exile.
29 March
Woolos
King
Wales: V
If celebrated otherwise, Common of any Saint
Woolos or Gwynllyw was the son of Glywys, whose kingdom of Glywysing stretched from eastern Carmarthenshire to Gwent. His early military exploits led him to be known as Gwynllyw Filwr (‘Gwynllyw the Warrior’). He married Gwladys, the daughter of Brychan Brycheiniog (having first abducted her, according to earliest version of his life). Their son was Cadoc, one of the greatest of the Welsh saints. Woolos built a church on the site in Newport where the cathedral bearing his name now stands. Legend has it that he chose that particular spot because he found a white ox with a black spot on its forehead there. Woolos and Gwladys are said to have settled in a nearby hill-fort, where they spent the rest of their days devoutly ‘enjoying the fruits of their labour, and taking nothing which belonged to other persons.’
Collect
King of kings and Lord of lords,
from whom all authority on earth takes its name:
grant that we who revere the memory of your servant Woolos
may claim the crown of unfading glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit
be all honour and glory,
now and for ever.
29 March
John Keble
Priest, Tractarian, Poet
Scotland: Commemoration
See 14 July
31 March
John Donne
Priest, Poet
England: Commemoration
25 November – Wales: V
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Spiritual Writers
John Donne was born in about the year 1571 and brought up as a Roman Catholic. He was a great-great nephew of Thomas More, although this seems to have had little influence on him because, as a youth, he was sceptical about all religion. He went up to Oxford when he was fourteen, studied further at Cambridge and perhaps on the Continent, and eventually discovered his Christian faith in the Church of England. After much heart-searching, he accepted ordination and later the post of Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral. Much of his cynicism dissolved and he became a strong advocate for the discernment of Christian vocation, and in particular affirming his own vocation as a priest, loving and loved by the crucified Christ. The people of London flocked to his sermons. He died on this day in the year 1631. His love-poetry – addressed mainly to his wife – and religious poems took on a renewed life in the twentieth century and his place both as a patristic scholar and as a moral theologian are confirmed by his prolific writings and the publication of his sermons.
Collect (Wales)
Batter our hearts, three-personed God,
that we, who have been overthrown by our sins,
may at the last rise with your servant John [Donne]
and sing with him the wonders of your love;
where you live and reign,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
God for ever.
April
1 April
Gilbert of Caithness
Bishop
Scotland: Commemoration
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Bishops
Gilbert de Moravia appears to have been a member of the family of the Lords of Duffus in Moray. He was for many years Archdeacon of Moray, and in 1223 was elected Bishop of Caithness. A devout churchman and able statesman, his great work was the erection of a new cathedral at Dornoch, but his long episcopate was beneficial to his diocese in every way. He died in 1245.
1 April
Frederick Denison Maurice
Priest, Teacher of the Faith
England: Commemoration
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Teachers
Born into a Unitarian family in 1805, Frederick Maurice became an Anglican in his twenties and was then ordained. He was one of the founders of the Christian Socialist Movement, in which his particular concern was providing education for working men. As a theologian, Maurice’s ideas on Anglican comprehensiveness have remained influential. His best-remembered book, The Kingdom of Christ, demonstrated his philosophical approach to theology. His radicalism was revealed in his attack on traditional concepts of hell in Theological Essays, which cost him his professorship at King’s College, London, in 1853. In 1866, however, he was given a Chair at Cambridge, which he held until his death on this day in 1872.
7 April
Brynach
Abbot
Wales: V
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Religious
A hermit who settled in Pembrokeshire, Brynach was apparently of Irish origin. He was said to have visited Rome and Brittany before landing in Wales at Milford Haven. From there he travelled to Llanboidy, Cilmaenllwyd and Llanfrynach (all places with churches dedicated to him), eventually settling at Nevern. There he lived a life of extreme asceticism, spending many hours in prayer on Carn Ingli, the mountain above his cell. Local traditions about Brynach also mention his close relationship with the natural world, befriending and taming wild animals and being able to converse with the birds. He represents a strand of early Welsh Christianity that reflects similar ideas and ideals to those of Francis of Assisi.
Collect
Almighty and everliving God,
who called Brynach the Irishman
to lead a life of pilgrimage,
and to bring the gospel to the people of Wales:
grant to us, your pilgrim people,
grace to know we have no abiding dwelling on earth
but
