An engraving of Saint Byrnstán of Winchester ministering to the sick
Today in the Orthodox Church we commemorate a lesser-known saint of Winchester, the holy bishop Byrnstán [also Beornstán, Brynstan or Birnstan]. Byrnstán was the successor bishop to Bishop Friðestán and a spiritual son of the Frankish Byzantine abbot, Saint Grimbald of Bertin, who had been invited to English shores by the holy Ælfrǽd King.
Byrnstán was born sometime around the Danish invasion of England in 866, and was drawn toward the Benedictine life from a young age, but little else is known of his early life. He lived, flourished and died during the period of Danish dominance and rapine and well before the great Benedictine reformers in England, Dúnstán, Ósweald and Æþelwold (the last of whom did his utmost to encourage Byrnstán’s local cultus). This makes his holiness all the more noteworthy, given that he lived during a period when the Church in England was in a steep physical and spiritual decline.
Saint Byrnstán came to prominence during the reign of Æþelstán King, in whose retinue he served as a court chaplain. His name first appears in the record as a witness to the manumission of a slave named Ealdred. He continued as Bishop to serve at Æþelstán’s court, and witnessed several charters, but he was less prominent in his public office than his successors – notably Saint Ælfhéah.
Saint Byrnstán’s holiness was of the typical Benedictine type. That is to say: he was radically hospitable toward the poor. He founded the Hospital of Saint John in Winchester, which is still standing today and is owned and operated by Saint John’s Winchester: the single oldest continuously-operating charity in Great Britain. He made it a key point of his spiritual life to personally wash the feet of the poor folk who came to him, and to see to all of their other material needs. When he was done with this, he would go into the chapel to pray and would stay there for hours. He also said a Liturgy every day for the sake of the departed, and he would go out every night into the Cathedral graveyard and pray from the Psalter for those in the tombs. On one occasion he heard a great shout of ‘Amen’ coming from underground as he finished praying the Psalms, coming as it were from the mouths of a mighty army.
During these long periods of prayer, his attendant priests and deacons did not dare to intrude upon their bishop until he emerged from his chamber for his nightly vigil. On one cold November day in 934 the deacons did not see him emerge the entire day, and they did not think it odd until he failed to come out for his nightly prayers. They came in upon him and found Bishop Byrnstán lying on the floor, as though in a deep prostration, but without the breath of worldly life in him.
Bishop Byrnstán was known in his earthly life for his deep humility, as well as for his charity and his prayers for the dead. He had a reputation for piety in life, but no cultus arose for him until the days of Saint Æþelwold some decades later. In a dream, it is said, Byrnstán appeared to Æþelwold alongside Saint Berin and Saint Swíþhún. He told Æþelwold who his companions were, and likewise that he was honoured at the heavenly wedding banquet as their equal in honour. He also wished to be so remembered here on earth. As a result, Saint Æþelwold diligently encouraged his cultus, although Saint Swíþhún turned out to be the more enduringly popular local saint. Even so, as a saint who encouraged both prayer to the dead and almsgiving to the poor and sick, Saint Byrnstán deserves our own remembrance in love. Holy Father Byrnstán, pray unto Christ God for us sinners!
Hospital of St John, Winchester
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