Venerable Ósburg, Abbess of Coventry

Saint Ósburg of Coventry

The twenty-first of January is the feast-day in the Orthodox Church of Saint Ósburg, the holy mother and foundress of Coventry Abbey – now the Church of the Most Holy Sacrament and St Osburg in Birmingham.

Nothing is actually known about the life of Saint Ósburg, other than the fact that she founded a nunnery at Coventry. In fact, we do not even know which century she lived in, as Alban Butler’s Lives of the Saints demonstrates some confusion on that point. Some sources seem to indicate her floruit in the reign of the Danish Cnut King. Others date her far earlier, as far back as the eighth century.

Her local saintly cultus, however, is quite well-attested. In 1410, the abbey was active. And her shrine was the site of so many wonderful healings and good works, that the townspeople of Birmingham began to petition the bishops that Ósburg’s day be kept as a local festival. A council of clergy was therefore called in Birmingham, and the result was a decree that Ósburg be commemorated as a patroness of the archdeaconry of Coventry. Though it is unclear which day was originally chosen for the festival, the archdiocese of Birmingham still remembers Saint Ósburg on the twenty-first of January.

Holy mother Ósburg, pray unto Christ our God that our souls may be saved!

Church of the Most Holy Sacrament and St Osburg, Coventry