• March 6th - Saint Balther

    From rich@1:396/4 to All on Mon Mar 5 09:10:20 2018
    From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

    March 6th - Saint Balther of Lindisfarne
    Also known as Baldred, Baldredus, Bilfrid, Billfrith
    8th v.

    ST. BALRED or Balther was a priest who led the solitary life in the
    kingdom of Northumbria, which comprised the south of Scotland. He
    appears to have lived at one time at Tyningham, at another period
    inhabiting a cell on the Bass Rock. A legend recounts that there was
    then a dangerous shoal in the Firth of Forth, which was visible only
    at low tide and was the cause of many shipwrecks; it stood between the
    Bass Rock and the mainland. According to the lesson in the Aberdeen
    Breviary, St. Balther, out of pity for sailors, decided to move it.
    Going out to the rock, he stood upon it and it floated away under him =E2=80=9Clike a little boat wafted by a fair wind=E2=80=9D, and was steered=
    by him to
    the neighbouring shore, where it remained and became known as St.
    Baldred's Rock. After a life of great austerities and trials, the h=
    oly
    hermit died at Aldham, and a dispute arose with the neighbouring
    parishes of Tyningham and Preston for the possession of his body.
    Tradition relates that in the morning it was found that there were
    three precisely similar bodies and so each parish was able to have its
    own.

    The relics were lost during a Danish attack, but two centuries later a
    priest called Elfrid discovered through a dream the body of St.
    Balther, which was removed to Durham together with the remains of
    another hermit, St. Bilfrid the goldsmith, who was honoured with him
    on March 6. Bilfrid, as the inscription on it states, adorned with
    gold, silver and gems St. Cuthbert's famous Book of the Gospels,
    which, after being miraculously rescued uninjured from the sea, was
    long preserved in Durham, but now forms one of the treasures of the
    Cottonian Library in the British Museum.

    Here again, as pointed out in Stanton's Menology (pp. 105 and 633),
    some confusion seems to have arisen between two different holy men,
    the Baldredus of the Aberdeen Breviary, who was a bishop, and the
    Baltherus of Symeon of Durham, who was a priest. Moreover, if
    Baldredus, as stated in the Breviary, was a bishop under St.
    Kentigern, he cannot have died more than 150 years later, as Baltherus
    is said to have done. See KSS., pp. 273-274.


    Saint Quote:
    Naturally we all have an inclination to command, and a great aversion
    to obey; and yet it is certain that it is more for our good to obey
    than to command; hence perfect souls have always had a great affection
    for obedience, and have found all their joy and comfort in it.
    --Saint Francis of Sales, Doctor of the Church

    Bible Quote:
    And Simon Peter answered him: Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the
    words of eternal life. (John 6:69)


    <><><><>
    A Father's Prayer For Loved Ones.

    Kind Father, I thank You for my home where loved ones dwell
    and to which my fondest memories now turn.
    I praise You for the family love and peace and cheer
    which follow me and comfort me in strange and distant places.
    I am grateful for all things we share in common,
    the worthy lessons we learn,
    the hardships and griefs we sometimes bear,
    the tasks and pleasures which bind us closer to each other,
    and the abiding affection and heartfelt prayers
    which still keep our spirits one in You.
    Shelter my home. O God,
    and all my dear ones there.
    Make me strong, unselfish,
    and brave to defend and protect them.
    Send down Your peace to every family on earth
    and grant an abundance of grace to them
    so that in doing Your will
    they may merit the joys of eternal salvation.

    Amen.
    --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
    * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)