The Lives of the Saints, Volume 01 (of 16): JanuaryBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Religion
The Lives of the Saints, Volume 01 (of 16): January
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Christian saints
"They proceeded by sea to Marseilles, and thence by land to Arles, and
having delivered to John, Archbishop of that city, Pope Vitalian's
letters of recommendation, were by him detained, till Ebroin, the king's
mayor of the palace, sent them a pass to go where they pleased. Having
received the same, Theodore repaired to Agilbert, Bishop of Paris, and
was by him kindly received, and long entertained. But Adrian went first
to Emme, and then to Faro, Bishops of Sens and Meaux, and lived with
them a considerable time; for the hard winter had obliged them to rest
wherever they could. King Egbert, being informed by messengers, that the
bishop they had asked of the Roman prelate was in the kingdom of France,
sent thither his praefect, Redford, to conduct him; who, being arrived
there, with Ebroin's leave, conveyed him to the port of Quentavic (S.
Quentin); where, being indisposed, he made some stay, and as soon as he
began to recover, sailed over into Britain. But Ebroin detained Adrian,
suspecting that he went on some message from the Emperor to the kings of
Britain, to the prejudice of the kingdom, of which he at that time took
especial care; however, when he found that he really had no such
commission, he discharged him, and permitted him to follow Theodore.
"As soon as he came, he received from him the monastery of S. Peter the
Apostle, where the Archbishops of Canterbury are usually buried; for at
his departure, the Apostolic Lord had ordered that Theodore should
provide for him in his diocese, and give him a suitable place to live in
with his followers.
"Theodore arrived in his church the second year after his consecration,
on Sunday, May 27th. Soon after, he visited all the island, wherever the
tribes of the Angles inhabited; and everywhere attended and assisted by
Adrian, he taught the right rule of life, and the canonical custom of
celebrating Easter. This was the first Archbishop whom all the English
Church obeyed. And forasmuch as both of them were well read in both
sacred and secular literature, they gathered a crowd of disciples, and
there flowed from them daily rivers of knowledge to water the hearts of
their hearers; and, together with the books of Holy Writ, they also
taught them the arts of ecclesiastical poetry, astronomy, and
arithmetic. A testimony of which is, that there are still living at this
day some of their scholars, who are as well versed in the Greek and
Latin tongues as in their own, in which they were born. Nor were there
ever happier times since the English came into Britain; for their kings,
being brave men and good Christians, were a terror to all barbarous
nations, and the minds of all men were bent upon the joys of the
heavenly kingdom of which they had just heard; and all who desired to be
instructed in sacred reading had masters at hand to teach them."
S. Adrian died A.D. 709, after having spent thirty-nine years in
Britain. His tomb was famous for miracles wrought at it.
S. BRITHWALD, ABP. OF CANTERBURY.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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