#st aldhelm

[lord-aldhelm]

St. Aldhelm's Day / Wessex Day

Photo from Wikipedia.

May 25 is the feast of St Aldhelm of Malmesbury, the unofficial patron saint of Wessex. He was the bishop of Sherborne in the 7th century. He is the patron saint of musicians and songwriters. He was a prolific writer and a scholar of Latin poetry, and also a singer, songwriter, and musician himself. It is claimed that he invented the pipe organ. His prose and poetry was revered throughout not just England but other countries as well. King Alfred was a huge fan of his works, and enjoyed reading his poetry and prose as well as having his music performed.

Saint Aldhelm was well known for his unique way of preaching: rather than stand in a church, he would go out into the streets of the villages and sing to the people, telling them funny stories and clowning, and even wading into a river while delivering his sermons to get the attention of the people.

To learn more about him please visit this Website on orthochristian.com which goes into great detail about the life and canonization of St Aldhelm.

[maypoleman1]

25th May

St Aldhelm’s Day

St Aldhelm’s icon at the Digby Chapel of Sherbourne Abbey. Source: Orthodox Christianity website

Today is St Aldhelm’s Day. Aldhelm was a seventh century Bishop of Sherbourne in Dorset. What was different about this saint, was that he was a great tellers of stories, writer of songs and player of music. At a time when the Church was busily converting the English to Christianity, Aldhelm allegedly attracted the curious into his chapel with exquisite harp playing. Unfortunately, the bishop’s copious ditties, hymns and poetry have all been lost with the exception of a treatise on the virtues of virginity, written for a convent, presumably on commission. Some miracles are attached to Aldhelm, including the legend that he thrust his staff into the ground at Bishopstrow in Wiltshire, which then turned into an ash tree, thereafter known as the bishop’s tree.

Several curative stories surround the ash. It is supposed to be able to cure rickets, hernias and toothache, and if combined with a dead shrew sealed up within it, it can cure ailing animals. In 1606, at Brampton in Lincolnshire, an ash tree was famous for its continual but indecipherable moaning and muttering. The locals recognised it as a talking tree and drilled a hole into its trunk, which they believed would enable the ash to speak more clearly. Unfortunately the tree continued to babble gibberish, so this early version of tree hugging ended up with the locals none the wiser.

[lord-aldhelm]

Saint Aldhelm of Malmesbury

Although most of the characters in The Last Kingdom and The Saxon Stories were based on real historical people, Aldhelm was a completely fictional character just made up for the story. However, there was a Saint Aldhelm, a man of historical significance in Anglo-Saxon England. He is the patron saint of musicians and songwriters.

Aldhelm was born in 639 in Wessex. As a young boy he was educated in Canterbury and studied Latin and Greek literature, and could also read and write Hebrew. When he returned to Wessex, he joined the monks at Malmesbury and became a popular teacher, and people would journey from as far as France and Scotland to learn from him. He also loved to write poetry, and composed music and sang. He could play the harp, fiddle, and pipes. Aldhelm was well known for his theatrical way of preaching, and would sing in addition to preach to get the attention of the commonfolk outside of church. Over a century later, King Alfred regarded him highly as one of the great poets and bards of his time, and wrote stories about him.

In 683, Aldhelm was appointed the Abbot of Malmesbury, where he continued to make it a seat of education. He enlarged the monastery and built several churches and founded more monasteries in the area. In 705 he was made Bishop of Sherborne, where he rebuilt the church and oversaw the construction of more churches and a nunnery.

On 25th May 709, Aldhelm died at Doulting in Somerset, and after his death he was sainted. May 25 is a feast day for St Aldhelm. The Church of St Aldhelm (built in the 12th century) and St Aldhelm's Well in Somerset are dedicated to him. St Aldhelm has a flag in his honor, with a white cross on a red background.

Name Meaning

The name Aldhelm and the Old English version "Ealdhelm", is derived from the Germanic elements ald "old" and helm "helmet, protection".

Links:

Wikipedia Article about Saint Aldhelm

Aethelstan Museum

New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia

St Aldhelm's

Early British Kingdoms biography

Catholic Online article about Aldhelm

OrthoChristian.com article about St Aldhelm

[lord-aldhelm]

St. Aldhelm's Day

Celebrate St Aldhelm’s Day and 1350 years since he became the first Abbot of Malmesbury Abbey — part of Malmesbury’s Pride of Place Festival 2025!