From: rich <
richarra@gmail.com>
November 7th - St. Willibrord
(658-739)
In the sixth century Irish monks like St. Columban began to carry the
gospel to the pagan nations of Germany. A century later, Anglo-Saxon
monks from England, inspired by the Irish missionary tradition, began
to follow suit.
St. Willibrord, born to Anglo-Saxon parents in northern England,
became the first of the host of English missionaries. He had joined
the Benedictine monks at Ripon, England at an early age. It is
interesting to note that he was then sent to a monastery in Ireland
for his education.
Two years after his ordination to the priesthood in 688 AD, Willibrord
was commissioned by his abbot to go with 11 others to work among
the Germanic pagans in Frisia, now a part of Holland. When Willibrord
seemed to be failing in Friesland, he sought the aid of the Frankish
Christian leader Pepin of Heristal. Pepin sent him to Rome to ask the
pope for official authorization to labor in the Netherlands. On his
return to the Low Countries, he fared better, so on a second trip to
Rome in 695, Pope Sergius I consecrated him bishop of Utrecht, giving
him the Latin name =E2=80=9CClement.=E2=80=9D Clement/Willibrord now set up=
his seat
at Utrecht and began a series of missionary journeys. In 698 he
established a monastery at Echternach in the present Grand Duchy of
Luxembourg. He even moved up into Denmark, but there he had no
permanent success. Probably he was able to speak intelligibly to all
these peoples because the Anglo-Saxon tongue in those days was rather
close to that spoken in the Netherlands.
Willibrord was a bold apostle when he knew that boldness was called
for. Once he was driven by a storm to the island of Heligoland, which
the Danes and Frisians revered as a pagan sanctuary. Pagan law forbade
visitors to kill any living creature, eat any produce, or draw water
from the central spring without keeping absolute silence. To counter
this superstition, Willibrord killed some animals for his companions
to eat, and baptized those persons in the sacred fountain pronouncing
the words very loudly. When the pagans saw that the Christians did not
drop dead, they were, to say the least, puzzled. They asked their
pagan ruler Radbod. He said they should avenge their god by killing
one of Willibrord's companions. They obeyed. Also, when at Walchere=
n,
Willibrord toppled a pagan idol. The pagan priest of the shrine tried
to kill him, but Willibrord escaped and got back safe to Utrecht.
In 715 Radbod regained part of Frisia taken away by the Christian
Franks, and destroyed much of what Willibrord had accomplished there.
But when Radbod died in 719, the missionary took up again, with the
backing of Charles Martel. The Frankish monk-missionary worked with
Willibrord for a while before going to Germany proper to establish the
faith. Thus, Willibrord/Clement, a comely, cheerful, prayerful and
zealous monk, became the =E2=80=9CApostle of the Frisians.=E2=80=9D
Eventually, St; Willibrord retired to the monastery of Echternach.
After he died there at the age of 91, his tomb became (as it remains)
a center of pilgrimage.
Ever since at least 1553 AD, pilgrims to his shrine on each Thursday
after Pentecost, have taken part in a =E2=80=9Cdancing procession=E2=80=9D =
to the
monastery church. Participants (bishops and priests or religious as
well as lay persons) form a procession four or five abreast, with arms
joined or holding on to each other by handkerchiefs. They move in a
sort of dancing motion =E2=80=93 three steps forward and two steps back, to
the special music of a band. The ceremony ends with a Eucharistic
exposition and benediction at the shrine. However unusual, this
procession is dignified. It is now performed as a penitential exercise interceding for those suffering epilepsy and other nervous maladies.
Those who take part in the procession are called the Springende
Heiligen: the =E2=80=9CDancing Saints.=E2=80=9D
We usually think of prayer as an exercise just of the mind and heart.
But can we not pray with our bodies, too? Bowing the head, striking
the breast, blessing oneself, kneeling, prostrating, are all
acceptable forms of prayerful =E2=80=9Cbody language.=E2=80=9D The =E2=80= =9CSpringende
Heiligen=E2=80=9D of Echternach remind us that procession and dancing can a= lso
be made a prayer. Willibrord must enjoy it!!
=E2=80=93Father Robert
Reflection:
Humility is a grand, a stirring thing, the exalting paradox of
Christianity, and the sad want of it in our own time is, we believe,
what really makes us think life dull, like a cynic, instead of
marvellous, like a child.
Saint Quote:
Our Lord Jesus has given light to all men, but those who do not trust
in Him bring darkness upon themselves.
--St. Thalassios the Libyan
<><><><>
Meditation
=C2 =C2 Gently breathe in God's spirit, that spirit which, if not barr=
ed
out by selfishness, will enable you to do good works. This means
rather that God will be enabled to do good works through you. You can
become a channel for God's spirit to flow through you and into the
lives of others. The works that you can do will only be limited by
your spiritual development. Let your spirit be in harmony with God's
spirit and there is no limit to what you can do in the realm of human relationships.
--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)