From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

August 5th - St. Oswald, Martyr
(604-642)

When the pagan Angles and Saxons invaded Britain, the British
Christians resented the invasion. Actually, the invaders were to
profit spiritually, for in Britain they gradually became acquainted
with Christianity and accepted it. It was a slow process, however.
Penda, king of Mercia, was opposed to Christianity. When he slew King
St. Edwin and conquered his kingdom, Northumbria (in northern England
above the Humber River), there was a danger that the Northumbrians
would never get to hear the Gospel.

Fortunately, Oswald, the proper heir to the Northumbrian throne as
nephew of St. Edwin, was an earnest Christian. When he gathered his
troops to drive Penda out of the kingdom, it was his intention, on
winning, to consolidate the Christian faith among his countrymen.

The battle with King Penda was joined in 634. On the night before the engagement, Oswald had a huge wooden cross made and planted in the
battlefield. Then he asked all his soldiers (although only a few of
them were Christian) to pray for heavenly help: =E2=80=9CLet us all kneel a=
nd
jointly beseech the true and living God almighty, in his mercy, to
defend us from the haughty and fierce enemy, for he knows that we have undertaken a just war for the safety of our nation.=E2=80=9D The soldiers a=
ll
complied. That night Oswald had a dream in which St. Columba of Iona
assured him of victory. They did indeed triumph, and Northumbria was
recovered. Oswald's great cross was highly venerated thereafter for
miracles, and a church was built on the spot.

Young King Oswald did not delay to express his gratitude to God. He
invited monks to come down from Scotland (where he himself had been
baptized) to preach the faith to the Northumbrians. He also asked that
one monk be sent to become a bishop. The monastery of Iona chose the
Irish-born St. Aidan, and Oswald established his see on the island of Lindisfarne. Soon the region north of the Humber had its Christians
and its churches and monasteries, thanks to the zeal and generosity of
the devout king.

Oswald's piety was obvious. In his spare moments he prayed much and
gave thanks to God, resting his hands on his knees, the palms facing
heaven. He was most considerate of the poor, and one Easter day when a
crowd appeared at the castle gate asking for alms, he sent out a large
silver dish of meat, and ordered that after the meat had been taken,
the dish be broken up and its silver fragments distributed among the
poor. St. Aidan, then at the king's table, seized Oswald's =
right hand
and prayed, =E2=80=9CMay this hand never perish.=E2=80=9D

However, after King Oswald had reigned in peace for several years,
Penda, whom he had defeated, returned with an army bent on recovering
control of Northumbria. The two royal armies met on a battlefield in Shropshire, Oswald with a smaller force than the invaders. King
Oswald, seeing his soldiers doomed to defeat, prayed for the souls of
those who would die. It became a local proverb ever after: =E2=80=9CO God, =
be
merciful to their souls, as said Oswald when he fell.=E2=80=9D He died on t=
he
field of battle on August 5, 642, aged only 38. It was a political
death, but it was also a martyrdom, for Penda had remained a bitter
enemy to the Christian faith.

St. Bede the Venerable, who lived just a century later, collected most
of the information we have about this holy English ruler. He relates
some of the miracles that happened afterwards, especially on the site
of this death, and were still happening from time to time, to man and
beast alike. St. Bede also recounts the sequel to St. Aidan's praye=
r
over Oswald's generous right hand, =E2=80=9CMay this hand never per= ish.=E2=80=9D When
the king died, his arm was cut off as a relic. It remained incorrupt
for almost five centuries.

St. Oswald was for years considered one of the great national heroes
of England, and devotion to him also spread to the Continent. Although
his cult has since become dimmer, his feast is still observed in
several dioceses in England and Scotland, and even in Germany, at
Meissen and Trier.

'Father Robert


Bible Quote:
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful
noise to him with psalms.=C2 (Psalms 94:2)

Saint Quote:
The goal of all our undertakings should be not so much a task
perfectly completed as the accomplishment of the will of God.
--St. Therese of the Child Jesus


<><><><>
Lord Jesus Christ, most merciful Savior of the world, we humbly
beseech You, by Your most Sacred Heart, that all the sheep who stray
out of Your fold may in one days be converted to You, the Shepherd and
Bishop of their souls, who lives and reigns with God the Father in the
unity of the Holy Spirit, world without end.
Amen.


--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)