Saint Egwin
Évêque de Worcester (+ 717)
bénédictin anglais qui
fut évêque de Worcester et fondateur de l'abbaye d'Evesham.
À Evesham en Angleterre,
l’an 717, le trépas de saint Egwin, évêque, qui tint, non sans peine, le siège
de Worcester dont il finit par se démettre pour mourir dans le monastère qu’il
avait fondé.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/9799/Saint-Egwin.html
Scenes
from the life of Saint Egwin, St Lawrence’s Church, Evesham. The window depicts
the story of St Egwin, Bishop of Worcester, circa 700. He went on a pilgrimage
to Rome, and prepared for his journey by locking shackles on his feet, throwing
the key into the River Avon as he departed. Whilst he was praying in Rome one of
his servants bought him fish to eat, and on preparing the fish the key he had
thrown in the River Avon was found and he released himself. On his return to
England, he founded Evesham Abbey.
Also
known as
Egwin of Evesham
Ecgwin….
Ecgwine….
Eegwine….
Egvino….
Egwinus….
10
September (translation of his relics)
11
January (translation of his relics)
Profile
English nobility,
and the descendant of Mercian kings.
Consecrated to God in
his youth. Benedictine monk. Bishop of Worcester, England from 692 to 711.
There was a need in
his diocese for
some reform, but Egwin let it get out of hand, and he was charged with being
too severe with his priests.
To answer the charges, give everyone a chance to cool off, and show his
repentance for any harm done, he made a penitial pilgrimage to Rome.
Legend says that he locked his feet in shackles and threw the key into the
River Avon; when he arrived in Rome the
key was miraculously found
in the belly of a fish he
bought in the market.
Founded the Benedictine monastery of Evesham, England;
the site was chosen because of an apparition of the Virgin Mary to
a local herdsman. It became one of the great Benedictine houses
of the Middle Ages.
Born
30
December 717 of
natural causes
buried at
the monastery at Evesham, England
relics translated
for veneration in 1039
relics translated
again in 1077 when
they were taken on tour throughout the region which drew enough donations to
rebuild the monastery church
in England
bishop holding
a fish and
a key
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
Saints
of the Order of Saint Benedict, by Father Aegedius
Ranbeck, O.S.B.
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
Saints
and Their Attributes, by Helen Roeder
other
sites in english
video
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
sites
en français
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in italiano
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w jezyku polskim
MLA
Citation
‘Saint Egwin of
Worcester‘. CatholicSaints.Info. 21 February 2024. Web. 18 May 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-egwin-of-worcester/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-egwin-of-worcester/
Article
(Saint) Bishop (December
30) (8th century) The third Bishop of Worcester and founder of the great Abbey
of Evesham, where at an advanced age he ended his days, A.D. 717. Zealous in
the interests of his flock and a father to the poor, he yet had to undergo persecution;
but driven from his See he was reinstated with honour by the Pope to whom he
had made appeal, journeying for that purpose to Rome. His tomb became
illustrious for the many miracles wrought at his intercession.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate. “Egwin”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 22 November 2012.
Web. 18 May 2026. <http://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-egwin/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-egwin/
St. Egwin of Evesham
Feastday: December 30
Death: 717
An English noble who became the bishop of
Worcester, England, in 692. Charged with being overly strict by his clergy,
Egwin went to Rome. Upon his return to England, he founded Eversham Monastery
with the aid of the kingdom of Mercia. A vision of Mary prompted
this founding. In 709, Egwin returned to Rome, accompanied by King Cenred of
Mercia and King Offa of
the East Saxons.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=3069
New Catholic
Dictionary – Saint Egwin
Article
Confessor (died c.717), Bishop of
Worcester, founder of the Abbey of
Evesham. A prince of the royal house of Mercia, he was forced from the
seclusion of the religious life and made Bishop of
Worcester by popular acclaim, 692.
He aroused resentment by his zeal for ecclesiastical discipline and accusations
having been made against him at Rome, he undertook a pilgrimage there in order
to vindicate himself with the pope. According to the legend he locked shackles
on his feet and threw the key into the River Avon and on his arrival in Rome
the key was found in a fish caught in the Tiber. Reinstated by the pope, he
returned to England and
founded the abbey.
He participated in the first Council of Clovesho. Feast, 30
December and 11
January.
MLA
Citation
“Saint Egwin”. New Catholic Dictionary. CatholicSaints.Info. November 2012.
Web. 18 May 2026. <http://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-egwin/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-egwin/
Egwin of Worcester, OSB B
(AC)
(also known as Ecgwine)
Died at Evesham, England,
on December 30, 717; feast of the translation of his relics on September 10 and
January 11.
The translation of
Egwin's relics in 1039 by Ælfward, bishop of London and former abbot of the
monastery founded by Egwin, was the impetus for the first vita of Egwin, which
bears some resemblance to that of Saint Aldhelm. It claimed to incorporate
older elements but may not be entirely reliable.
According to this vita,
Egwin was born into the royal house of Ethelred, king of Mercia. He was
consecrated to God in his youth. About 692, he became the third bishop of
Worcester. Egwin governed the see of Worcester until he incurred the enmity of
some of his flock for his severity against vice, and they denounced him to the
king and archbishop of Canterbury.
Seeking vindication,
Egwin appealed to Rome. Before leaving England on a penitential pilgrimage to
answer before the Holy See the complaints lodged against him, he is said to
have locked his feet in fetters and to have thrown the key into the Avon River.
Miraculously, this key appeared in the belly of a fish he bought at a market in
Rome (no one says how he was able to get around the market with his feet
shackled). Because of this miracle, the pope vindicated Egwin and he was
reinstated in his episcopal chair until 711.
During his episcopacy he
founded the abbey of Evesham under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin because
of a vision of Mary seen first by the herdsman Eof and the by Egwin in a meadow
by the River Avon. Probably about 709, Egwin undertook another pilgrimage to
Rome in the company of Kings Cenred of Mercia and Offa of the East Saxons. It
is recorded that Egwin received considerable privileges for his foundation from
Pope Constantine. Evesham became one of the great Benedictine monasteries of
medieval England after its refounding about 975.
Egwin's connection with
Malmesbury was further emphasized by his conducting the funeral of Aldhelm in
709. Some connection with Wilfrid is possible, but unsupported by contemporary
evidence, but Evesham could have been one of Wilfrid's seven unidentified
Mercian foundations.
The monks of Evesham
strongly supported the cultus of Egwin. In the late 11th century, when some of
the cults of Anglo-Saxon saints were being questioned by Blessed Lanfranc and
the Normans, Egwin's sanctity was verified in the minds of many by an ordeal by
fire; miracles in Dover, Oxford, and Winchester; and, in 1077, a successful
fundraising tour of southern England undertaken by the monks of Evesham, who
carried Egwin's relics with them. The money was needed to buy the materials to
build a new church for the rapidly expanding community. Two ancient churches
are dedicated to Egwin (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Farmer, Walsh).
Saint Egwin is portrayed
as an English bishop with a fish and one key. (Not to be confused with the
German Saint Benno) (Roeder).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/1230.shtml
St. Egwin
Third Bishop of Worcester; date of
birth unknown; d. (according to Mabillon)
20 December, 720, though his death may have occurred three years earlier. His
fame as founder of the great Abbey
of Evesham no doubt tended
to the growth of legends which, though mainly founded on facts,
render it difficult to reconcile all the details with those of the
ascertained history of the period. It appears that either in 692, or
a little later, upon the death of Oftfor, second Bishop of Worcester,
Egwin, a prince of the Mercian blood royal, who had retired from the world and
sought only the seclusion of religious
life, was forced by popular acclaim
to assume the vacant see. His biographers say that
king, clergy,
and commonalty all united in demanding his elevation; but the popularity which
forced on him this reluctant assumption of
the episcopal functions was soon wrecked by his apostolic
zeal in their discharge.
The Anglo-Saxon population
of the then young diocese had had less than a century in which to
become habituated to the restraints of Christian morality;
they as yet hardly appreciated the sanctity of Christian
marriage, and the struggle of the English Benedictines for
the chastity of the priesthood had
already fairly begun. At the same time large sections of England were
more or less permanently occupied by pagans closely
allied in blood to the Anglo-Saxon
Christians. Egwin displayed undaunted zeal in
his efforts to evangelize the heathen and
no less in the enforcement of ecclesiastical
discipline. His rigorous policy towards his own flock created a
bitter resentment which, as King Ethelred was his friend, could only find vent
in accusations addressed to his ecclesiastical superiors.
Egwin undertook a pilgrimage to
seek vindication from the Roman
Pontiff himself. According to a legend, he prepared for his
journey by locking shackles on his feet, and throwing the key into
the River Avon. While he prayed before
the tomb of
the Apostles, at Rome,
one of his servants brought him this very key — found in the maw of a
fish that had just been caught in the Tiber. Egwin then released himself from
his self-imposed bonds and straightway obtained from the pope an
authoritative release from the load of obloquy which his enemies had striven to
fasten upon him.
It was after Egwin's
triumphant return from this pilgrimage that
the shepherd Eoves came to him with the tale of a miraculous
vision by which the Blessed
Virgin had signified her will that a
new sanctuary should be dedicated to her. Egwin himself
went to the spot pointed out by the shepherd (Eoves ham, or
"dwelling") and to him also we are told the same vision was
vouchsafed. King Ethelred granted him the land thereabouts upon which the
famous abbey was
founded. As to the precise date of the foundation, although
the monastic tradition of later generations set it in 714,
recent research points to some year previous to 709. At any rate it was most
probably in 709 that Egwin made his second pilgrimage to Rome,
this time in the company of Coenred,
the successor of Ethelred, and Offa,
King of the East Saxons, and it was on this occasion that Pope
Constantine granted him the extraordinary privileges by
which the Abbey
of Evesham was distinguished. One of the last
important acts of his episcopate was his participation in
the first great Council of Clovesho.
Macpherson,
Ewan. "St. Egwin." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 30 Dec.
2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05329a.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Gerald M.
Knight.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. May 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John
M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2026 by New Advent LLC.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05329a.htm
St Egwin
Celebrated
on December 30th
Benedictine monk and
bishop. Born of royal blood in the 7th century, Egwin entered a monastery as a
young man. In 692 he was asked to become bishop of Worcester.
As a bishop he became known as a protector of orphans and widows and a fair
judge, however some clergy complained that he was too strict with them. A group
of them, with the support of the king, made an official complaint against him.
Egwin travelled to Rome to present his case to Pope Constantine. According to
legend he put a pair of shackles on his legs and threw the key into a river
before he began his journey to Rome. On the sea crossing a fish was caught -
and when it was cut open, it was found to be carrying that key. Egwin met the
Pope. The case against him was examined and dismissed.
Upon his return to England, Egwin founded Evesham Abbey, which was dedicated to
Our Lady. The site for the abbey was chosen at a place where a swineherd had
experienced a vision of Mary. The Abbey became one of the great Benedictine
houses of medieval England. One of the last important acts of his episcopate
was his participation in the first great Council of Clovesho.
St Egwin died at the abbey on this day in the year 717. Following his burial
many miracles were attributed to him. His symbol is a fish with a key in its
mouth.
His tomb was destroyed, along with the abbey church, at the time of the
Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1540.
SOURCE : https://www.indcatholicnews.com/saint/366
St. Egwin, Bishop in
England, Confessor
HE was of the royal blood of the Mercian kings, devoted himself to the divine service in his youth, and succeeded Ostfor in the episcopal see of Worcester, in 692. By his zeal and severity in reproving vice, he stirred up some of his own flock to persecute him, which gave him an opportunity of performing a penitential pilgrimage to Rome. Some legends tell us, that setting out he put on his legs iron shackles, and threw the key into the river Severn, others say the Avon; but found it in the belly of a fish, some say at Rome, others in his passage from France to England. After his return, with the assistance of Coenred or Kenred, king of Mercia, he founded the famous abbey of Evesham, under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin. After this he undertook a second journey to Rome, in the company of Coenred, king of the Mercians, and of Offa, of the East Saxons, who gave up their temporal principalities to labour with greater earnestness to secure an eternal crown. St. Egwin died on the 30th of December, in 717, and was buried in the monastery of Evesham. His body was translated to a more honourable place in 1183, probably on the 11th of January, on which day many English Martyrologies mark his festival. See his life in Capgrave, the Annals of Worcester, in Wharton’s Anglia Sacra; Malmesbury, l. 4. de Pontif. Ang. Harpsfield. Sæc. 8. c. 15. 18. and Dr. Thomas in his History of the Cathedral of Worcester. Monast. Anglic. vol. 1. p. 144, and vol. 2. p. 851. Leland’s Collections, vol. 1. p. 240, and 298. vol. 3. p. 160. Dr. Brown Willis, History of Abbeys, t. l. p. 90.
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume I: January. The Lives of the
Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/1/113.html
St. Egwin,
Bishop of Worcester
(Died AD 717)
St. Egwin was of the
Royal Blood of the Mercian Kings, possibly a nephew of King Aethelred during
whose reign, he was born at Worcester. He was elected Bishop of that city in AD
693. By his zeal in rebuking the illicit connections formed by some of the great
men in his diocese and his vehemence in reforming the corrupt morals of all, he
stirred up a party against him and, with the connivance of the King, he was
expelled from his diocese. Egwin, meekly bending to his fate, determined to
make a pilgrimage to Rome. According to a popular medieval legend, he also
resolved to expiate certain sins of his youth, at the same time, by putting
iron fetters on his feet, which were fastened with a lock. He then cast the key
into the Avon. As he neared Italy, on a ship from Marseilles, a huge fish
floundered upon deck and was killed and cut open. Much to the surprise of the
Saint, in its belly, was found the key to his fetters. He accepted this as an
expression of the will of heaven and released his limbs. According to another
version of the story, the fish was caught in the Tiber, after St. Egwin had
appeared before the Pope in Rome. The latter dismissed the charges against
Edwin and he was soon restored to his diocese.
After his return, with
the assistance of Coenred King of Mercia - and possibly St.
Wilfred the Elder who founded seven unnamed Mercian monasteries around
this time - St. Egwin founded the famous Abbey of Evesham. After this, he
undertook a second journey to Rome, in company with both Coenred and King Offa
of Essex. St. Egwin died on 30th December AD 717 and was buried in his Abbey at
Evesham, to which his shrine brought many a medieval pilgrim. His relics were
so popular that, when the abbey church required a major rebuilding in 1077,
they were taken on a highly successful fund-raising tour of southern England,
initiating miraculous cures at Dover, Oxford, Winchester and elsewhere. He is
represented in art as a Bishop holding a fish with a key in its mouth.
Edited from S.
Baring-Gould's "The Lives of the Saints" (1877).
SOURCE : http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/adversaries/bios/egwin.html
Saints
of the Order of Saint Benedict – Saint Egwin, Bishop
Saint Egwin, having
sprung from a royal race, could hardly fail to have imbibed with his mother’s
milk a love of pomp and luxury, for all the early years of his life were spent
in the various amusements of Court life. But while Saint Egwin allowed himself
to fall into the vicious ways of his companions, in his heart he was longing
for better things, and at last he appealed to Mary, who is the true anchor for
wavering souls. No sooner had he done so than she instilled into his breast a
fervent love for her, from which sprang desires after God, and a good hope; and
thus was piety implanted in his soul. Henceforth, the pleasures of the Court
disgusted him, and his one longing was to forsake the world and to devote
himself to the Virgin “Star of the Sea.” To this end, he began a better life by
exchanging the purple robes of royalty for the habits of a monk of the
Benedictine Order, in the Monastery of Worcester; and when once he was free, as
a religious, to devote himself to ” Maria Stella Maris,” he endeavoured to
cleanse his soul from the defilements which it had contracted in the world. He
spent his nights in silent vigils and fasted three days in the week; he shed
floods of tears and continually macerated his body with scourging. Not content
with these austerities, Saint Egwin also loaded his feet with heavy shackles,
in order to deprecate the anger of the Lord; and lest he should be tempted to
remove them, he locked the chains and threw the keys into the sea. Not long
after he was ordered to go to Rome, and, as he was on his voyage, a great fish
came from under the vessel and swam close to it until it was captured by the
sailors. They killed it, and cut it open, when lo! in its inside they found the
keys of the shackles which the Saint wore on his feet.
Later on, Saint Egwin was
promoted, on account of the holiness of his life, to the See of Worcester, and
as a Bishop he exhibited the same great virtue which had characterized him as a
recluse. He never lost his ardent affection for our ” Lady of the Sea,” who
deigned to come from Heaven to visit him from time to time, and in her honour
he founded the noted Monastery of Evesham.
Saint Egwin was a father
to the poor of his diocese, and they had no troubles which he did not endeavour
to console. At last, being come to a good old age, the Saint expired in the
year 712, his heart being full of love for Jesus and Mary. Many miracles were
performed at his tomb.
– text and illustration
taken from Saints
of the Order of Saint Benedict by Father Aegedius
Ranbeck, O.S.B.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-order-of-saint-benedict-saint-egwin-bishop/
Saint of the Day – 30 December – Saint Egwin of Worcester OSB (Died 717)
Saint of the Day – 30
December – Saint Egwin of Worcester OSB (Died 717) Bishop, Benedictine Monk,
Reformer and Penitent, miracle-worker – born in the 7th century in England and
died on 30 December 717 at Evesham Abbey, Mercia of natural causes.
Egwin of Worcester was of
a noble family, possibly a descendant of the Mercian kings.
He was devoted to God
since his youth and became a Benedictine Monk. His biographers say that king,
clergy and the faithful, all united in demanding Egwin’s elevation to Bishop.
He succeeded to the See of Worcester in 662.
Though a good Bishop,
protector of orphans and widows and a fair judge, he incurred the animosity of
people who resisted his insistent teaching on marital morality and clerical celibacy.
The clergy saw him as
overly strict, while he felt he was simply trying to correct abuses and impose
appropriate disciplines. Bitter resentments arose and complaints were made
against him to this ecclesiatical superiors. Egwin made his way to Rome to
present his case to Pope Constantine. The case against Egwin was examined and
annulled.
He prepared for his
journey by locking shackles on his feet and throwing the key into the River
Avon. In Rome, as he prayed before the tomb of the Apostle St Peter, one of his
servants brought him this very key—found in the mouth of a fish that had just
been caught in the Tiber. Egwin then released himself from his self-imposed
bonds and straight away obtained from the Pope an authoritative release from
his enemies’ obloquy.
His Vita relates that on
crossing the Alps with a few companions, there was no water. Parched, those who
did not appreciate his sanctity, mockingly suggested that he ask for water,
like Moses. But others, who knew him well, reverently beseeched him to, indeed,
pray for water. As Egwin prostrated himself in prayer, a stream of crystalline
water issued forth from a rock.
On his return to England,
Egwin founded the famous Abbey of Evesham, which became one of the great
Benedictine houses of medieval England. It was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin
Mary, who had reportedly made it known to a swineherd named Eof, just where a
church should be built in her honour.
Around 709, he again
journeyed to Rome, this time in the company of Kings, Cenred of Mercia and Offa
of the East Saxons and received many privileges for his Monastery from Pope
Constantine.
St Egwin died on 30
December 717 and was buried at the Monastery he had founded.
A hagiography, the Vita
Sancti Egwini, was written by Dominic of Evesham, a medieval Prior of Evesham
Abbey around 1130. Egwin’s tomb was destroyed, along with the Abbey Church, at
the time of the dissolution of the Abbey in 1540.
Author: AnaStpaul
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This site, which is now using the Traditional Calendar, will mainly concentrate
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SOURCE : https://anastpaul.com/2020/12/30/saint-of-the-day-30-december-saint-egwin-of-worcester-osb-died-717/
December 30
Our holy father Egwin
Our holy father Egwin was
born of royal stock in the region of Worcester. When he came of age, he left
the world and embraced the monastic life, wherein he soon achieved a high
standard of excellence. He was ordained through all the degrees of the
priesthood; and in 693, on the repose of the bishop of Worcester, he was
elected to the Episcopal see by all the clergy and the people, and with the
assent of King Ethelred of Mercia and the archbishop of Canterbury. In this
exalted position he showed himself to be a pattern of all virtue: a father of
orphans, a protector of widows, a righteous judge of the oppressed and
comforter of the afflicted. And by his powerful preaching many were converted
from paganism or from an evil way of life.
The righteous, however,
must expect tribulation in this world, and malicious tongues began to war
against the saint. He decided to travel to Rome and put his case before the
highest tribunal in the West. But before leaving, and although he was innocent
of the charges brought against him, he imposed a severe penance upon himself
both for his own sins and for the sins of his people. He locked his feet in
iron fetters and threw the key into the river Avon. Thus bound, he set off on
the arduous journey to Rome.
As he and his companions
were passing through an arid region of the Alps, they began to thirst. Those
among his companions who did not acknowledge the bishop's sanctity asked him
mockingly to pray for water as Moses once did in the desert. But others, who
did believe in him, rebuked the unbelievers and asked him in a different tone,
with true faith and hope. The Saint prostrated himself in prayer to the Lord
with his companions. On arising, they saw a pure stream of water gush forth out
of the rock; whereupon everybody, believers and unbelievers alike, gave
heartfelt thanks to God Who is wondrous in His saints.
When they arrived in Rome
and had prayed in the church of St. Peter, the Saint told his companions to go
down to the river Tiber and see if they could catch a fish. They did as he
said, and to their delight caught a medium-sized salmon which they brought to
the holy father. When he saw it he gave thanks and ordered them to slit it
open. Great was their astonishment when they found .inside the fish the key
which the Saint had cast into the river Avon. News of the miracle spread
throughout Rome, and from all sides the faithful came to seek the holy man's
blessing.
Pope Constantine, who had
heard of Egwin's arrival, the great labors of his journey and the miracle of
the key, did not allow the Saint to prostrate before him, but himself asked his
blessing. And for the rest of his stay in Rome he treated him with great
respect, celebrating_ the Divine Liturgy with him and having many private talks
together. The case against the Saint was examined and annulled, and he returned
to England laden with honors. The people greeted him with joy, and by the
decree of the archbishop he was restored to the see from which he had been
dismissed. King Ethelred, too, received him with love, ready to fulfill
whatever the Saint might petition°
One of the Saint's first
requests was to be granted the pastureland beside the Avon where he had thrown
the key into the river. One of the king's shepherds had once had a vision at
this same spot, in which a Virgin of extraordinary splendor appeared holding a
hook in her hands and chanting psalms in the company of two other virgins, when
the shepherd told this to the Saint, he turned it over in his mind for a long
time, praying to God with vigils and fasting. Then, early one morning, after
the Saint and three companions had spent the whole night in prayer, they set
out barefoot to the spot, chanting, psalms and hymns. Parting company with the
others, St. Egwin fell to the earth with tears and groans. On arising from his
prayer, he saw three virgins, of whom the middle one was most wondrous to
behold, shining in light and surrounded by an ineffable fragrance. In her hands
she held a book, and a cross which shone with a golden radiance. When Egwin
realized that this was the Most Holy Mother of God, she, as if approving his
thought, blessed him with the cross and disappeared.
This vision gave the
Saint to understand that it vas God's will that this place, later called
Evesham, should be dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary.
And he determined to build a church there in accordance with a vow he had made
during a period of especially fierce temptation. So he bought the land and
carried out the task to completion, endowing the foundation with many gifts
solicited from the kings of England. At his request, the Pope granted his
undertaking independent status which was confirmed by a council of the English
Church held at Alcester in 709.
In 711 the Saint retired
from his see and devoted himself exclusively to the government of his monastery
at Evesham. With fastings and vigils, with tears and groans, he poured out his
prayer to the Lord, and was accounted worthy of many visitations of the angels
and the saints. He was particularly devoted to the Mother of God, whose praises
were always on his lips.
Already rich in years and
Divine Grace, he fell ill in the monastery which he had founded, and, feeling
the approach of death, he called together the brethren and said: "Most
reverend and beloved sons, I beseech you, be zealous in observing the commandments
of God, and keep the vows which you made to Him. For it is written: 'Make your
vows and pay them to the Lord.' And as the Apostle says: 'Follow peace and
holiness, without which none will see the Lord.'" Then, having commended
them to the Father and having partaken of the Body and Blood of the Lord, he
departed this life on December 30, 717. Great was the sorrow of the brethren
and all the people.
But during the burial of
the Saint, sorrow at his departure was mixed with joy at his triumph. After his
burial many miracles proved that St. Egwin had obtained great favor with the
Lord. On praying to him, the blind were given their sight, the deaf their
hearing, the sick in body and soul were healed. And so his fame spread
throughout the country, and many came to his tomb to seek his intercession.
Once a penitent, grieving
over a serious crime he had committed, bound himself with a number of iron
fetters. He vowed that he would not loose himself from them until God had shown
him that he was loosed from the fetters of his sins. He dragged himself to
several shrines of the saints, and after diligent prayer and fasting all but
one of the fetters broke loose. The ninth fetter was fastened more tightly than
the others, so that the flesh around began to swell. In hope of being released
also from this one, the unfortunate man travelled to Rome, to the tombs of the
holy Apostles. There, after heartfelt prayer, he was told in his sleep:
"Go to England and seek the place of the blessed bishop Egwin, and when
you have given him due veneration, you will obtain mercy," Joyfully, the
penitent set off on his journey, and, arriving at the church of St. Egwin,
spent several days there in prayer and fasting. One day, after the brethren had
chanted the third hour and celebrated the Divine Liturgy, the ninth fetter
snapped with such force that all the brethren heard it, and the penitent
himself was thrown some distance as if by the hand of a man. When the brethren
ascertained the truth of the miracle, they rejoiced and gave glory to God.
On the death of King
Harold in 1040, the abbot of Evesham, Bishop Aelfward, took part in an embassy
to bring Cnut's other son Hardicnut, to the English throne. As they were
crossing the Channel to Flanders, a fierce tempest arose such that even the
sailors were close to despair. Bishop Aelfvard turned in prayer to St. Egwin,
begging him to free them from their peril, and promising that if God showed
them mercy through his prayers, he would make a new reliquary for the Saint and
cause his feast day to be celebrated with even greater honor. No sooner had he
made this petition than the sea suddenly became calm, and they shortly reached
their portal destination. The bishop was true to his promise. A splendid
reliquary of gold and silver was prepared, and the translation of St. Egwin's
relics was effected on Sept. 10.
Vladimir Moss
SOURCE : http://www.roca.org/OA/55/55f.htm
Evesham
Abbey, Bell Tower
Sant' Egvino Vescovo
m. 717
Martirologio
Romano: Ad Evesham in Inghilterra, sant’Egvino, vescovo, che fondò il
monastero di questo luogo.
Tardive biografie, risalenti ai secc. XI-XIII, non consentono di stabilire con sicurezza i particolari della vita di Egwino, giacché queste compilazioni contengono notizie leggendarie, o si soffermano su aspetti miracolosi e prodigiosi. Egwino (Eduino, Eguino) sarebbe nato nella seconda metà del sec. VII da una nobile famiglia della Mercia. Si fece monaco e poi uscì dal monastero per divenire il consigliere del re della Mercia, Etelredo (675-704). Verso il 693 fu nominato vescovo di Worcester, ma incontrò una notevole ostilità, soprattutto per aver tentato di attuare una riforma religiosa. I suoi nemici lo denunziarono a papa Sergio I, per cui egli decise di recarsi a Roma per difendersi e giustificarsi. Sul viaggio a Roma ha ricamato la leggenda : egli si sarebbe legato i piedi con catene chiuse con una chiave che fu gettata in mare, ma a Roma fu prodigiosamente trovata nello stomaco di un pesce pescato nel Tevere. Riconosciuta dal papa la sua innocenza, Egwino rientrò in Inghilterra, ove riprese il suo seggio episcopale. L'amico re della Mercia, Etelredo, gli donò poi un terreno sul quale costruì il monastero di Evesham, che il successore del re, Kenredo, ulteriormente beneficò. In questo periodo Egwino si interessò per una degna sepoltura di s. Adelmo nella chiesa del monastero di Malmesbury. Nel 709 compì un nuovo viaggio a Roma per accompagnare Kenredo ed Offa, re dell'Essex, desiderosi di prendere l'abito monastico nell'Urbe. Dal papa Costantino I, Egwino ottenne esenzioni per il proprio monastero. Rientrato in patria, morì il 30 dic. 717. Il 10 sett. 1039 e l'11 genn. 1183 furono compiute ad Evesham solenni traslazioni, per cui negli Uffici era commemorato anche in queste date.
Autore: Gian Domenico Gordini
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/83460
Den hellige Egwin av
Worcester (d. 717)
Minnedag:
30. desember
Den hellige Egwin
(Ecgwin, Ecgwine, Eegw, Eegwine; lat: Egwinus, Eguinus, Eduinus) ble født en
gang i andre halvdel av 600-tallet i England. Han var av kongelig blod, i slekt
med den hellige kong Ethelred av Mercia (675-704),
muligens hans nevø. Han viet seg helt fra ungdommen til et religiøst liv og ble
benediktinermunk (Ordo Sancti Benedicti – OSB). Men han forlot sitt
kloster for å bli rådgiver for kong Ethelred. Da biskop Oftfor av Worcester
(Vigornia, Wigornum) i Mercia døde, ble Egwin i 693 mot sin vilje valgt av
konge, presteskap og folk til byens tredje biskop etter Bosel (680-91) og
Oftfor (691-93). Men denne populariteten ga seg snart.
På den tiden var
Worcester den viktigste byen i Hwicce, som ikke var et eget kongerike, men en
provins i Mercia, og denne provinsen var hovedsakelig hedensk. Som biskop var
Egwin kjent som en beskytter av enker og foreldreløse og en rettferdig dommer.
Men han strevde med den lokale befolkningen når det gjaldt aksepteringen av den
kristne moral, spesielt det kristne ekteskap og klerikalt sølibat. Hans
pastorale strenghet, spesielt hans fordømmelse av de ulovlige forbindelsene
enkelte stormenn hadde, gjorde at han raskt pådro seg deres fiendskap. Ettersom
kong Ethelred var hans venn, fant klagene raskt veien til Egwins kirkelige
overordnede. De anklaget ham for kongen og erkebiskopen av Canterbury og tvang
ham til å trekke seg fra sitt bispesete. Egwin ønsket å forsvare seg i Roma, og
forfatteren av Egwins biografi henter inspirasjon fra germansk og gresk
folklore når han forteller:
Egwin låste sine føtter i
fotjern og kastet nøkkelen i elven Avon. Senere foretok han en pilegrimsferd
til Roma, og mens han ba foran apostlenes graver der, brakte en av hans tjenere
ham nøkkelen, som var blitt funnet i munnen på en fisk som akkurat var blitt
fanget i elven Tiberen.
Paven frikjente ham for
de uspesifiserte anklagene og han vendte tilbake til sitt bispedømme. Disse
fabelelementene kan sammenlignes med dem i biografien til den hellige Aldhelm av
Sherborne. Egwins forbindelse med Malmesbury blir understreket av at han
feiret begravelsesmessen for Aldhelm i 709.
Rundt 709 foretok Egwin
sin andre pilegrimsreise til Roma sammen med kong Cenred (Coenred) av Mercia
(704-09), Ethelreds nevø og etterfølger, og den hellige kong Offa av Essex,
østsaksernes rike (707-09). Denne reisen beskrives av Beda, men Egwin nevnes
ikke. Det fortelles at han mottok betydelige privilegier for sin grunnleggelse
fra pave Konstantin I (708-15). I 710 ble han den første abbeden av Evesham,
samtidig som han høyst sannsynlig fortsatte sin tjeneste som biskop av
Worcester. En av Egwins siste viktige handlinger var å delta på det første
store konsilet i «Clovesho» i 716.
I virkeligheten vet vi
nesten ingenting om Egbert. Han nevnes verken av Beda den ærverdige eller
i The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Hans navn står i vitnelisten til syv chartre
utgitt mellom 692 og 717 og han er navngitt som mottaker på vegne av Evesham i
tre andre. Selv om ingen av disse chartrene er autentiske i sin nåværende form,
synes noen av dem å ha et autentisk grunnlag. Egwin var en aktiv fremmer av
Eveshams interesser og bygde opp en stor eiendomsmasse fra kongelige og vanlige
givere, inkludert eiendommer i Ombersley, Stratford upon Avon, Abbots Morton,
Oldberrow og Droitwich.
Egwin døde ifølge
Florence av Worcester den 30. desember 717 i Evesham og ble gravlagt i
klosteret der. Skrinleggingen av hans relikvier ble foretatt den 10. september
1039 av biskop Ælfward av London (Aelfward), tidligere abbed av Evesham. En ny
skrinlegging skjedde den 11. januar 1183.
Den første biografien om
Egwin ble skrevet tre århundrer etter hans død (ca 1016) av Byrhtferth, en munk
fra Ramsey som kan ha bodd i Evesham på den tiden. Da hadde alle minner om
Egwin forsvunnet, og det fantes svært få dokumentariske bevis fra hans tid som
biskop. For å skrive sin Vita sancti Ecgwini var Byrhtferth tvunget
til å ty til hagiografisk fiksjon. Biografien består av fire deler, som faller
sammen med menneskets fire aldre. Biografien hevdet å inkorporere eldre elementer,
men den kan likevel ikke regnes som helt pålitelig.
Byrhtferths beretning om
Egwins liv er for det meste fiksjon, men den tjente som grunnlag for all senere
hagiografi, inkludert en biografi skrevet rundt 1100 av prior Dominic av
Evesham, Vita Sancti Ecgwini episcopi et confessoris. En anonym
revisjon av Dominics biografi ble samlet tidlig på 1100-tallet og kjent som
Digby-Gotha-revisjonen, og en ytterligere revisjon av Dominics tekst ble
skrevet tidlig på 1200-tallet av Thomas av Marlborough (d. 1236). En
middelengelsk biografi på vers om Egwin er inkludert i den populære sørengelske
legendesamlingen som ble produsert i Worcester mellom 1270 og 1285. Disse ulike
arbeidene gir ingen ny informasjon om den historiske Egwin, men de gir noen
indikasjoner på hvor mye hans kult hadde vokst, spesielt i Evesham.
Sent på 1000-tallet, da
noen av de angelsaksiske helgenenes kult ble betvilt av normannerne og den
salige erkebiskop Lanfranc av Canterbury (1070-89),
ble Egwins hellighet forsvart av en ildprøve, av mirakler og av en suksessfull
reise for å samle inn penger i det sørlige England. Denne ble foretatt av
munker fra Evesham, som bar Egwins relikvier med seg. Dette var for å kjøpe
tømmer og stein for den nye kirken som var nødvendig for den raskt voksende
kommuniteten. Det ble skrevet ned mirakler som skjedde på denne turen i 1077 så
langt borte som Dover, Oxford og Winchester. I det minste en gang krysset
følget elven Trent. Den tvilen som var uttrykt av de normanniske kirkelederne
som erkebiskop Lanfranc av Canterbury om autentisiteten til denne tvilsomme
angelsaksiske kulten, ble med dette effektivt stoppet.
Fra 1000-tallet har
Egwins dødsdag 30. desember stått i liturgiske kalendere, spesielt fra Evesham
og Worcester, og hans navn påkalles ofte i helgenlitanier. Egwins
translasjonsfest feires 10. september, men 11. januar nevnes også, som trolig
minnes translasjonen i 1183. To gamle kirker ble viet til ham, og han blir
fremstilt i kunsten som engelsk biskop med en fisk som har en nøkkel i munnen.
Han kan lett blandes sammen med den tyske helgenen Benno av Meissen.
Hans grav ble ødelagt sammen med klosterkirken da klosteret ble oppløst i 1540
under kong Henrik VIIIs såkalte reformasjon.
Kilder:
Attwater/John, Attwater/Cumming, Farmer, Jones, Butler, Butler (XII),
Benedictines, Delaney, Bunson, Schauber/Schindler, KIR, CE, CSO, Patron Saints
SQPN, Infocatho, Heiligenlexikon, santiebeati.it, en.wikipedia.org,
britannia.com, earlybritishkingdoms.com, ODNB, celt-saints, Butler 1866,
zeno.org, pravoslavie.ru - Kompilasjon og oversettelse: p. Per Einar Odden
Opprettet: 1. februar
2000
SOURCE : https://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/egwinwor
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