Saint of the Day – 15 July – St David of Sweden (Died 1082) Bishop

Saint of the Day – 15 July – St David of Sweden (Died 1082) the 1st Bishop of Västeras in Sweden, Monk and Missionary, called “The apostle of Västmanland.” Born in England and died in Västeras

Our Saint David who is celebrated today 15 July, was the bishop of Västeras in Sweden. He was a Cluniac Monk of Anglo-Saxon origins sent as a missionary to Sweden around 1020.

He worked evangelising the still-pagan Swedes, starting in the south and then in the central-eastern region of the country. He lived in the place where the Church of Munkathorp now stands which, with his name, recalls the Monk (munk) who baptised new converts in the waters of a nearby spring.

In the Ecclesiastical history of Sweden, he is remembered as the apostle of Västmanland and the 1st Bishop of Västerås. He likely died in 1082 and was buried in Munkathorp. In 1463, 4 Centuries later, his Relics were translated to the Cathedral of his Episcopal See.

Unfortunately, as with so many Catholic Saints’ Relics, when Lutheranism entered and overwhelmed Sweden with its doctrines, they were taken and buried in the cemetery (if not destroyed completely) and his sarcophagus was destroyed.

His symbol is a glove because tradition has it that he once hung his gloves on a ray of sunshine. His liturgical Feastday is today 15 July.