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Saint Swithin, Wonderworker of Winchester (fd 15 July) Saint Swithin is a very important wonder-working Orthodox Saint of Great Britain who somehow never made it into the Western Calendar outside England. This should not occlude the fact that devotion to this saint amongst the Old Englisc, (the ancient spelling is correct!), was very strong. Today in our sadly secular times his name merely goes down in folklore as being associated with wet weather in certain circumstances in July! Of his early life we know very little. Our records date principally from the period of his active ministry as Bishop of Winchester and tutor to the future King Alfred whose role in turning round the Danish invasion was so crucial to the reflowering of England at the close of the First Millennium. He was a good and godly bishop who quietly went about his work. He had a clear vision concerning the integrity of the Church and the unity of the Englisc. Only one miracle is known from his earthly life in helping a poor old woman who had broken some eggs. The Saint made the sign of the cross over them and they were made whole. St. Swithin reposed in the Lord on 2 July 862 A.D., but is was over a century later in the year 968 that the miracles started to happen in earnest. The Saint appeared in a vision to a pious blacksmith instructing that his relics be moved inside the Cathedral. As soon as this was accomplished (15 July) people began to be healed in great number. Abbot Aelfric wrote:- "We cannot write or tell in words, all the miracles that the holy man Swithin wrought by the power of God in the sight of the people, both among captives and among the sick." Veneration of the Saint continued through the Middle Ages in the new Norman Cathedral until the shrine was destroyed in 1538 at the Reformation. The Saint's relics are presumed to lie ignominiously under the flag stones of the Cathedral; although no one truly knows. Today a simple bier marks the spot of the original shrine. Like St. Swithin, the old English Orthodox faith lies buried under the detritus of centuries, but for those who know the secret of his life his powerful prayer avails still. Who knows what miracles of the English Church lie yet in store? The awakening of Orthodoxy in England in our own times is perhaps the first sign of something which is both new and very old. We conclude this short life of St. Swithin with a prayer from his heart and hand, scripted in his book "Judith." "To Thee, O God of Creation, Son Almighty, Spirit of Comfort, Glory of the Trinity, I pray for Thy mercy in my need ... Grant me, O Lord of Heaven, Victory and True Faith .... Amen." |
