Saint of the Day – 12 February – Saint Ethelwald (Died c740) Bishop of Lindisfarne from 721 until his death, Abbot.
Also known as – Aethelweald, Aedilauld, Ethilwald, Ethelwold. Additional Memorial – 21 April (translation of his Relics). Ethelwald is the last Bishop of Lindisfarne to have been revered as a Saint. He is often mistaken for his near contemporary, Æthelwold of Farne.
Born between the 7th and 8th Centuries, Ethelwald was a disciple of Saint Cuthbert (c634-687) known as “The Wonder-Worker of England.”
Having entered the Monastery of Melrose, he became first Prior and thethe Abbot. In 721, after the death of Bishop Ealfrid, he was elected as the Bishop of Lindisfarne.
He is most remembered for his contribution to the production of the renowed Illuminated Lindisfarne Gospels. Ethelwald took the raw Manuscripts which his predecessor Eadfrith had collected and had Billfrith bind them. The Lindisfarne Gospel ( which I have been blessed to see) now resides in the British Museum.
He died around the year 740 and was buried in the Cathedral. His Relics, together with those of Saint Cuthbert and other Saints, were transferred to Scotland in 875, then to Chester in 883 and finally, to Durham in 995. Below might be St Ethelwald’s Tomb residing in the now protestant Cathedral at Durham. I have been there and have seen St Cuthbert’s Tomb but I cannot recall seeing St Ethelwald’s.
AnaStpaul 