Today in the Orthodox Church we celebrate Saint Cuthbert the Wonderworker, Bishop of Lindisfarnewe. Saint Cuthbert’s popularity and the love which surrounds him and his cult surpass those of all other English Saints. His life is that of a Northumbrian monk who was full of prophetic grace, visited by angelic hosts, leader of one of the major monasteries in seventh century England, converter of kings, animal and bird lover, reluctant bishop and, above all, possessed by a saintly longing for a life of solitude and prayer. The story of Saint Cuthbert and the otters is a wonderful one, and there are many more. Some call him the first animal rights advocate. “Many times birds and animals obeyed him. Once, fasting on a Friday till the late afternoon, as he was wont, a horse found him half a loaf of bread in the thatch of a house. He gave half of the bread to the horse and took the rest for himself. Another time, after he had prayed all night long in the sea, two sea-otters came to warm his feet and dry him with their fur; they received his blessing. Again, after fasting, a large fish was brought to him by an eagle. The fish was cut in two, half for the eagle, half for a family and himself. ‘Learn to have constant faith and hope in the Lord. He who serves God shall never die of hunger’, said Cuthbert. Another time, when he ordered birds who had come to eat barley he had sown to depart, they obeyed him. Ravens were reproved by him and then later brought him lard as a sign of their repentance. ‘What care should men not take to learn obedience and humility’, he said, ‘when even birds hasten to wash away their faults’.”
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 05:38:16 +0000
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