Saint Fursey

Last updated


Fursey
Saintfursey.jpg
Saint Fursey and the monk; from a 14th-century manuscript
Bornc. 597
Died650
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church [1]
Feast 16 January
Attributes depicted with two oxen at his feet; beholding a vision of angels; gazing at the flames of purgatory and hell.

Saint Fursey (also known as Fursa, Fursy, Forseus, and Furseus: died 650) was an Irish monk who did much to establish Christianity throughout the British Isles and particularly in East Anglia. He reportedly experienced angelic visions of the afterlife. Fursey is one of the Four Comely Saints.

Contents

Early life

He was born in the region of modern-day Connacht supposedly the son of Fintan and grandson of Finlog, pagan king of the area. His mother was Gelges, the Christian daughter of Aed-Finn, king of Connacht. He was born probably amongst the Hy-Bruin, and was baptised by St Brendan the Traveller, his father's uncle, who then ruled a monastery in the Island of Oirbsen, now called Inisquin in Lough Corrib. He was educated by St Brendan's monks, and when he became of the proper age he was inducted into the monastery at Inisquin (near Galway), under the Abbot St Meldan, his "soul-friend" (anam-chura), where he devoted himself to religious life. His great sanctity was early discerned, and there is a legend that here, through his prayers, twin children of a chieftain related to King Brendinus were raised from the dead. [2] He built his own monastery at Killursa outside the town of Headford in modern County Galway and he became the patron saint of the Parish of Headford.

Visions

He was said to have been something of an ascetic, wearing thin clothing year round. Aspirants came in numbers to place themselves under his rule, but he wished to secure also some of his relatives for the new monastery. For this purpose he set out with some monks for Munster, but on coming near his father's home he was seized with an apparently mortal illness. He fell into a trance from the ninth hour of the day to cock-crow, and while in this state received the first of the ecstatic visions which have made him famous in medieval literature. [2]

In this vision were revealed to him the state of man in sin, the beauty of virtue. He heard the angelic choirs singing "the saints shall go from virtue to virtue, the God of Gods will appear in Sion." An injunction was laid on him by the two angels who appeared to restore him to his body to become a more zealous labourer for the Lord. Three nights later, the ecstasy was renewed. He was taken to the heavens by three angels who contended six times with demons for his soul. He saw the fires of hell, the strife of demons, and then heard the angel hosts sing in four choirs "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts." Among the spirits of those just made perfect he recognized Saints Meldan and Beoan. They entertained him with much spiritual instruction concerning the duties of ecclesiastics and monks, the dreadful effects of pride and disobedience, and the heinousness of spiritual and internal sins. They also predicted famine and pestilence. As he returned through the fire the demon hurled a tortured sinner at him, burning him, and the angel of the Lord said to him, "Because thou didst receive the mantle of this man when dying in his sin the fire consuming him hath scarred thy body also." Fursey's body bore the mark from that day forward. Exactly twelve months later he received a third vision. This time, the angel remained with him a whole day, instructed him for his preaching, and prescribed for him twelve years of apostolic labour. This he faithfully fulfilled in Ireland, and then stripping himself of all earthly goods he retired for a time to a small island in the ocean. [2]

After some years he founded a monastery at Rathmat on the shore of Lough Corrib which Colgan identifies as Killursa, in the deanery of Annadown. His brothers Foillan and Ultan then joined the community at Rathmat, but Fursey seems to have renounced the administration of the monastery and to have devoted himself to preaching throughout the land, frequently exorcising evil spirits.[ citation needed ]

Mission to East Anglia

Fursey was the first recorded Irish missionary to Anglo-Saxon England. He arrived in East Anglia with his brothers, Foillan and Ultan, during the 630s shortly before St Aidan founded his monastery on Holy Island. [3]

The conversion of the Kingdom of East Anglia to Christianity began under Raedwald, but halted with the martyrdom of Raedwald's successor, his son Eorpwald. Sigeberht of East Anglia was already Christian when he took the throne around 630. By 633, Sigeberht of East Anglia had established the first East Anglian bishopric at Dommoc and appointed a Burgundian Bishop named Felix. [3]

When Fursey arrived with his brothers Foillan and Ultan, as well as other brethren, bearing the relics of Saints Meldan and Beoan, he had been welcomed by the king, who gave him land to establish an abbey at Cnobheresburg , where there was an abandoned Roman fort, traditionally identified with Burgh Castle in Norfolk. [4]

Here he laboured for some years converting the Picts and Saxons. After Sigeberht was slain by an army led by Penda of Mercia, it is recorded that his successor King Anna of East Anglia, and his nobles, further endowed the monastery at Cnobheresburg. Three miracles are recorded of Fursey's life in this monastery. He then retired for a year to live with Ultan the life of an anchorite. However, as great numbers continued to visit him, and as war threatened in East Anglia, he left Foillan as abbot and proceeded to Lagny, in France around 644. [5]

monument to St. Fursey, Bellefontaine Belfontinne-dile-Bive monumint Sint-Furzi.jpg
monument to St. Fursey, Bellefontaine

Mission in Neustria

He arrived in France in 648. Passing through Ponthieu, in a village near Mézerolles he found grief and lamentation on all sides, for the only son of Duke Hayson, the lord of that area, was dead. At the prayer of Fursey the body was restored. Pursuing his journey to Neustria he cured many infirmities on the way. He converted a robber, who had attacked the monks in a wood near Corbie, and his family through miracles. He also cured the inhospitable worldling Ermelinda, who had refused to harbour the weary travellers. His fame preceded him to Péronne, where he was joyfully received by Erchinoald, and through his prayers obtained the reprieve of six criminals. He was offered any site in the king's dominions for a monastery. He selected Latiniacum (Lagny), close to Chelles and about six miles from Paris, a spot beside the Marne, at that time covered with shady woods and abounding in fruitful vineyards. Here he built his monastery and three chapels, one dedicated to Jesus Christ the Saviour, one to St Peter, and the third, an unpretending structure, was later dedicated to St Fursey himself. Many of his Irish countrymen were attracted to his rule at Lagny, including Emilian, Eloquius, Mombulus, Adalgisius, Etto, Bertuin, Fredegand, Lactan, and Malguil.

His journeys continued and many churches in Picardy are dedicated to him. [6] He received some premonitions of his end, and set out to visit his brothers Foillan and Ultan who had by this time recruited the scattered monks of Cnobheresburg and re-established that monastery.

Death

He died about 650 at Mézerolles while on a journey. The village was for some time called Forsheim, which translated as the house of Fursey. He was buried in a church (built specially by Earconwald) in Péronne which has claimed him as patron ever since. [6] Many unusual events attended the transmission of his remains, and his body was eventually buried in the portico of the church of St Peter where Fursey had earlier placed the relics of Saints Meldan and Beoan. His body lay unburied for thirty days pending the dedication of the church, and was during that time visited by pilgrims from all parts, incorrupt and emitting a sweet odour. At the end of that time, it was buried near the altar of the church. Four years later, on 9 February, his remains were moved from their earlier location by Saint Eligius, Bishop of Noyon, and Cuthbert, Bishop of Cambrai, to a new chapel specifically built to hold the remains to the east of the main altar. The city would later become a great centre of devotion to him.

Iconography and veneration

In art St Fursey is represented with two oxen at his feet in commemoration of the prodigy by which, according to legend, Erkinoald's claim to his body was made good; or he is represented striking water from the soil at Lagny with the point of his staff; or beholding a vision of angels, or gazing at the flames of purgatory and hell. It is disputed whether he was a bishop; he may have been a chorepiscopus. A litany attributed to him is among the manuscripts in Trinity College Dublin. An Irish prophecy is attributed to him by Harris. His feast day is 16 January. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rædwald of East Anglia</span> Bretwalda

Rædwald, also written as Raedwald or Redwald, was a king of East Anglia, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom which included the present-day English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. He was the son of Tytila of East Anglia and a member of the Wuffingas dynasty, who were the first kings of the East Angles. Details about Rædwald's reign are scarce, primarily because the Viking invasions of the 9th century destroyed the monasteries in East Anglia where many documents would have been kept. Rædwald reigned from about 599 until his death around 624, initially under the overlordship of Æthelberht of Kent. In 616, as a result of fighting the Battle of the River Idle and defeating Æthelfrith of Northumbria, he was able to install Edwin, who was acquiescent to his authority, as the new king of Northumbria. During the battle, both Æthelfrith and Rædwald's son, Rægenhere, were killed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burgh Castle</span> Human settlement in England

Burgh Castle is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the east bank of the River Waveney, some 3.7 miles (6.0 km) west of Great Yarmouth and within the Norfolk Broads National Park. The parish was part of Suffolk until 1974.

Æthelhere was King of East Anglia from 653 or 654 until his death. He was a member of the ruling Wuffingas dynasty and one of three sons of Eni to rule East Anglia as Christian kings. He was a nephew of Rædwald, who was the first of the Wuffingas of which more than a name is known.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna of East Anglia</span> King of the East Angles

Anna was king of East Anglia from the early 640s until his death. He was a member of the Wuffingas family, the ruling dynasty of the East Angles, and one of the three sons of Eni who ruled the kingdom of East Anglia, succeeding some time after Ecgric was killed in battle by Penda of Mercia. Anna was praised by Bede for his devotion to Christianity and was renowned for the saintliness of his family: his son Jurmin and all his daughters – Seaxburh, Æthelthryth, Æthelburh and possibly a fourth, Wihtburh – were canonised.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gertrude of Nivelles</span> Benedictine abbess and saint (c. 628–659)

Gertrude of Nivelles, OSB was a seventh-century abbess who, with her mother Itta, founded the Abbey of Nivelles, now in Belgium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">May 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)</span>

May 1 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - May 3

Ecgric was a king of East Anglia, the independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom that today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. He was a member of the ruling Wuffingas dynasty, but his relationship with other known members of the dynasty is not known with any certainty. Anna of East Anglia may have been his brother, or his cousin. It has also been suggested that he was identical with Æthelric, who married the Northumbrian princess Hereswith and was the father of Ealdwulf of East Anglia. The primary source for the little that is known about Ecgric's life is Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, written by the English Benedictine monk Bede in around 731 AD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wuffingas</span> Anglo-Saxon royal dynasty of East Anglia

The Wuffingas, Uffingas or Wiffings were the ruling dynasty of East Anglia, the long-lived Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. The Wuffingas took their name from Wuffa, an early East Anglian king. Nothing is known of the members of the dynasty before Rædwald, who ruled from about 599 to c.624. The Viking invasions of the 9th century and Dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century both led to the destruction of documents relating to the rule of the Wuffingas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">January 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)</span> Day in the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar

January 15 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - January 17

Ultan was an Irish monk who later became an abbot. He was the brother of Saints Fursey and Foillan. He was a member of Fursey's mission from Ireland to East Anglia in c. 633, and lived there both as a monastic probationary and later alone as an anchorite. In c. 651 he accompanied his brother Foillan to Nivelles in Merovingian Gaul where they continued their monastic life together.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England</span>

In the seventh century the pagan Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity mainly by missionaries sent from Rome. Irish missionaries from Iona, who were proponents of Celtic Christianity, were influential in the conversion of Northumbria, but after the Synod of Whitby in 664, the Anglo-Saxon church gave its allegiance to the Pope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felix of Burgundy</span> 7th-century Bishop of Dunwich and saint

Felix of Burgundy, also known as Felix of Dunwich, was the first bishop of the kingdom of the East Angles. He is widely credited as the man who introduced Christianity to the kingdom. Almost all that is known about him comes from the Ecclesiastical History of the English People, completed by the English historian Bede in about 731, and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Bede wrote that Felix freed "the whole of this kingdom from long-standing evil and unhappiness".

Sigeberht of East Anglia, was a saint and a king of East Anglia, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. He was the first English king to receive a Christian baptism and education before his succession and the first to abdicate in order to enter the monastic life. The principal source for Sigeberht is Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, which was completed in the 730s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eni of East Anglia</span> Anglo-Saxon noble

Eni or Ennius was a member of the Wuffing family, the ruling dynasty of the kingdom of East Anglia. He was the son of the semi-historical pagan king Tyttla and the brother of Rædwald, who both ruled East Anglia.

Æthelwold, also known as Æthelwald or Æþelwald, was a 7th-century king of East Anglia, the long-lived Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. He was a member of the Wuffingas dynasty, which ruled East Anglia from their regio at Rendlesham. The two Anglo-Saxon cemeteries at Sutton Hoo, the monastery at Iken, the East Anglian see at Dommoc and the emerging port of Ipswich were all in the vicinity of Rendlesham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foillan</span>

Saint Foillan is an Irish saint of the seventh century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dommoc</span>

Dommoc, a place not certainly identified but probably within the modern county of Suffolk, was the original seat of the Anglo-Saxon bishops of the Kingdom of East Anglia. It was established by Sigeberht of East Anglia for Saint Felix in c. 629–631. It remained the bishopric of all East Anglia until c. 673, when Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury, divided the see and created a second bishopric at either North Elmham, Norfolk, or South Elmham, Suffolk. The see of Dommoc continued to exist until the time of the Viking Wars of the 860s, after which it lapsed.

Hereswith or Hereswitha, also spelt Hereswithe, Hereswyde or Haeresvid, was a 7th-century Northumbrian saint. She married into the East Anglian royal dynasty and afterwards retired to Gaul to lead a religious life. Hereswith's sister was Saint Hilda, founder of the monastery at Whitby. Details of her life and identity come from Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica, the Anglian collection and the Lives of Edwin of Northumbria and Hilda of Whitby.

Cnobheresburg was a castrum in East Anglia, where in about 630 the first Irish monastery in southern England was founded by Saint Fursey, as part of the Hiberno-Scottish mission described by Bede.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">October 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)</span>

October 30 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - November 1

References

  1. January 29 / January 16. https://www.holytrinityorthodox.com/htc/orthodox-calendar/
  2. 1 2 3 "Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Fursey". Newadvent.org. 1 September 1909. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  3. 1 2 "St Fursey". Cathedral.org.uk. 25 February 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  4. The fort at Burgh Castle was excavated by Charles Green during 1958-61. In a detailed report written by the Norfolk Museums Service in 1983, in East Anglian Archaeology, volume 20, the establishment of a monastic settlement in Burgh Castle has been disputed.
  5. "St. Fursey". Libraryireland.com. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Who Was Fursey". Furseypilgrims.co.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  7. "Daily Liturgical Calendar 2006". National Centre for Liturgy. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 16 September 2006.
  8. Temple, Emily (28 July 2012). "15 of the Greatest Lists in Literature – Flavorwire". Flavorwire.com. Retrieved 18 July 2014.

Bibliography