Church of Saint Margaret, Binsey, Oxford
Two days ago we commemorated the feast-day of Saint Nóðhelm, the studious and scholarly Mercian Archbishop of Canterbury and friend of Saint Bede and Saint Boniface whose advancement in the Church he owed in the main to one Æþelbald King of Mercia. Today, we also commemorate another holy Mercian – a princess turned abbess named Saint Friðuswíþ [also Frideswide, Frevisse or Fris].
Friðuswíþ was born in Oxford, in the year 650, to one Didan of Eynsham, a sub-king of Mercia whose sway held in the Chilterns, and his wife Sæfrið. The two of them brought her a tutor: a nun named Saint Ælfgýð (also commemorated today) who taught her the precepts of holiness in Christ. Friðuswíþ did not, however, become a nun right away. Her mother Sæfrið took ill and died, and she returned to her father to help and comfort him. However, she did manage to convince Didan to build a church for her in the Oxford gates; there she and twelve of her friends took the veil and dedicated their lives to Christ in perpetual virginity. Didan was remarkably indulgent of his daughter’s wishes, not only gladly allowing her to become a nun, but also expanding the cloister with buildings and a generous stipend.
All was well for some time. However Ælfgár, the Mercian sub-king who ruled the lands around Leicester, knew full well of Friðuswíþ’s fairness. Of course, she being Didan’s only daughter, Ælfgár also understood her to be quite wealthy. Thus, inflamed with lust and greed, he set about pursuing her. When she heard the proposition from his heralds, she declined him at once, swearing that she had already given herself to Christ. Put bluntly, Ælfgár did not take her ‘no’ particularly well. He made plans to abduct her by force. Friðuswíþ fled from Ælfgár in a boat that lay moored on the Thames, and stole away in it to a secluded spot: Binsey. There, thanks to a holy well that sprang up in response to her prayers, she was able to live for three years and elude Ælfgár’s notice that whole time. After that time she returned to Oxford, thinking it safe.
However, Ælfgár didn’t give up even that easily. Enraged by her success in her attempts to elude him, he raised a here and lay siege to Oxford in an attempt to flush Friðuswíþ out, threatening the townsfolk with burning the town to the ground unless she were given up. In his wrath Ælfgár swore that not only he would have her, but all of his men would as well. Thus backed into a corner, in her extremity Friðuswíþ called out to God and His holy saints to save her, particularly Saint Catherine and Saint Cæcilia who also suffered for their vows of virginity. As soon as Ælfgár entered the gates of Oxford, he was stricken full blind. His men, beholding this fell omen, took fright and fled, but Ælfgár himself, blind and helpless, stumbled to where Friðuswíþ was, begging her to forgive him and asking her to restore his sight. Saint Friðuswíþ took pity on him, and asked if he would undergo penance for his sins. He having agreed to this, Friðuswíþ restored Ælfgár’s sight, and he left her in peace. (The shorter hagiographical source has it that his horse stumbled, throwing him and causing him to break his neck.)
Saint Friðuswíþ worked several wonders among the nuns at Oxford, and at least another of these seems to have involved a holy spring. When her sister-nuns, who accompanied Friðuswíþ into hiding from Ælfgár, began to gripe about having to haul water from the Thames, Abbess Friðuswíþ prayed to God and a holy well of pure water sprang up. (This well is still extant, at the Church of Saint Margaret of Antioch in Binsey.) Another miracle she worked involved a leper who lived in the Oxford gates. Seeing her, the leper demanded that the saint kiss him. Friðuswíþ overcame her revulsion at his deformed flesh and her own fear of infection, and did as he asked. Once she did so, the scales fell from his skin and the leper’s flesh became whole and healthy, like that of a newborn.
Saint Friðuswíþ established a monastic school at her former abode. The University of Oxford represents this school as the basis for its mediæval foundation, and she remains the patron of the University to this day. She reposed in the Lord on the nineteenth of October, 727, at her hermitage in Binsey, to which she had retired permanently in her old age. She was buried in the church at Oxford – today Christ Church Cathedral. Holy Mother Friðuswíþ, noble ascetic and gentle teacher of nuns, pray to Christ our God that our souls may be saved!
Come, let us solemnly rejoice today, and let us laud the virtues and struggles
Of the most splendid luminary of the Western lands:
Friðuswíþ, great among ascetics,
The most praiseworthy instructor of nuns,
Who watcheth over us from her dwelling-place on high;
For the Lord hath truly made her wondrous among His saints.
By her supplications may He save our souls.
Holy well of Saint Friðuswíþ, Binsey
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