus Ebor', S. Brithunus abbas discipulus eius, et
S. Wolfritha («St. John, erkebiskop av York, St. Britwin, abbed, hans disippel,
og St. Wolfritha».4 Det
nevnes ikke noe sted, selv om «Ripon» er lagt til i margen, kanskje i den tro
at «Wolfritha» er ment å være den hellige Wilfrid, biskop av York, som var gravlagt
i Ripon. Men dette må være en feil for Beverley i North Yorkshire, som ligger
mellom Lincoln og York, notisen før og etter, mens Ripon ikke gjør det.
Wolfritha kan være den samme som en viss «Yolfrida» som nevnes et annet sted av
Leland. Britwin er den samme som abbed Bercthun, og han nevnes også hos Hugo
Candidus.
I 1138 var Johns banner
et av de nordengelske bannerne som mennene fra Yorkshire marsjerte bak for å
beseire den invaderende skotske hæren nær Northallerton. Innen 1266 var det
skikk at når kongen innkalte hæren, sendte Beverley Minster en mann med
banneret. Det ble lånt ut til minst fire engelske konger for å hjelpe dem å
beseire sine fiender.
Kong Henrik V (1413-22)
påkalte John av Beverley før slaget ved Agincourt den 25. oktober 1415, og han
tilskrev seieren forbønnene til de hellige John Thwing av
Bridlington og John av Beverley. Slaget fant sted på sistnevntes
translasjonsdag, for Henrik prøvde så langt det var mulig å legge sine slag på
fester for engelske helgener, og denne dagen ble det sett blod og olje rennende
fra graven. Kongen utropte ham til en av skytshelgenene for det kongelige
hushold, og på hans anmodning beordret en synode i 1416 at Johns fest skulle feires
over hele England. Henrik og hans dronning dro til Beverley i 1420 for å besøke
den helliges skrin.
Blant Johns beundrere var
den salige Dame Julian av Norwich (ca
1342-ca 1423), som i et av sine syner refererer til ham, og den hellige
martyrbiskopen John Fisher (d.
1535), som var født i Beverley. I middelalderen var hans navn også knyttet til
legenden om en eremitt som begår alvorlige synder men som likevel nyter Guds
nåde. Denne teksten er bevart i det nederlandske skillingstrykket Historie
van Jan van Beverley, først trykt av Thomas van der Noot i Brussel i 1543.
Under reformasjonen ble
Johns relikvier gjemt i begynnelsen av regjeringstiden til kong Edvard VI
(1547-53). Men da en grav ble gravd den 13. september 1664, ble det funnet et
hvelv av kalkstein med et blyskrin, hvor det var noe støv og noen knokler som
utsondret en søt velduft. En inskripsjon viste at det var John av Beverleys
relikvier, og de ble gravlagt på nytt i kirkens midtgang. I den anledning ble
det igjen meldt om mirakler. Relikviene ble igjen brakt frem i lyset i 1736. De
hviler i dag under en marmorplate i Beverley Minster. På kirketaket over graven
står det: Reliquas beati Johanis Beverlacenic his undicat.
Hans minnedag er
dødsdagen 7. mai, med en translasjonsfest den 25. oktober, men 12. oktober
nevnes også som minnedag. Tidlige kalendere har med hans fest og han feires i
bispedømmene i Nord-England. Hans navn står i Martyrologium Romanum. Som biskop
av Hexham kalles han også Ioannes Hagulstadensis og som biskop av
York Ioannes Eboracensis.
I moderne tid markeres
hans fest i Beverley på to dager. På torsdagen nærmest 7. mai går koret og
medlemmene av (den anglikanske) menigheten i Beverley Minster til kirken i
Harpham og går i prosesjon til kilden, som er dekket av blomster. Etter en
hymne og bønn går prosesjonen tilbake til kirken for sunget evensong. På
søndagen nærmest 7. mai går de sivile myndighetspersonene i fulle regalier med
septerbærere til Beverley Minster. Prosesjonen går inn gjennom den store
vestporten. Under den følgende gudstjenesten kommer barn fra Harpham frem med
nøkleblom de har plukket i skogene rundt landsbyen og plasserer dem på Johns
grav.
John av Beverley står på
en liste over helgener5 som
har det til felles at det ble sagt at det fra deres graver eller relikvier
strømmet ut olje til visse tider.6 Disse
helgenene ble gjerne kalt på gresk Myroblýtes («myrrautgytere»).
Følgende verker, ingen av
dem er bevart, tilskrives John av Beverley av den engelske forfatteren John
Bale (1495-1563), en tidligere karmelitt som ble protestant og i 1552 biskop av
Ossory i Irland: Pro Luca exponendo (en utlegging av
Lukas-evangeliet), Homiliae in Evangelia, Epistolae ad Herebaldum,
Audenam, et Bertinum og Epistolae ad Hyldam abbatissam.
1
Beda, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, IV, s 23 og V, s 2-6, i J.
P. Migne (ed.), Patrologia Latina (PL), XCV, s 209-10, 230-36
2
Alkuin, De pontificibus et sanctis Eboracensis Ecclesiae, i J. P. Migne
(ed.), Patrologia Latina (PL), CI, s 834-36
3
Henschenius, Acta Sanctorum, mai, II, s 168
4
Nicholas Grant, 'John Leland's List of «Places where Saints Rest in
England»', Analecta Bollandiana, 122:2 (2004), s 383
5
Catholic Encyclopedia: Oil of Saints
6
Acta Sanctorum, mai, II (Antwerpen 1680), s 192
Kilder:
Attwater/John, Attwater/Cumming, Farmer, Bentley, Butler, Butler (V),
Benedictines, Bunson, Grant, Schauber/Schindler, KIR, CE, CSO, Patron Saints
SQPN, Infocatho, Bautz, Heiligenlexikon, santiebeati.it, britannia.com,
earlybritishkingdoms.com, britannica.com, en.wikipedia.org, ewtn.com,
middlesbrough-diocese.org.uk, stjohnofbeverley.info, beverleyminster.org,
ashgate.com - Kompilasjon og oversettelse: p. Per Einar Odden -
Opprettet: 2000-02-01 21:34 - Sist oppdatert: 2007-12-24 00:37
SOURCE : https://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/jbeverle
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