Saints of the early Middle Ages, 605 to 1050

St. Augustine of Canterbury, bishop

“On the tomb of the said Augustine is written this epitaph - "Here rests the Lord Augustine, first archbishop of Canterbury, who, being formerly sent hither by the blessed Gregory, bishop of the city of Rome, and by God's assistance supported with miracles, reduced King Ethelbert and his nation from the worship of idols to the faith of Christ, and having ended the days of his office in peace, died the 26th day of May, in the reign of the same king."”

Read it in the source: Fordham Sourcebook

St. Augustine of Canterbury, bishop

“a blind man of the English race was brought, who having been presented to the priests of the Britons, found no benefit or cure from their ministry; at length, Augustine, compelled by real necessity, bowed his knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying that the lost sight might be restored to the blind man, and by the corporeal enlightening of one man, the light of spiritual grace might be kindled in the hearts of many of the faithful. Immediately the blind man received sight, and Augustine was by all declared the preacher of the Divine truth.”

Read it in the source: Fordham Sourcebook

St. Columban, abbot

“When, in 612 or 613, the King of the Lombards allocated to him a plot of land in Bobbio, in the Trebbia Valley, Columban founded a new monastery there which was later to become a cultural centre on a par with the famous monastery of Monte Cassino. Here he came to the end of his days: he died on 23 November 615 and to this day is commemorated on this date in the Roman rite.”

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St. Isidore of Seville, bishop and Doctor

“A few years after his death in 636, the Council of Toledo in 653 described him as "an illustrious teacher of our time and the glory of the Catholic Church".”

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St. Aidan of Lindisfarne, bishop

“it was the highest commendation of his doctrine, with all men, that he taught no otherwise than he and his followers had lived; for he neither sought nor loved any thing of this world, but delighted in distributing immediately among the poor whatsoever was given him by the kings or rich men of the world. He was wont to traverse both town and country on foot, never on horseback, unless compelled by some urgent necessity”

Read it in the source: Fordham Sourcebook

St. Aidan of Lindisfarne, bishop

“He, blessing and recommending them to our Lord, at the same time gave them some holy oil, saying, "I know that when you go abroad, you will meet with a storm and contrary wind; but do you remember to cast this oil I give you into the sea, and the wind shall cease immediately; you will have pleasant calm weather, and return home safe." All which fell out as the bishop had predicted. … Which miracle was not told me by a person of little credit, but by Cynemund, a most faithful priest of our church, who declared that it was related to him by Utta, the priest”

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St. Maximus the Confessor, monk

“The Emperor's tribunal condemned him with the accusation of heresy, sentencing him to the cruel mutilation of his tongue and his right hand - the two organs through which, by words and writing, Maximus had fought the erroneous doctrine of the single will of Christ. In the end, thus mutilated, the holy monk was finally exiled to the region of Colchis on the Black Sea where he died, worn out by the suffering he had endured, at the age of 82, on 13 August that same year, 662.”

Read it in the source: vatican.va

St. Hilda of Whitby, abbess

“Thus this servant of Christ, Abbess Hilda, whom all that knew her called Mother, for her singular piety and grace, was not only an example of good life, to those that lived in her monastery, but afforded occasion of amendment and salvation to many who lived at a distance, to whom the fame was brought of her industry and virtue”

Read it in the source: Fordham Sourcebook

St. Hilda of Whitby, abbess

“This nun, being then in the dormitory of the sisters, on a sudden heard the well known sound of a bell in the air, which used to awake and call them to prayers, when any one of them was taken out of this world, and opening her eyes, as she thought, she saw the top of the house open, and a strong light pour in from above; looking earnestly upon that light, she saw the soul of the aforesaid servant of God in that same light, attended and conducted to heaven by angels.”

Read it in the source: Fordham Sourcebook

St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, bishop

“the holy and venerable Cuthbert, who had for many years led a solitary life, in great continence of body and mind, in a very small island, called Farne, distant almost nine miles from that same church, in the ocean. From his very childhood he had always been inflamed with the desire of a religious life; but he took upon him the habit and name of a monk when he was a young man”

Read it in the source: Fordham Sourcebook

St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, bishop

“NOR is that cure to be passed over in silence, which was performed by his relics three years ago, and was told me by the brother himself, on whom it was wrought. … In that monastery was a youth whose eyelid had a great swelling on it, which growing daily, threatened the loss of the eye. The surgeons applied their medicines to ripen it, but in vain. … touching his eye on a sudden, found it as sound with the lid, as if there never had been any swelling or deformity on it.”

Read it in the source: Fordham Sourcebook

St. Bede the Venerable, priest and Doctor

“I wholly applied myself to the study of Scripture; and amidst the observance of the monastic Rule and the daily charge of singing in church, I always took delight in learning, or teaching, or writing”

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St. Willibrord, bishop and missionary

“He had heard that in the northern regions of the world the harvest was great but the labourers few. Thus it was that, in fulfilment of the dream which his mother stated she had seen, Willibrord, fully aware of his own purpose but ignorant as yet of divine preordination, decided to sail for those parts and, if God so willed, to bring the light of the Gospel message to those people who through unbelief had not been stirred by its warmth. So he embarked on a ship, taking with him eleven others who shared his enthusiasm for the faith.”

Read it in the source: Fordham Sourcebook

St. Willibrord, bishop and missionary

“Again, when the holy priest of God was pursuing his way in a certain place, he saw twelve poor beggars asking alms from the passers­by. Being extremely kind­hearted, he gazed on them with compassion and bade one of his companions take his own flask and give a drink to Christ's poor. All the twelve drank from it as much as they would, and the remarkable fact was that as the company went on their way they found that the flask from which so many had drunk was just as full as it was before of the most excellent wine.”

Read it in the source: Fordham Sourcebook

St. John Damascene, priest and Doctor

“Very soon, however, dissatisfied with life at court, he decided on a monastic life, and entered the monastery of Mar Saba, near Jerusalem. This was around the year 700. He never again left the monastery, but dedicated all his energy to ascesis and literary work, not disdaining a certain amount of pastoral activity, as is shown by his numerous homilies. His liturgical commemoration is on the 4 December. Pope Leo XIII proclaimed him Doctor of the Universal Church in 1890.”

Read it in the source: vatican.va

St. Boniface, bishop and martyr

“We are united in the fight on the Lord's Day, because days of affliction and wretchedness have come.... We are not mute dogs or taciturn observers or mercenaries fleeing from wolves! On the contrary, we are diligent Pastors who watch over Christ's flock, who proclaim God's will to the leaders and ordinary folk, to the rich and the poor... in season and out of season...”

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St. Boniface, bishop and martyr

“At once an astonishing miracle happened, worthy to be remembered by all those who were present and saw it. A fountain of water much clearer than any found in that country, extraordinarily sweet and pleasant to the taste, came bubbling up and flowed out through innumerable channels until it formed a considerable stream.”

Read it in the source: Fordham Sourcebook

St. Leoba, abbess

“She was ever on her guard not to teach others what she did not carry out herself. In her conduct there was no arrogance or pride; she was no distinguisher of persons, but showed herself affable and kindly to all. In appearance she was angelic, in word pleasant, dear in mind, great in prudence, Catholic in faith, most patient in hope, universal in her charity.”

Read it in the source: Fordham Sourcebook

St. Theodore the Studite, abbot

“Between 815 and 821, Theodore was scourged, imprisoned and exiled to various places in Asia Minor. In the end he was able to return to Constantinople but not to his own monastery. He therefore settled with his monks on the other side of the Bosporus. He is believed to have died in Prinkipo on 11 November 826, the day on which he is commemorated in the Byzantine Calendar.”

Read it in the source: vatican.va

St. Ansgar, bishop and missionary

“Were I worthy of such a favour from my God, I would ask that He would grant to me this one miracle, that by His grace He would make of me a good man.”

Read it in the source: Fordham Sourcebook

St. Ansgar, bishop and missionary

“It is impossible to count the number of those who were healed by his prayers and by his anointing. For, according to the statement made by many persons, sick people came eagerly to him, not only from his own diocese, but from a great distance, demanding from him healing medicine. He, however, preferred that this should be kept quiet rather than that it should be noised abroad.”

Read it in the source: Fordham Sourcebook

St. Cyril, monk and apostle of the Slavs

“He addressed this prayer to God: "Lord, my God... hear my prayers and keep the flock you have entrusted to me faithful .... Free them from the heresy of the three languages, gather them all in unity and make the people you have chosen agree in the true faith and confession". He died on 14 February 869.”

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St. Methodius, bishop and apostle of the Slavs

“He devoted the last years of his life principally to making further translations of the Sacred Scriptures, the liturgical books, the works of the Fathers of the Church and also the collection of ecclesiastical and Byzantine civil laws called the Nomocanon. Concerned for the survival of the work which he had begun, he named as his successor his disciple Gorazd. He died on 6 April 885 in the service of the Church established among the Slav peoples.”

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St. Wenceslaus, duke of Bohemia and martyr

“In the first Old Slavonic “narration”, we read that “he assisted God’s ministers and he also adorned many churches” and that “he was benevolent to the poor, clothed the naked, gave food to the hungry, welcomed pilgrims, just as the Gospel enjoins. He did not allow injustice to be done to widows, he loved all people, whether poor or rich”.”

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St. Odo, abbot of Cluny

“Fascinated by the Benedictine ideal, Odo left Tours and entered the Benedictine Abbey of Baume as a monk; he later moved to Cluny, of which in 927 he became abbot. From that centre of spiritual life he was able to exercise a vast influence over the monasteries on the continent. … He actually fell ill in Rome in the summer of 942. Feeling that he was nearing his end, he was determined, and made every effort, to return to St Martin in Tours, where he died, in the Octave of the Saint's feast, on 18 November 942.”

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St. Olga, princess of Kyiv

“In this setting, already prepared, Princess Olga had herself freely and publicly baptized about 955, and afterwards remained always faithful to her baptismal promises.”

Our translation. The words as written, in Italian:

“In questo ambiente, già preparato, la principessa Olga si fece liberamente e pubblicamente battezzare verso il 955, rimanendo poi sempre fedele alle promesse battesimali.”

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St. Adalbert of Prague, bishop and martyr

“Adalbert followed Christ. He made a long journey which took him from his native Libice to Prague, and from Prague to Rome. Then, after facing resistance from his fellow countrymen in Prague, he left as a missionary for the Pannonian Plain and from there, through the Moravian Gate to Gniezno and the Baltic. His mission in a sense was the crowning point of the evangelization of the lands of the Piast. And this was precisely because Adalbert bore witness to Christ by undergoing a martyr's death. Boleslaw the Brave ransomed the body of the Martyr and had it brought here, to Gniezno.”

Read it in the source: vatican.va

St. Gregory of Narek, monk and Doctor

“Saint Gregory of Narek, a monk of the tenth century, knew how to express the sentiments of your people more than anyone. He gave voice to the cry, which became a prayer, of a sinful and sorrowful humanity, oppressed by the anguish of its powerlessness, but illuminated by the splendour of God’s love and open to the hope of his salvific intervention, which is capable of transforming all things.”

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St. Vladimir, prince of Kyiv

“Saint Volodymyr and the inhabitants of Rus’ were baptized by missionaries sent from Constantinople, the greatest centre of Christianity in the East. Thus the new-born Church entered the sphere of the exceedingly rich patrimony of faith and culture of the Byzantine Church. This was at the end of the first millennium. While living according to two different traditions, the Church of Constantinople and the Church of Rome were still in full communion.”

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St. Henry II, emperor

“Let us then pause in front of the extraordinary funerary monument of St Henry and St Kunigunda (or St Cunegonde), a work by Riemenschneider. In them we find Christians, to us exemplary, who from the sacraments of Baptism to Confirmation and Matrimony, received the mandate and mission to serve the Kingdom of God in the world.”

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St. Romuald, abbot and founder of the Camaldolese

“Through the faithfulness and benevolence of the Lord, the Congregation of Camaldolese monks of the Order of Saint Benedict has completed a thousand years of history, feeding daily on the word of God and the Eucharist, as their founder Saint Romuald taught them, according to the triplex bonum of solitude, community life and evangelization.”

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St. Olaf, king of Norway and martyr

“You have come, like the pilgrims of old, to this revered city of Nidaros (now Trondheim) and shrine of Saint Olav, who heralded a new era of Christianity and unification in this land even though he did not live to see the fruits of his labour. His son, Magnus the Good, built the first wooden church on this site and it quickly became a place of pilgrimage. Already by the year 1060 a liturgy dedicated to Saint Olav was in use as far away as Northumberland in Britain.”

Read it in the source: vatican.va

St. Olaf, king of Norway and martyr

“In the Orthodox Church too, the memory of Saint Olav is greatly venerated: to his intercession was attributed the survival of the Imperial Guard of Constantinople in an hour of danger when it went into battle with Emperor Alexos against the Bulgars.”

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St. Stephen, king of Hungary

“Stephen did not accept the crown as an honour, but a service; he therefore, always and in all circumstances, sought the good of the community entrusted to him, both by organizing and defending the kingdom and by promulgating new decrees, as well as by fostering the development of the two cultures, the human and the divine.”

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St. Odilo, abbot of Cluny

“on the day after the feast of All Saints, when the Church joyfully celebrates the communion of saints and human salvation, St Odilo urged his monks to say special prayers for all the dead, thus mysteriously contributing to their entry into beatitude; the custom of solemnly interceding for the dead in a celebration which St Odilo called All Souls Day gradually spread from the Abbey of Cluny and is now the practice throughout the universal Church.”

Read it in the source: vatican.va