Our holy Father Aldhelm was born in about 639. His father was called
Kenter and was from the royal family of Wessex in Southern England.
When he was still a boy, his father sent him to be trained in Greek
and Latin letters at the monastery of St. Augustine in Canterbury.
Some years later Aldhelm returned to his native Wessex and when he
was about twenty-two received the monastic tonsure in the monastery
of Malmesbury, which had been founded by the Irishman Maeldub in about
635. At one point he was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Eleutherius
of Wessex.
In 671, Aldhelm returned to Canterbury to study in the famous school
of St. Adrian, who was described by Bede as "very learned in
the Scriptures, experienced in ecclesiastical and monastic administration
and a great scholar in Greek and Latin." Here, in addition to
the Holy Scriptures, the ecclesiastical subjects and Greek, Latin
and Hebrew, he studied Roman law, music, arithmetic and a hundred
different kinds of poetic metre. Soon he acquired a high reputation
as a writer of both prose and poetry. Bede praised his works, and
two hundred years later King Alfred considered his poetry, which was
still being sung, as "superior to all other English poetry".
There is a story that he used to attract believers to his church in
Frome by singing songs to a harp accompaniment on the bridge over
which they passed. First he would sing popular ballads, and then,
when he had caught the people's attention, he would introduce words
of a more serious nature.
Aldhelm was forced to return home from Canterbury because of illness,
and in 675 was elected abbot of Malmesbury on the death of Maeldub.
One of his first achievements was to replace the wooden church built
by Maeldub by a splendid stone one dedicated to the Apostles Peter
and Paul. We still possess the verses he composed to celebrate the
consecration. He also built two more churches in Malmesbury dedicated
to the Mother of God and the Archangel Michael. The latter was still
standing in the twelfth century, and William of Malmesbury described
it as excelling in size and beauty every other ancient church in England.
The Mercian and West Saxon kings and nobles gave many endowments to
Aldhelm. This enabled him to build daughter monasteries and churches
at Bradford-on-Avon (dedicated to St. Lawrence, which has survived
almost intact to this day), Frome (to St. John the Baptist), Wareham
(to St. Martin), Bruton (to St. Peter), Abingdon, Sherborne, Langton
Matravers and Corfe. He also persuaded King Ina of Wessex to refound
the monastery at Glastonbury.
Aldhelm lived a life of great asceticism in his monastery, struggling
in prayer, fasting and reading. Like several of the British saints,
he used to read the whole of the Psalter at night standing in a pool,
which afterwards came to be called by his name. At the same time he
continued his educational and literary activity, and we possess the
treatise On Virginity which he presented to St. Hildelitha, abbess
of Barking.
He was also renowned for the grace of wonderworking. Once, during
the building of the church of St. Mary in Malmesbury, the workers
noticed that one of the beams which had been transported a long distance
for integration into the structure was too short. This was a blow,
because it would have been a great labour and expense to bring another
beam of the right size to the site. Aldhelm, however, nothing daunted,
succeeded in lengthening the beam to the required size by his prayers
alone. It is said that, during two fires that destroyed the whole
monastery during the reigns of Kings Alfred and Edward, this beam
suffered no damage, and finally perished through age and dry rot.
Aldhelm now decided to go to Rome to obtain privileges for his monasteries
from the Pope. On the way, he stopped at his estate in Dorset and
built a church in Wareham (which still survives). William of Malmesbury
relates of this church that in the twelfth century it was roofless,
but that the shepherds of the district would crowd into it during
storms because they believed that it never let the rain in. The spirit
of Aldhelm watched over it, they claimed, and all attempts to re-roof
it by nobles of the province failed. And even more miracles took place
through his intercession at this church in Wareham than at his monastery
in Malmesbury, where his relics lay.
Aldhelm arrived in Rome and was housed in the Lateran palace by Pope
Sergius I. Every day he would celebrate the Divine Liturgy, and one
day, having celebrated the Liturgy and being still with his thoughts
caught up to heaven, he cast his chasuble behind him. The acolyte
who was serving him was occupied in another part of the altar and
did not catch it. But the chasuble remained miraculously suspended
in thin air, hanging as it were on a sunbeam that was passing through
the stained window. This chasuble was brought back to England and
in the twelfth century still remained with no trace of corruption
in the monastery of Malmesbury.
While Aldhelm was still in Rome, a boy was born in the house of the
Pope's chamberlain. It was rumoured that the mother was a nun and
was concealing the identity of the father. Soon the Pope was being
accused of having fathered the child, and the scandal reached such
proportions that it reached the ears of Emperor Justinian II in Constantinople
and an ecclesiastical trial was initiated. But at this moment Aldhelm
came to the defence of the Pope. "What would they say in Britain,"
he said, "or in some other country, if it was known that the
Roman Pontiff was being thus assailed by his own citizens?" Then
he ordered the child to be brought so that he could dispel the slander
from his own mouth. But the people derided him. How could a nine days'
old child who had not yet been baptized tell the truth about his parentage?
Nevertheless, by the power of God the child spoke up in a completely
clear voice and declared that Pope Sergius was a virgin. The Pope
was triumphantly vindicated, and Aldhelm praised. The saint was then
asked whether he could reveal the identity of the true father. But
he refused, saying that if he could he would rescue the innocent,
but he would not condemn the guilty to death.
Then, by a bull dated about 701 that is still in existence, Pope Sergius
granted Aldhelm's monasteries at Malmesbury and Frome exemption from
episcopal jurisdiction. No priest, whatever his status, was allowed
to celebrate the Liturgy in the monastic churches without the permission
of the abbot, and when the abbot died the monks were to elect his
successor. This charter was later confirmed by Kings Ina of Wessex
and Ethelred of Mercia, both kings agreeing that in the event of war
between their kingdoms the monasteries would be left in peace.
Aldhelm returned home loaded with holy relics and a wonderful altar
made of finest white marble. It is said that a camel was carrying
it as far as the Alps, but the animal slipped and was crushed by the
altar, which itself broke into two pieces. The saint made the sign
of the cross and lo! both the camel and the altar were immediately
restored. On his return Aldhelm gave the altar to King Ina, who placed
it in the church of St. Mary at Bruton. In the twelfth century the
crooked flaw in the marble of the altar was still visible as a witness
to the miracle.
A great crowd greeted the saint as he disembarked in England. There
was general rejoicing that the light of Britain had returned. And
on the repose of St. Hedda, bishop of Winchester, in 705, the diocese
was divided into two and Aldhelm was elected bishop of the western
half, with his see at Sherborne. The saint at first refused, saying
that he was too old and wanted to end his days quietly at Malmesbury.
But the council replied that with his age came greater maturity and
freedom from vice.
So the saint finally yielded and went to Canterbury for his consecration
at the hands of Archbishop Bertwald. While in the east of the country
he made a trip to Dover, where ships came in from the continent laden
with all kinds of merchandise. Finding a complete copy of the Old
and New Testaments, he offered a price for it to the sailors. But
they rejected his offer, jeered at him and set out to sea. But a storm
immediately arose, they found themselves in danger, and stretched
out their hands to the man of God on the shore. He prayed, and the
storm immediately abated, the wind turned, and the sailors returned
to shore. In gratitude they offered him the manuscripts free, but
he insisted on giving them a fair price. The manuscripts were still
to be seen in Malmesbury in the twelfth century.
At about this time the Celtic Christians of Cornwall became tributaries
of King Ina of Wessex, and a council was convened by the king to determine
how best to unite the Churches of the Saxons and the Britons, which
were divided by a dispute over the true date of Pascha. Aldhelm was
appointed to write a letter to King Geraint of Cornwall on the subject,
which is still extant. He was successful, and the Celts of Cornwall
adopted the Roman-Byzantine Paschalion (those of Wales were converted
some years later).
Also at this time Aldhelm wrote a letter to the monks of St. Wilfrid,
the exiled bishop of York and Hexham, exhorting them to remain faithful
to their leader in his struggle for the sacred canons.
Aldhelm ruled his diocese for another four years. He preached day
and night, travelling ceaselessly. At Sherborne he built a fine cathedral,
and he continued to administer his monasteries at Malmesbury, Bradford-on-Avon
and Frome.
Once while he was preaching in a village, he fixed his ashen staff
into the ground. It grew miraculously and put forth boughs and leaves.
The bishop was concentrating on his sermon and did not notice the
miracle. But when the people drew his attention to it, he gave glory
to God and left an offering there. Later, many other ash trees sprang
from this original, to the extent that the village was called Bishoptrees
(now Stoke Orchard in Gloucestershire).
On May 26, 709, St. Aldhelm reposed in the wooden church of the village
of Doulting, Somerset. Some years later, while a stone church was
being consecrated on the spot, a blind widow pushed her way to the
altar and was healed through the intercession of the saint, who had
always been merciful to widows in his lifetime. Many more healings
were done through washing in water that had touched the stone on which
the saint had died.
At the moment that the saint reposed he appeared in a vision to his
friend St. Egwin, bishop of Worcester, and commanded him to go at
once to Doulting. Egwin immediately rode the eighty to a hundred miles
to the body of the saint, and after celebrating a funeral Liturgy,
arranged for it to be transported to Malmesbury. At every seven miles
of the fifty-mile journey, the procession stopped and crosses, later
known as "bishopstones", were erected at Egwin's command.
All of these crosses, including one in the monastery of Malmesbury,
were still standing in good condition in the twelfth century, and
miracles continued to be wrought there for centuries. On reaching
Malmesbury, St. Egwin buried the body of his friend in the church
of St. Michael.
In 855 King Ethelwulf of Wessex, father of King Alfred the Great,
exhumed the body of St. Aldhelm and transferred it into a magnificent
shrine adorned with silver and showing representations of the saint's
miracles. Another great benefactor of the church was King Athelstan,
who had been delivered from danger at the battle of Brunanburgh through
the prayers of St. Aldhelm. On May 5, 986, St. Dunstan, archbishop
of Canterbury, transferred the saint's relics for safety's sake into
a stone tomb on the right of the altar. But during the reign of King
Ethelred the pagan Danes broke into the monastery and came up to the
shrine. One of them seized it and was about to cut out the precious
stones on it when he was struck down as if stabbed. The rest fled
in terror.
Once a very beautiful woman named Elfildis became the captive of a
Norwegian count, who wanted to divorce his wife and marry her. In
the end he raped her, but died soon after. Then the future Martyr-King
Olaf of Norway, hearing of her beauty, made advances to her. But she
rejected them. However, he, too, raped her, and as a result, in 1024,
a son was born to her named Magnus. When St. Olaf was killed in 1030,
Magnus was proclaimed king, but died only eighteen months later. Then
the unfortunate Elfildis returned to England, promising God that if
she returned safely she would never again eat meat. Some years later,
however, she was at a banquet and was persuaded to break her vow.
As a result she was struck with paralysis. For three years she visited
the shrines of the saints seeking healing. At length, coming to St.
Aldhelm's shrine on his feastday, she was restored to full health.
She then became a nun and was buried at Malmesbury.
St. Aldhelm's resting place attracted pious Christians even from the
East. Thus early in the eleventh century a monk named Constantine
came to Malmesbury from Greece - it was not known why he had left
his homeland. He planted the first vineyard in the monastery, which
survived for many years. He was of a very mild disposition and very
abstinent habits. When he was on the point of death, he drew an archbishop's
pallium out of the knapsack that he always carried with him, put it
on, and immediately died. He was buried in the church of St. Andrew.
But after some years some building works in the monastery necessitated
the exhumation of his body. The bones were found to be of exceptional
whiteness and exuded a beautiful fragrance.
Once a dangerous demoniac was bound with cords and carried to Malmesbury
on the eve of the feast of the Ascension. The monks advised those
who were carrying him to pray to St. Aldhelm on his behalf. He was
laid before the altar, and after calming down and falling into a light
sleep rose completely healed.
Again, a cripple seeking a cure stopped at Malmesbury on his way to
Christchurch in Hampshire. Immediately he entered the church he felt
a kind of current passing through all his members. After falling asleep
in front of the altar, he was woken up by the chanting of the monks
coming into the church, and leapt up cured.
Once, after the Norman-papist conquest of England, a fisherman from
the Isle of Wight was struck blind while fishing at sea. His boat
was brought to land by his companions, who advised him to seek the
help of God. They then rowed him to Christchurch, Hampshire, where
he remained for three years. Then he was told in a dream to go to
Malmesbury, where he recovered his sight. This miracle convinced the
Normans, who were in general sceptical about the holiness of the Saxon
saints and whose first archbishop, Lanfranc, had discontinued the
cult of Aldhelm, that Aldhelm was indeed a saint. Osmund, bishop of
Salisbury authorized the resumption of the cult and the translation
of his relics. Then Abbot Warin brought out the relics, which had
been hidden for fear of the Danes, and after a three day fast the
bishop translated them into the shrine on October 3, 1078.
Many more miracles continued to be performed at the shrine of St.
Aldhelm, as were related in detail by William of Malmesbury in 1125.
St. Aldhelm is commemorated on May 25.
Holy Father Aldhelm, pray to God for us!
(Sources: William of Malmesbury, Gesta Pontificum Anglorum, book V;
the Venerable Bede, History of the English Church and People; Margaret
Gallyon, The Early Church in Wessex and Mercia, Lavenham: Suffolk,
1980; S. Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, vol. 5, London: John
Nimmo, 1987; David Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1978)