Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Lichfield: A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Espicopal SeeClifton, A. B.
History
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Lichfield: A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Espicopal See
Clifton, A. B.
Lichfield Cathedral
Like his predecessors' his time was short; only for two years was he
allowed to labour at Lichfield. There is a beautiful legend of his death
which has been well told by Dean Bickersteth. "A week before his death
a sound of angelic melody was heard coming from the south-east, until
it reached and filled the little oratory where he was praying. This
the good bishop interpreted to be his summons to heaven. The voices, he
privately told Ovin, were those of angels. The messenger of death, that
'lovable guest,' was with them. They would come again in seven days and
take him with them. About the same time, Egbert, a Northumbrian who had
been a fellow-student with St. Chad in an Irish monastery, dreamt that
he saw the soul of Cedda, Chad's brother, descending from heaven with
a company of angels to take the soul of Chad with him into the heavenly
kingdom." As he had foretold, so he died; but he was not forgotten, and
many were the miracles said to have been performed at his shrine. His
bones were removed from their first resting-place near Stowe Church
into a beautiful shrine in the cathedral, where they remained until the
Reformation, when they were taken away, and are now said to be in the
Roman Catholic cathedral at Birmingham.
There is another legend concerning St. Chad which has become more closely
attached to Peterborough than to Lichfield, but it must be briefly
stated here, as the story appears in some of the decorations of the
cathedral. Bede does not mention it, and it has been given in varying
forms by different writers. Briefly, the essence of the legend is that
Wulphere, the king of Mercia, had killed two of his sons, Wulfade and
Rufin, on account of their having been baptised by St. Chad. Each of
these young princes had been hunting in the forest when he came across
a hart with a rope round its neck. The prince gave chase, and the hart
led him to St. Chad, who, having prayed with him, baptised him. This
happened to both Wulfade and Rufin separately. Then Wulphere in his
anger slew them. Afterwards he repented, and setting out to St. Chad,
was led there by the same hart, and found the saint at prayer, with his
cloak hanging on a sunbeam. Wulphere was absolved on condition that he
should expiate his crime by founding churches and monasteries all over
his kingdom. Lichfield is said to have been one of these churches, and
Peterborough one of these monasteries. Many churches have been dedicated
to St. Chad, especially in the Midlands, and in the east of London there
was a well known as St. Chad's Well, where miracles were performed;
and it was noted for its medicinal waters up to quite recent times. A
large district in east London is still called after St. Chad's Well in
the corrupted form of Shadwell.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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