Shortly before his death, St. Cedd took part in the most important single event in the history of the Anglo-Saxon Church. In 664 a Church council (or ‘Synod”) met on the coast of Northumbria at the abbey of Whitby, presided over by its respected abbess, Hilda (or Hild, as she is sometimes known). At this Synod, a decision was taken that shaped the future course of the English Church. The problem that the Synod met to solve was the date on which Easter should be celebrated. Ghis was important in itself, but it was also part of a bigger question: where should the English Church look for leadership – Iona and Lindisfarne, the bases from which the great missionaries Columba and Aidan had converted much of Scotland and England; or Rome.
Have you ever noticed that the date of Easter changes each year? Have you ever wondered why this is? If you know the story of the Crucifixion, then you know that it took place during the Jewish festival of Passover. Both in the time of Jesus and today, the Jewish calendar is different to ours, with months based on the cycles of the moon – lunar months. Passover begins on the 14th of the Jewish month of Nisan. During the early years of the Church it was decided that Easter should be celebrated on the first Sunday after the 14th Nisan, but there was confusion over what should happen if this date was a Sunday. Should that be kept as Easter Sunday, or should it be the following week on the 21st Nisan? You might wonder why this mattered, and why it mattered particularly in seventh century England. It happened that the Irish Christians, including Saints Columba and Aidan, held to the idea the Easter Sunday could fall on 14th Nisan, whereas the popes had decided that it should wait until the following week. King Oswy of Northumbria kept to the Irish custom but his wife, Queen Eanfled, came from the Roman tradition. As a result Oswy found himself celebrating Easter while his his Queen was still fasting on Palm Sunday. Imagine that happening in your family! One of Edwin’s sons, Alfrith, fell under the influence of Saint Wilfred, the future bishop of York and a member of the Roman party. Together they encouraged King Oswy to call a synod where the question could be decided once and for all. When the synod met at Whitby arguments were made for both traditions, with Saint Cedd acting as an interpreter for those whose ability to speak Anglo-Saxon was limited. The Roman party argued successfully that they were speaking on behalf of the pope, who was the heir of Saint Peter himself. The Irish could not match this authority and King Oswy settled the matter in favour of Rome. From then on the English Church held to the Roman way of calculating Easter, and was firmly part of the mainstream of the Roman Church.
The abbess who supervised the Synod of Whitby was one of the great female saints of Anglo-Saxon England. Hilda was a princess of the Northumbrian royal family. As an infant her mother dreamt that there was a valuable jewel under her clothing, which let out a light so bright that the whole of Britain was lit by its splendour. For her first thirty-three years she lived the life of a noblewoman. When she decided to dedicate the rest of her life to God she originally intended to travel to a monastery in Gaul where her sister was a nun, but she was persuaded by St. Aidan to remain in Northumbria. She became abbess first of a community at Hartlepool, then in 657 she founded the double monastery of Whitby. Monasteries of this type were popular in Gaul and also became common in Anglo-Saxon England. They had communities of both nuns and monks, living on the same site and worshipping together, but otherwise living strictly apart. Usually they were ruled by an abbess, who was often a princess or high-born noblewoman. These women were born to power and influence, and it was seen as natural that if they became nuns they should be given charge of their communities. For their abbeys to run smoothly they needed men as well as women – priests to say Mass, servants to do the hard physical work, and for protection against a violent world – and double monasteries solved this problem. Hilda was a typical abbess of this type; high-born and powerful, but also holy and dedicated. Bede tells us that ‘all her acquaintances called her Mother because of her wonderful devotion and grace’. She also came from a family with a tradition of holiness: her sister Heneswitha and her three nieces Sexburga, Withburga and Ethelburga were also saints. Under Hilda Whitby became an important centre of Christianity in northern England, educating no less than five men who later became bishops.
Another of the saints associated with Whitby at this time came from a much less exalted background than Hilda. In the year 657 a man named Caedmon worked for the abbey, looking after the cattle. Caedmon was a good cowherd, but a terrible singer. In those days it was the custom for the guests at a feast to entertain each other with songs, but when Caedmon saw his turn approaching he would leave the hall to avoid it. One night he left early and settled down to sleep in the stable, where it was his turn to guard the animals. While he slept he dreamt that he heard a voice asking him to sing. He refused, saying that he could not do it. The voice spoke again ‘You shall sing to me; sing about the Creation of all things’ – and in his dream Caedmon sang, in praise of God the Creator. When we woke he found that God had given him the gift of song. His master sent him to the abbess to tell her what had happened and to sing to her. Realising that he had indeed been given a wonderful talent, Hilda welcomed him into the monastery as a brother and arranged for him to be instructed in the great stories of the Bible. The rest of Caedmon’s life was spent composing poems and songs to tell people about God and his works, and to encourage them to turn their lives to good.
PRAYER: O God of peace, by whose grace the abbess Hilda was endowed with Gifts of justice, prudence, and strength to rule as a wise mother over the nuns and monks of her household, and to become a trusted and reconciling friend to leaders of the Church: Give us grace to respect and love our fellow Christians with whom we disagree, that our common life may be enriched and your gracious will be done, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. (A Collect for St. Hilda’s Day)
CAEDMON’S HYMN OF CREATION:
Now we should praise the heaven-kingdom’s guardian,
the measurer’s might and his mind-conception,
work of the glorious Father, as he each wonder,
eternal Lord, instilled at the origin.
He first created for men’s sons
heaven as a roof, holy creator;
then, middle-earth, mankind’s guardian,
eternal Lord, afterward made
the earth for men, Father Almighty.
FEAST DAYS:
St.Hilda – 17th November
St.Caedmon – 11th February
TIMELINE:
St.Hilda – Born 614, died 680
St.Caedmon – Died c.670
Synod of Whitby – 664
HISTORICAL NOTE: Bede tells us a great deal about both Caedmon and Hilda, who both died around the time he was born. They lived in the same part of England, and Bede would certainly have known people who knew them both. Whitby Abbey was destroyed by the Danes in the ninth century. It was rebuilt by the Normans two hundred years later and fell into ruin after the Reformation. During the First World War the ruins were damaged by shells from a German warship, but they are still stand impressively on the Yorkshire coast. Archaeologists have found the remains of Hilda’s original monastery, where the monks and nuns lived in small separate huts, Celtic style.
© Kathryn Faulkner 2005. All rights reserved.
