Saint
Swithun, Bénédictionnaire de saint Æthelwold,
BL MS Add. 19598, fol. 90v
Swithun
shown in the Benedictional of St. Æthelwold, Winchester, 10th century. British Library, London.
Saint Swithin
Évêque de
Winchester (+ 862)
Chancelier du roi d'Angleterre Egbert et précepteur de son fils, puis conseiller pour les affaires ecclésiastiques, nommé enfin évêque de Winchester, il garda toujours, dans ses hautes fonctions, le souci des pauvres et un ferme éloignement de toute occasion de chute pécheresse, ce qui ne manquait pas à la cour royale.
À Winchester en Angleterre, l'an 862, saint Swithun, évêque, remarquable par
son austérité de vie et son amour des pauvres. Il construisit beaucoup
d'églises qu'il visitait en allant toujours à pied.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/7456/Saint-Swithin.html
Mémorial
moderne à saint Swithun dans la cathédrale de Winchester.
Saint
Swithun's memorial shrine in the retrochoir of Winchester Cathedral where the saint's
relics were originally kept.
Also
known as
Swithin
Svithin
15 July (translation
of relics)
Profile
Raised in an abbey. Priest. Chaplain to
Egbert, King of
the West Saxons. Tutor to prince Ethelwolf. Bishop of Winchester, England. Miracles associated
with his relics.
His shrine was
destroyed during the Reformation. Almost 60 ancient British churches were named
for him.
His patronage of
the weather arose when monks tried
to translate his body from an outdoor grave to a golden shrine in
the Cathedral in 871. Swithun
apparently did not approve as it started raining for 40 days. The weather on
the festival of
his translation indicates, according to an old rhyme, the weather for the next
forty days:
Saint Swithun’s
day, if thou dost rain,
For forty days it will remain;
Saint Swithun’s day, if thou be fair,
For forty days ’twill rain nae mair.
Born
relics transferred
to Canterbury, England in 1006 by Saint Alphege
of Winchester
Additional
Information
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Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
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Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
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sites in english
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Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
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MLA
Citation
“Saint Swithun“. CatholicSaints.Info.
13 January 2022. Web. 18 May 2024.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-swithun/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-swithun/
Swithun (Swithin) of
Winchester, OSB B (RM)
Born in Wessex, England;
died at Winchester, England, July 2, 862. Saint Swithun was educated at the Old
Abbey, Winchester, and was ordained (it is uncertain whether or not he was a
monk). He became chaplain to King Egbert of the West Saxons, who appointed him
tutor of his son Ethelwulf, and was one of the king's counselors. Swithun was
named bishop of Winchester in 852 when Ethelwulf succeeded his father as king.
Swithun built several churches and was known for his humility and his aid to
the poor and needy. His veneration as a saint appears to date from the removal
of his bones from the churchyard into the cathedral a century after his death.
A long-held superstition declares it will rain for 40 days if it rains on his
feast day, but the reason for and origin of this belief are unknown (Attwater,
Benedictines, Delaney).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0715.shtml
St. Swithin
(SWITHUN).
Bishop of Winchester;
died 2 July, 862.
Very little is known of
this saint's life, for his biographers constructed their "Lives" long
after his death and there is hardly any mention of him in contemporary
documents. Swithin was one of the two trusted counsellors of Egbert, King of the
West Saxons (d. 839), helping him in ecclesiastical matters,
while Ealstan of Sherborne was his chief advisor He probably entrusted Swithin
with the education of
his son Ethelwulf and caused the saint to
be elected to the Bishopric of Winchester in
succession to Helmstan. His consecration by
Ceolnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury,
seems to have taken place on 30 October, 852. On his deathbed Swithin begged
that he should be buried outside the north wall of his cathedral where
passers-by should pass over his grave and raindrops from the eaves drop upon
it.
More than a century later
(931) his body was translated with great pomp to a shrine within the new church
erected by Bishop Ethelwulf (d. 984). A number of miraculous cures
took place and Swithin was canonized by
popular acclamation. In 1093 his remains were again translated to the new church
built by Bishop Walkelin. The shrine was destroyed and the relics scattered
in 1538.
It has often been said
that the saint was
a Benedictine monk and
even Prior of Winchester but
there is no evidence for this statement. From the first translation of
his relics in
984 till the destruction of the shrine St. Swithin was the patron of Winchester Cathedral.
He is best known from the popular superstition attached
to his name and expressed in the following rhyme:
St. Swithin's day if thou
dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St. Swithin's day if thou be fair
For forty days 'twill rain nae mair.
There have been many
attempts to explain the origin of this belief,
but none have proved generally
satisfactory. A similar belief attaches
in France to
8 June, the feast of Sts.
Gervasius and Protasius, and to other feasts in different countries
(see Notes and Queries, 1885, XII, 137, 253). St. Swithin's feast is kept
on 15 July, the date of
his first translation, and is retained in the Anglican Calendar.
Sources
The materials for the
saint's life will be found in Acta SS., July, I, 321 sqq. See also
POTTHAST, Wegweiser, 1588; HUNT in Dict. Nat. Biog., s.v. Swithun;
HARDY, Descriptive Catalogue, I (1862), ii, 513 sqq.
Webster, Douglas
Raymund. "St. Swithin." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 25 Oct.
2020 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14357c.htm>.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. July 1, 1912. 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 : https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14357c.htm
July 15
St. Swithin or Swithun,
Bishop and Patron of Winchester, Confessor
THIS city had been famous
in the time of the Romans, and a station of their troops being called by
Ptolemy and Antoninus, Venta. It became afterwards the chief seat of the
West-Saxon kings. Among these, Kynegils, having received the faith about the
year 635, gave to St. Birinus the city of Dorcester for his episcopal see, but
founded a church at Winchester, which was dedicated by St. Birinus to St.
Peter, according to the Saxon Chronicle, or to the Holy Trinity, according to
Thomas Rudburn. Wini, the third bishop of the West-Saxons, fixed his see at
Winchester, and this church became one of the most flourishing cathedrals of
all Britain. St. Swithun, called in the original Saxon language Swithum,
received in this church the clerical tonsure, and put on the monastic habit in
the Old Monastery, which had been founded by king Kynegils. He was of noble
parentage, passed his youth in innocent simplicity, and in the study of
grammar, philosophy, and the holy scriptures. He was an accomplished model of
all virtues when he was promoted to holy orders by Helinstan or Helmstan,
bishop of Winchester.
Being ordained priest, he
was made provost or dean of the Old Monastery. His learning, piety, and
prudence moved Egbert, king of the West-Saxons, to make him his priest, under
which title the saint subscribed a charter granted to the abbey of Croyland in
833. That great prince committed to his care the education of his son
Ethelwolf, and made use of his counsels in the government of his kingdom. A
degeneracy of manners had crept into the courts of the Mercians and
Northumbrians, and their government was weakened by intestine divisions and
several revolutions. Egbert having first vanquished Swithred king of the
East-Saxons, and added his kingdom to his own, upon several provocations,
invaded Mercia, and conquered it in 828, but soon after restored Withlaf, whom
he had expelled, to the throne of that kingdom on condition he should hold the
crown of him, and pay him an annual tribute. He treated in the same manner
Eandred, the last king of the Northumbers, and made him tributary, after he had
with a great army laid waste that province. The kingdom of the East Angles
submitted to him about the same time with Mercia, with which it had been long
engaged in war, and was thereby reduced to extreme poverty. Kent being at that
time tributary to Mercia, it fell also to the share of the conqueror. After
this Egbert assembled all the great men of his kingdom both clergy and laity,
in a council at Wincester, in which he enacted that this kingdom should ever
after be called England, and all its subjects Englishmen. At the same time he
was again crowned and from that year, 829, was styled king of England. Thus
were the names of Saxons and Jutes abolished among us, and an end was put to
the heptarchy, or division of this nation into seven kingdoms, which began to
be formed by Hengist in 457, when he took the title of king, seven years after
his arrival in this island, in 449. Towards the latter end of Egbert’s reign
the Danes first began to infest England. This general name historians give to
those shoals of pirates which were composed not only of Danes, but also of
Norwegians, Goths, Sweones or Swedes, and Vandals, as Eginhard, Henry of
Huntingdon, and others assure us. 1
King Egbert reigned
thirty-seven years over the West Saxons, and nine years over all England, dying
in the year 838, or according to others in 837. Ethelwolf, his only surviving
son, had been educated in piety and learning under the care of St. Swithin, then
provost of the Old Monastery in Winchester, 2 and
had been ordained subdeacon by bishop Helmstan, as Rudburn, Huntingdon, and
others relate. But upon the death of his elder brother, whose name is not
known, he was dispensed with by Pope Leo to marry, and returning again to a
secular life, helped his father in his wars, and after his death was advanced
to the throne. He married Osberge, a lady of remarkable piety, and had four
sons by her, Ethelbald, Ethelbright, Ethelred, and Alfred. He governed his
kingdom by the prudent advice of Alstan bishop of Shirborne, in temporal
affairs; and by that of St. Swithin in ecclesiastical matters, especially those
which concerned his own soul. And though
the king was of a slow
disposition, yet by the assistance of these worthy counsellors, he reigned
prudently and happily; the Danes were often repulsed, and many noble designs
for the good of the church and state were begun, and prosperously executed.
Bearing always the greatest reverence to St. Swithin, whom he called his master
and teacher, he procured him, upon the death of Helmstan, to be chosen bishop
of Winchester, to which see he was consecrated by Ceolnoth, archbishop of Canterbury,
in 852. Hearne has given us the profession of faith which he made on that
occasion, according to custom, in the hands of the archbishop. 3 William
of Malmesbury says, that though this good bishop was a rich treasure of all
virtues, those in which he took most delight were humility and charity to the
poor; and in the discharge of his episcopal functions he omitted nothing
belonging to a true pastor. He built divers churches, and repaired others; and
made his journeys on foot, accompanied with his clerks, and often by night to
avoid ostentation. Being to dedicate any church, he with all humility used to
go barefoot to the place. His feasting was not with the rich, but with the
needy and the poor. His mouth was always open to invite sinners to repentance,
and to admonish those who stood to beware of falling. He was most severe to
himself, and abstemious in his diet, never eating to satisfy his appetite, but
barely to sustain nature; and as to sleep, he admitted no more than what after
long watching and much labour was absolutely necessary. He was always delighted
with psalms and spiritual canticles, and in conversation would bear no
discourse but what tended to edification.
By his counsel and advice
King Ethelwolf, in a Mycel synod, or great council of the nation, in 854,
enacted a new law by which he gave the tithes, or tenth part of his land,
throughout the kingdom to the church, exempt and free from all taxations and
burthens, with an obligation of prayers in all churches for ever for his own
soul, on every Wednesday, &c. This charter, to give it a more sacred
sanction, he offered on the altar of St. Peter at Rome in the pilgrimage which
he made to that city in 855. He likewise procured it to be confirmed by the
pope. 4 He
carried with him to Rome his youngest and best beloved son, Alfred, rebuilt
there the school for the English, and ordered to be sent every year to Rome one
hundred mancuses 5 for
the pope, one hundred for the church of St. Peter, and as much for that of St.
Paul, to furnish them with lights on Easter Eve. He extended the Romescot, or
Peterpence, to his whole kingdom. He reigned two years after his return from
Rome, and died in 857. He ordained that throughout all his own hereditary lands
every ten families shall maintain one poor person with meat, drink, and apparel;
from whence came the corrodies, which still remain in divers places. St.
Swithin departed to eternal bliss, which he had always thirsted after, on the
2d of July, 862, in the reign of King Ethelbert. His body was buried, according
to his order, in the churchyard, where his grave might be trodden on by
passengers.
About one hundred years
after, in the days of King Edgar his relics were taken up by St. Ethelwold,
then bishop of Winchester, and translated into the church in 964. On which
occasion Malmesbury affirms that such a number of miraculous cures of all kinds
were wrought, as was never in the memory of man known to have been in any other
place. Lanfrid, in the original Saxon Lantfred, called by Leland an illustrious
doctor, being then a monk at Winchester, wrote, in 980, a history of this
translation, and of the miraculous cures of a blind man, and many others,
through the intercession of this saint, which history has never been printed:
though we have two beautiful fair manuscript copies of it, the one in the
Cotton, the other in the king’s library in the inclosure of Westminster Abbey. 6 In
the reign of William the Conqueror, Walkelyn, bishop of Winchester, a Norman,
and the king’s relation, laid the foundation of the new church in 1079, which
he lived to finish with the abbey, so that in 1093, the monks, in the presence
of almost all the bishops and abbots of England, came in great joy from the old
to the new monastery, and on the feast of St. Swithin, the shrine of this saint
was in another solemn procession translated from the old to the new church; and
on the next day the bishop’s men began to demolish the old abbey. William of
Wickham, the celebrated chancellor of England in the reign of Edward III., and
founder of a great college in Oxford, in 1379, added the nave and west front to
this cathedral, which is now standing. This church was first dedicated to the
Holy Trinity, under the patronage of St. Peter; afterwards by St. Ethelwold, in
presence of King Etheldred, St. Dunstan, and eight other bishops, to St.
Swithin, as Redburn relates, in 980. 7 King
Henry VIII., in 1540, commanded this cathedral to be called no longer St.
Swithin’s, but of the Holy Trinity. 8St.
Swithin is commemorated in the Roman martyrology on the 2d of July, which was
the day of his death; but his chief festival in England was on the 15th of the
same month, the day of the translation of his relics. See the calendar prefixed
to the chronicle entitled Scala Mundi in a fair MS. in folio in the library of
the English college at Douay; also the Sarum breviary and missal. An arm of St.
Swithin was kept in the abbey of Peterborough, as is mentioned by Hugh
Candidus, or White, in his accurate history of that monastery, published by Mr.
Spark, p. 1723. The abbey of Hyde was first built within the precincts of the
cathedral by King Edward the Elder, in pursuance of his father, Alfred’s, will,
for secular canons, over whom St. Grimbald was intended to preside, had not his
death prevented it. These canons, after sixty years’ continuance, yielded this
church to the monks whom, in 964, St. Ethelwold brought in; from which time
this abbey was called Newminster till it was translated by King Henry I. and
the Bishop William Giffard, to a place near the walls of the city called Hyde.
Of this magnificent abbey not so much as the walls are left standing, though in
it lay the remains of King Edward, his son Alfred, his daughter St. Eadburga,
&c. Its church was dedicated to the Holy Trinity, St. Peter, and St.
Grimbald. See the short life of St. Swithin, written by Wolstan, a monk of
Winchester, dedicated to St. Elphege, then bishop of that city, in 1001, but translated
to Canterbury in 1006. It is published by Mabillon, sæc. 5. Ben. p. 628. See
also Malmesbury, t. 2. de Pontif. Robert of Glocester’s Chronicle in verse,
published by Mr. Herne. Thomas Rudburn, Historia Major Wintoniensis, published
by Wharton, t. 1. p. 200. Lord Clarendon, and Sam. Gale, on the Antiquities of
Winchester, and Pinius the Bollandist, t. 1. Julij, ad diem 2. p. 321. Also, S.
Swithuni vita et miracula per Lamfridum monachum Winton. MSS. in Bibl.
Regia Londini, xv. c. vii. 1.
Note 1. The
barbarians who inhabited the northern coasts of the Baltic were called by one
general name, Normans; and the Sclavi, Vandals, and divers other nations were
settled on the southern coast, as Eginhard, Helmold, and others testify. [back]
Note 2. The
authorities produced by Tho. Rudburn, a monk of the Old Monastery in
Winchester, in 1450, to prove St. Swithun to have been some time public
professor of divinity at Cambridge, are generally esteemed suppositions. See
Rudburn, l. 3, c. 2, Hist. Maj. Wintoniensis, apud Wharton, Anglia Sacra, and
the History of the University of Cambridge. [back]
Note 3. Hearne,
Teat. Roffens, p. 269. [back]
Note 4. See Ingulph.
Asser. Redborne. [back]
Note 5. The value of
a mancuse is not known; it is thought to have been about the same with that of
a mark. [back]
Note 6. Casleu and
B. Nicholson falsely call this the life of St. Swithin; and it appears from
Leland that Lantfred never wrote his life, which himself sufficiently declares
in the history of his miracles. The contrary seems a mistake in Pits, Bale, and
Thomas Rudburn, p. 223. Rudburn manifestly confounds Wolstan with
Lantfred. [back]
Note 7. Hist. Major.
Wintom. p. 223. Vita metrice S. Swithuni per Wolstanum monachum Winton. ib.
2. [back]
Note 8. At the east
end of this cathedral is the place which in ancient times was esteemed most
sacred, underneath which was the cemetery or resting place of many saints and
kings who were interred there with great honour. At present behind the high
altar there is a transverse wall, against which we see the marks where several
of their statues, being very small, were placed, with their names under each
pedestal in a row; “Kinglisus Rex. S. Birinus Ep. Kingwald Rex. Egbertus R.
Adulphus (i. e. Ethelwolphus) R. Elured R. filius ejus. Edwardus R. junior
Adhelstanus R. filius ejus (Sta. Maria D. Jesus in the middle.) Edredus R.
Edgarus R. Alwynus Ep. Ethelred R. Cnutus R. Hardecanutus R. filius ejus,”
&c. Underneath, upon a fillet were written these verses:
“Corpora Sanctorum
hic sunt in pace sepulta;
Ex Meritis
quorum fulgent miracula multa.”
At the foot of these, a
little eastwards, is a large flat grave-stone, which had the effigies of a
bishop in brass, said to be that of St. Swithin. See Lord Clarendon, and Samuel
Gale, On the Antiquities of Winchester pp. 29, 30. [back]
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume VII: July. The Lives of the
Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/7/153.html
Jul 2 – St Swithun (d.
862) bishop
02 July, 2012
Summary: St Swithun (or
Swithin) was an English bishop of Winchester, best known from the popular
belief that if it rains on St Swithun’s day, 15th July, it will rain for 40
days and 40 nights.
Patrick Duffy traces
St Swithin’s life.
Torrential rain
Builder and Restorer of
Churches
St Swithun was born in Wessex and spent his youth at the old abbey at
Winchester in AD 852. After being ordained, the chroniclers say he was a
diligent builder of churches in places where there were none before and a
repairer of those that had been destroyed or ruined.
“And if any church fell
down, or was in decay, St Swithin would amend it at his own cost. Or if
any church were not hallowed, he would go thither afoot and hallow it. For he
loved not pride, said ne to riding on gay horses, and ne to being praised and
flattered by the people…” The Golden Legend, a medieval book of saints’
stories.
Friend and educator of
kings
Egbert, king of Wessex
(802-839), chose Swithin as his chaplain and as educator of his son Ethelwulf.
Ethelwulf then chose Swithun as bishop of Winchester (852-862) where he helped
build the Church and the kingdom of Wessex. He probably also was involved in
the education of the young Alfred: he died when Alfred was 13.
At Swithin’s
request, Ethelwulf gave a tenth of his royal lands to the Church. Swithun
made his diocesan journeys on foot; and when he gave a banquet he invited the
poor and not the rich.
Helper of the poor
One day when Swithin was watching workmen building a church on the east side of
the city, he saw that an old lady selling a basket of eggs had her eggs smashed
by workmen. Swithin picked up the broken eggs and, it is said, they miraculously
became whole again.
His death
On his deathbed, Swithin requested that he be buried outside the Old Minster
(Cathedral) at Winchester, where “passers by might tread on his grave and
where the rain from the eaves might fall on it.” And this was done. St Swithun
died on 2nd July 862. He was buried, at his own request, out of doors.
His Translation
But on 15th July 971, Bishop Ethelwold of Winchester had Swithin’s remains dug
up and moved to a new shrine inside Stavanger Cathedral. Two contradictory
outcomes are traditionally associated with this event. There were so many
miraculous cures that Swithin’s feast day became the date of the removal of his
remains, and not his death day. But, unfortunately, the removal was also
accompanied by ferocious and violent rain storms that lasted 40 days and 40
nights. These are said to indicate the saint’s displeasure at being moved and
may be the origin of the legend that if it rains on Saint Swithin’s feast day,
the rain will continue for 40 more days.
St Swithun’s day, if thou
dost rain,
For forty days it will remain.
St Swithun’s day, if thou be fair,
For forty days ’twill rain nae mair.
SOURCE : https://www.catholicireland.net/saintoftheday/st-swithun-d-862-bishop-of-winchester/
St Swithun's Day
Jul 15th, 2017
Today is the feast of St
Swithun. According to tradition, if the weather is good, or poor, on his feast
day we can expect the same for the next forty days.
Not much is known about
this ninth century bishop. He was a trusted counsellor to kings Egbert and Ethelwulf
and known for his care for the poor. He also had a reputation as a healer. St
Swithun was made bishop of Winchester in 852 and died in 862.
He had asked to be buried
in the cathedral churchyard, but a hundred years later his remains were moved
into the cathedral, where his shrine became a centre for pilgrimage. It was
rebuilt several times through the centuries, but destroyed at the Reformation.
The cathedral authorities restored the shrine in 1962.
There are 58 ancient
churches in England dedicated to St Swithun.
SOURCE : https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/32987
Golden Legend –
Life of Saint Swithin
Here followeth the Life
of Saint Swithin, Bishop.
Saint Swithin, the holy
confessor, was born beside Winchester in the time of Saint Egbert, king. He was
the seventh king after Kenulf that Saint Birinus christened. For Saint Austin
christened not all England in Saint Ethelbert’s days, but Saint Birinus christened
the west part of England in the days of Kenulf the king. And at that time this
holy Saint Swithin served our Lady so devoutly that all people that knew him
had great joy of his holiness, and Elmeston, that was in that time Bishop of
Winchester, made him priest.
And then he lived a straighter living than he did before, and he became then so
holy in living that King Egbert made him his chancellor and chief of his
council, and set Ethulf his son and his heir under his rule and guiding, and
prayed him to take heed to him that he might be brought up virtuously. And
within short time after the king died, and then his son Ethult was made king
after him. And he guided this land full well and wisely, that it increased
greatly in good living, through the counsel of Saint Swithin. And when Elmeston
the Bishop of Winchester was dead, Swithin was made Bishop there after him,
whereof the people were full glad, and by his holy living he caused the people
to live virtuously, and to pay their tithes to God and holy church. And if any
church fell down, or was in decay, Saint Swithin would anon amend it at his own
cost. Or if any church were not hallowed, he would go thither afoot and hallow
it. For he loved no pride, ne to ride on gay horses, ne to be praised ne
flattered of the people, which in these days such things be used over much. God
cease it.
Saint Swithin guided full
well his bishopric, and did much good to the town of Winchester in his time. He
did do make without the west gate of the town a fair bridge of stone at his
proper cost. And on a time there came a woman over the bridge with her lap full
of eggs, and a reckless fellow struggled and wrestled with her, and brake all
her eggs. And it happed that this holy bishop came that way the same time, and
bade the woman let him see her eggs, and anon he lift up his hand and blessed
the eggs, and they were made whole and sound, ever each one, by the merits of
this holy bishop, and being then glad she thanked God and this holy man for the
miracle that was done to her.
And soon after died King
Ethulf, and his son Egbert reigned after him. And after him was Ethelbert king;
and in the third year of his reign died this blessed bishop Saint Swithin. And
when he should die, he charged his men to bury him in the churchyard, for the
people should not worship him after his death. For he loved no pomp by his life,
ne none would have after his death. He passed to our Lord the year of grace
eight hundred and six. And he lay in the churchyard, ere he was translated, a
hundred and nine years and odd days. But in the time of holy king Edgar his
body was translated and put in a shrine in the abbey of Winchester by Saint
Dunstan and Ethelwold. And the same year was Saint Edward, king and martyr shrined
at Shaftesbury. These two bishops, Dunstan and Ethelwold, were warned by our
Lord to see that these two holy Saints, Swithin and Edward, should be
worshipfully shrined, and so they were within short time after. And a holy man
warned Ethelwold whilst he lay sick, to help that these two holy bodies might
be shrined, and then he should be perfectly whole, and so endure to his life’s
end; and the token is that, ye shall find on Saint Swithin’s grave two rings of
iron nailed fast thereon. And as soon as he set hand on the rings they came off
of the stone, and no token was seen in the stone, where they were fastened in.
And when they had taken up the stone from the grave, they set the rings to the
stone again, and anon they fastened to it by themselves. And then this holy
bishop gave laud and praising to our Lord for this miracle. And at the opening
of the grave of Saint Swithin, such a sweet odour and savour issued out that
king Edgar and all the multitude of people were fulfilled with heavenly
sweetness, and a blind man received there his sight again, and many were healed
of divers sickness and maladies by the merits of this holy saint, Saint
Swithin, to whom let us pray that he be our advocate to the good Lord for us,
etc.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/golden-legend-life-of-saint-swithin/
St. Swithun
(died AD 862)
Born: circa 800
Bishop of Winchester
Died: 2nd July 862 at Winchetser (Hampshire)
St. Swithun had been
Prior of the monastery attached to the cathedral, before he was made Bishop of
Winchester in AD 852. He was, say the chroniclers, a diligent builder of
churches in places where there were none before and a repairer of those that
had been destroyed or ruined. He also built a bridge on the east side of the
city and, during the work he made a practice of sitting there to watch the
workmen, that his presence might stimulate their industry. One of his most
edifying miracles is said to have been performed at this bridge where he
restored an old woman's basket of eggs, which the workmen had maliciously
broken. It is more certain that Swithun was one of the most learned men of his
time and the tutor, successively, of King Aethelwulf of Wessex and of his son,
the illustrious Alfred. He died on 2nd July AD 862 and was buried, according to
his own desire, in the churchyard of the Old Minster (Cathedral) at Winchester,
where "passers by might tread on his grave and where the rain from the
eaves might fall on it." His reputation as a weather saint is said to have
arisen from the translation of his body from this lowly grave to its golden
shrine within the Cathedral, having been delayed by incessant rain. Hence the
weather on the festival of his translation (15th July) indicated, according to
the old rhyme, what it would be for the next forty days:
"St. Swithun's day, if thou dost rain,
For forty days it will remain;
St. Swithun's day, if thou be fair,
For forty days 'twill rain na mair."
June and July, however, have their weather saints in the calendars of France
and of Belgium, as well as in those of other parts of Europe:
"Quand il pleut a la Saint Gervais (19th July)
Il pleut quarante jours apres."
Is the old French proverb, while Wedermaend, the 'month of storms' wa sthe old
Flemish name for July.
SOURCE : https://web.archive.org/web/20180512004435/http://www.britannia.com/bios/swithun.html
Statue
of Saint Swithun originally on the façade of Winchester Cathedral; now housed in the Crypt.
San Swithun di Winchester Vescovo
Wessex, Inghilterra, 800
c. - 2 luglio 862
Emblema: Bastone
pastorale
Martirologio
Romano: A Winchester in Inghilterra, san Swithun, vescovo, che fu insigne
per l’austerità e l’amore per i poveri e fondò numerose chiese, che visitava
andando sempre a piedi.
A causa della
trascuratezza dei suoi contemporanei, non si hanno notizie di un certo rilievo
sulla sua vita, né delle sue parole, né delle sue conversazioni, che fossero
state riportate per le future generazioni.
Swithun visse nel IX secolo, fu cappellano reale del re Egberto di Wessex e
tutore del figlio del re, principe Ethelwulf, che governò poi dall’839 all’858.
E su richiesta del re
Ethelwulf, divenne vescovo di Winchester, allora capitale dell’Inghilterra; fu
consacrato da Ceolnoth arcivescovo di Canterbury il 30 ottobre 852.
Governò la diocesi dieci
anni, perché morì il 2 luglio 862; il re Ethelwold, il 15 luglio 971, fece
trasferire le reliquie nella cattedrale, coincise con questo avvenimento la
caduta di un’abbondantissima pioggia, tale che fu ritenuta segno della potenza
del santo vescovo, evidentemente si era in periodo di prolungata siccità.
Da quel giorno si dice
che se piove nel giorno di s. Swithun (15 luglio) pioverà anche per i seguenti
40 giorni. Da noi si dice la stessa cosa per s. Barbara e per s. Caterina
d’Alessandria.
Era invocato per ottenere
la pioggia, il suo culto che prese sviluppo dal secolo X, si estese per la fama
di essere un santo guaritore, sia nell’isola di Wight, sia in Francia.
Nel 1093 il suo corpo fu
di nuovo trasferito dalla vecchia alla nuova cattedrale di Winchester; la sua
festa celebrata il 2 luglio per tutto il Medioevo, fu poi man mano sostituita
al 15 luglio, giorno della prima traslazione.
Autore: Antonio
Borrelli
SOURCE : http://santiebeati.it/dettaglio/60475
Den hellige Svithun av
Winchester (~800-862)
Minnedag: 15.
juli
Den hellige Svithun
(Swithun, Swithin, lat: Swithunus) ble født rundt år 800 (etter 802?) i Wessex
(«vestsaksernes rike») i England. Vi vet svært lite om hans liv, for hans
biografer konstruerte sine «biografier» lenge etter hans død, og han nevnes
knapt i samtidige dokumenter. I likhet med mange andre av middelalderens
helgener vokste det senere frem mange fromme legender om ham.
Han fikk sin utdannelse
ved Old Minster i Winchester, hovedstaden i Wessex. Det hevdes ofte at han ble
benediktinermunk og til og med prior i Winchester, men det finnes ingen beviser
for denne påstanden. Han ble presteviet, og kong Egbert av Wessex (802-39)
valgte ham til sin personlige kapellan og en av sine to betrodde rådgivere.
Ealstan av Sherborne var kongens hovedrådgiver, mens Swithun var hans rådgiver
i kirkelige spørsmål – en slags kirkeminister. Han var høyt respektert, og han
fikk trolig også ansvaret for oppdragelsen av kronprins Ethelwulf, senere konge
(839-58). Han opererer som et av vitnene til et kongelig charter som ble gitt
til klosteret i Croyland i 833.
I 852 døde biskop
Helmstan av Winchester, og kong Ethelwulf utpekte Svithun til hans etterfølger
i den nest viktigste stillingen i den angelsaksiske kirken etter erkebiskopen
av Canterbury. Han ble bispeviet den 30. oktober 852 av erkebiskop Ceolnoth av
Canterbury. Svithun var kjent for sin ydmykhet og nestekjærlighet og hjelp til
de fattige og trengende, og han bygde mange kirker i sitt bispedømme.
I løpet av Svithuns ti år
som biskop konsoliderte Wessex sin posisjon som det viktigste kongedømme i det
angelsaksiske England. Men landet ble også utsatt for de første sporadiske, men
illevarslende angrepene fra vikingene, som skulle herje England så ofte i det
neste århundret. Ikke uten grunn lød en av engelskmennenes viktigste
kirkebønner på 800-tallet: A furore normanorum, libera nos Domine, «Fri
oss, Herre, fra nordmennenes vrede».
Svithun døde den 2. juli
862, men han ble ikke gravlagt inne i katedralen, slik skikken var for
biskoper. På dødsleiet hadde han bedt om å bli gravlagt på kirkegården like
utenfor vestporten til Old Minster, «der forbipasserende kan tråkke over graven
og regndråpene fra takskjegget dryppe på den», slik munken William av
Malmesbury (d. 1143) skriver.
Den hellige Ethelwold (d.
984) ble biskop av Winchester i 964 og innførte benediktinermunker for å danne
det første monastiske domkapitlet i England. Han la planer om å overføre
Svithuns relikvier fra graven, som i mellomtiden hadde forfalt, til den
utvidete katedralen. Dette skjedde den 15. juli 971. Høytideligheten ble
forsinket av et usedvanlig kraftig regnvær, noe som ble sett på som en
manifestasjon av Svithuns krefter. På translasjonsdagen skjedde det uvanlig
mange helbredelser som ble erklært for mirakuløse, noe som ga Svithun et stort
ry som helbreder, og han ble helligkåret ved folkelig akklamasjon – dette var
før paven forbeholdt seg eneretten til helligkåringer.
Translasjonen ble
gjennomført som ledd av omfattende byggevirksomheter, som inkluderte utvidelse
av den gamle katedralen vestover. Det gjorde Svithuns opprinnelige grav til
sentrum for en egen liten «kirke» med tverrskip på hver side. En ny translasjon
i 974 medførte en oppdeling av relikviene, siden det nå var to skrin – et på
høyalteret og et i sakristiet. Sistnevnte inneholdt Svithuns hode.
I 1005 ble den hellige
biskop Alphegus
av Winchester erkebiskop av Canterbury. Det var han som i 994 hadde
konfirmert (og kanskje døpt) Olav Tryggvason. Han syntes han måtte ta med seg
en verdig gave til sitt nye bispesete, og han tok da med seg skrinet med
Svithuns hode.
I 1066 kom the Norman
Conquest – normannernes invasjon av England. Vilhelm Erobreren innsatte sin
nevø Walkelin som ny biskop av Winchester, og han begynte straks byggingen av
en ny katedral i normannisk-gotisk stil. Svithuns relikvier ble overført dit i
1093. Den gamle domkirken ble revet, og de angelsaksiske benediktinermunkene
ble fordrevet. I stedet var det normanniske benediktinere som gjorde tjeneste
ved katedralen.
Omkring 1207 ble
katedralen utvidet, og Svithuns relikvier ble lagt i et nytt og praktfullt
utsmykket skrin. Skrinet ble et populært pilegrimsmål i middelalderen, og
pilegrimer fra England og kontinentet la gjerne opp sine vandringer slik at de
besøkte både Winchester og Canterbury, der den hellige Thomas Becket lå
gravlagt. Skrinet ble ødelagt ved reformasjonen i 1538, men Svithuns relikvier
ble antagelig gravlagt under det. Men det som kong Henrik VIII ikke røvet, ble
grundig ødelagt av Cromwells fanatiske tilhengere i borgerkrigen midt på
1600-tallet. Skrinet ble restaurert i 1962. Fra den første translasjonen til
ødeleggelsen av skrinet var katedralen i Winchester viet til Svithun.
Svithun ble gjenstand for
en stor og utbredt folkelig kult, og 58 middeladerkirker var viet til ham i
England. Det ble sagt at slik været var på hans festdag, skulle det bli i førti
dager: «St. Swithin's day if thou dost rain / For forty days it will
remain / St. Swithun's day if thou be fair / For forty days 'twill rain nae
mair.» Opprinnelsen til denne folkelige overtroen er ikke kjent, men
sannsynligvis henger det sammen med det voldsomme regnskyllet på
translasjonsdagen. Lignende varsler er knyttet til andre helgener i andre land,
for eksempel i Frankrike den 8. juni – festen for de hellige Gervasius og
Protasius.
En av de normanniske
benediktinermunkene i Winchester var Reinald, som krysset Nordsjøen i 1125 og
grunnla bispedømmet Stavanger. Byen vokste frem rundt det nye bispesetet.
Reinald hadde med seg Svithuns arm, men det er omstridt om han hadde innhentet
tillatelse til det før han dro. Reinald ble Stavangers første biskop, og hans
store prosjekt var byggingen av Stavanger domkirke. Etter en stund slapp han
opp for penger, og da henvendte kong Sigurd Jorsalfar (1103-30) seg til ham.
Kongen ville gifte seg på nytt, men biskopen av Bergen hadde nektet å annullere
hans gamle ekteskap. Dersom Reinald ville gjøre det, skulle kongen gi ham
penger til å fortsette byggingen av domkirken. Det var et tilbud Reinald ikke
kunne takke nei til.
Stavanger domkirke ble
viet til Svithun, og hans arm ble lagt i et relikvieskrin på høyalteret i
domkirken. Der ble det liggende til etter reformasjonen. Han ble også
skytshelgen for Stavanger. Både i England og i Norge forsvant helgenene
langsomt fra det kirkelige liv, men minnet om St. Svithun lever allikevel
videre. Stavanger blir fortsatt kalt St. Svithuns by. St. Svithuns plass er
etter hvert forsvunnet fra bybildet, det samme gjelder Maskinhusets sykkelmerke
Svithun. Men fortsatt finnes St. Svithun skole og St. Svithun Gymnas,
Syftesokbakken og Syftesokveien. Syftesok er det norske folkelige navnet på
Svithuns festdag.
I nyere tid er de
kirkelige forbindelsene mellom Stavanger og Winchester tatt opp igjen. I
forbindelse med 850 års jubileet for Stavanger by og Stavanger domkirke var
både biskop og domprost av Winchester på besøk.
I den gamle kalenderen
ble Svithun feiret på dødsdagen den 2. juli (Syftesok), som også er avmerket på
den norske primstaven. Men hans minnedag i Den katolske kirke er nå
translasjonsdagen 15. juli. Den festen er også bevart i den anglikanske
kalenderen. Hans navn står i Martyrologium Romanum. I Winchester ble også hans
ordinasjon feiret den 29. oktober. Han er skytshelgen mot tørke.
Kilder:
Attwater/John, Attwater/Cumming, Farmer, Jones, Hallam, Butler (VII),
Benedictines, Delaney, Bunson, Schauber/Schindler, KIR, CE, CSO, Patron Saints
SQPN, Infocatho, Bautz, santiebeati.it, britannia.com, p. Rolf Bowitz' artikkel om St.
Svithun i Stavanger menighets jubileumsskrift «Hundre år i St. Svithuns by
1898-1998» (Stavanger 1999) - Kompilasjon og oversettelse: p. Per Einar Odden
Opprettet: 29. november
1999 - Oppdatert: 7. august 2007
SOURCE : http://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/svithun
Translatio Svithuni (971)
Minnedag: 16.
juli
Den hellige Svithun
(Swithun, Swithin, lat: Swithunus) ble født rundt år 800. Han ble i 852 utnevnt
til biskop av Winchester, den nest viktigste stillingen i den angelsaksiske
kirken etter erkebiskopen av Canterbury. I løpet av Svithuns ti år som biskop
konsoliderte Wessex sin posisjon som det viktigste kongedømme i det
angelsaksiske England. Men landet ble også utsatt for de første sporadiske, men
illevarslende angrepene fra vikingene, som skulle herje England så ofte i det
neste århundret.
Svithun døde den 2. juli
862, men han ble ikke gravlagt inne i katedralen, slik skikken var for
biskoper. På dødsleiet hadde han bedt om å bli gravlagt på kirkegården like
utenfor vestporten til Old Minster, «der forbipasserende kan tråkke over graven
og regndråpene fra takskjegget dryppe på den», slik munken William av
Malmesbury (d. 1143) skriver. Den hellige Ethelwold (d.
984) ble biskop av Winchester i 964 og innførte benediktinermunker for å danne
det første monastiske domkapitlet i England. Han la planer om å overføre
Svithuns relikvier fra graven, som i mellomtiden hadde forfalt, til den
utvidete katedralen. Dette skjedde den 15. juli 971. Høytideligheten ble
forsinket av et usedvanlig kraftig regnvær, noe som ble sett på som en
manifestasjon av Svithuns krefter. På translasjonsdagen skjedde det uvanlig
mange helbredelser som ble erklært for mirakuløse, noe som ga Svithun et stort
ry som helbreder, og han ble helligkåret ved folkelig akklamasjon – dette var
før paven forbeholdt seg eneretten til helligkåringer.
I 1066 kom the Norman
Conquest – normannernes invasjon av England. Vilhelm Erobreren innsatte sin
nevø Walkelin som ny biskop av Winchester, og han begynte straks byggingen av
en ny katedral i normannisk-gotisk stil. Svithuns relikvier ble overført dit i
1093. Omkring 1207 ble katedralen utvidet, og Svithuns relikvier ble lagt i et
nytt og praktfullt utsmykket skrin. Skrinet ble et populært pilegrimsmål i
middelalderen. Skrinet ble ødelagt ved reformasjonen i 1538, men Svithuns
relikvier ble antagelig gravlagt under det. Men det som kong Henrik VIII ikke
røvet, ble grundig ødelagt av Cromwells fanatiske tilhengere i borgerkrigen
midt på 1600-tallet. Skrinet ble restaurert i 1962. Fra den første
translasjonen til ødeleggelsen av skrinet var katedralen i Winchester viet til
Svithun.
En av de normanniske
benediktinermunkene i Winchester var Reinald, som krysset Nordsjøen i 1125 og
grunnla bispedømmet Stavanger. Byen vokste frem rundt det nye bispesetet.
Reinald hadde med seg Svithuns arm, men det er omstridt om han hadde innhentet
tillatelse til det før han dro. Reinald ble Stavangers første biskop, og hans
store prosjekt var byggingen av Stavanger domkirke. Stavanger domkirke ble viet
til Svithun, og hans arm ble lagt i et relikvieskrin på høyalteret i domkirken.
Der ble det liggende til etter reformasjonen. Han ble også skytshelgen for
Stavanger.
I England ble Svithun
feiret på dødsdagen den 2. juli (Exeter, London (Westminster), Salisbury,
Winchester og York), men også på translasjonsdagen 15. juli (Durham, Exeter,
London (Westminster), Salisbury og Winchester). I den gamle norske kalenderen
ble han feiret den 2. juli (Syftesok), som også er avmerket på den norske
primstaven. Men hans minnedag i Den katolske kirke er nå translasjonsdagen 15.
juli. Den festen er også bevart i den anglikanske kalenderen. I Winchester ble
også hans ordinasjon feiret den 30. oktober.
Av en eller annen grunn
ble hans translasjonsdag i Norge (Trondhjem) ikke feiret den 15. juli, men den
16., og den dagen står i Missale Nidrosiense fra 1519 – det samme gjør
dødsdagen 2. juli.
Kilder: Svithuns
biografi, manuscripta-mediaevalia.de - Kompilasjon og oversettelse:
p. Per Einar
Odden - Sist oppdatert: 2007-03-25 15:02
