Holy Hierarch Cedd, Bishop of Lastingham

Saint Cedd of Lastingham

Today is not the Orthodox feast day – that’s the seventh of January – of Saint Cedd of Lastingham (emphatically not to be confused with his brother, Saint Ceadda of Lichfield, commemorated on the second of March), but given that it is his day of blessed repose in the Lord, I felt it would not be entirely unfit to give him a hagiographical blog post today.

Saint Cedd was, in fact, the eldest of four holy brothers – his younger ones being Saint Cynebill, Cælin and the aforementioned Saint Ceadda. All four brothers became priests. Saint Cedd was, like Saint Eata whose feast day we celebrate today, a pupil of Saint Aidan on the Holy Isle of Lindisfarne. He was remarkably astute and a quick learner, not only of sæcular knowledge but also of the ways of the Church Fathers. Such was his progress and his esteem among the monastic brothers that he was found worthy by Saint Finan of Lindisfarne to undertake a mission among the East Saxons. He was given a missionary omophor and sent southward to teach and work among the heathen, including those relapsed, there.

While in Essex, Saint Cedd took up residence at Saint Paul’s in London and again made it the centre of his mission. He founded a number of monasteries and churches, including those at Tilbury and Saint Peter’s at Bradwell-on-Sea. Yet although he was attentive and caring to his new East Saxon charges, his heart still belonged to his Northumbrian homeland and he often made voyages back to Lindisfarne for spiritual renewal. On one occasion, his brother Cælin, who was then þegn to Œðilwald King of Deira (the son of Saint Óswald and his wife Cyneburg, who was later deposed by Ealhfrið), managed to arrange a meeting between the king and Saint Cedd. Œðilwald was apparently charmed by Cedd, and invited the holy man to return. The king plied a reticent Saint Cedd with a sizeable parcel of land at Lastingham, on which he might found a monastery. This monastery and its chapel were dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos.

Saint Cedd and Saint Cynebill between them spent forty days at Lastingham, praying and fasting strictly in order to purify the site and consecrate it for the monastery. On the thirtieth day of the fast, Saint Cedd was recalled to Essex, and Saint Cynebill continued and completed the forty-day fast in his stead. Saint Cedd would thereafter serve both as abbot in Lastingham, and continue his work as a missionary bishop in the English southeast. Saint Cedd attended the Synod at Whitby and at first took the part of the Celtic faction in the argument over the date of Pascha; however, he seems to have been swayed to the Roman side of the dispute and accepted the ruling of the Synod before he returned to his monastery.

In 664, a pestilence ravaged Yorkshire and Lastingham in particular, and the abbey too succumbed. Both Saint Cedd and Saint Cynebill were claimed by this pestilence, though before they reposed in Christ they were able to commend the abbey to the care of their brother, Saint Ceadda. The burial of Saint Cedd, near the altar at the chapel of the Theotokos at Lastingham, was attended by thirty East Saxon monks from Bradwell-on-Sea, who sadly also fell victim to the same plague. Later, Saint Ceadda would have the relics of his beloved brothers translated to his own parish at Lichfield. Holy Father Cedd, blessed monk and missionary, pray unto Christ our God for us sinners!