martyr king oswald

8/13/2019 Martyr King Oswald

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HOLY MARTYR-KING OSWALD OF NORTHUMBRIA

The holy Martyr-King Oswald was born in the year 604, being theson of the pagan King Aethelfrith of Bernicia. n 6!6, following onthe death of his father, he was forced to flee with his si" brothers

and sister #t. $bba to e"ile in #cotland, where they were recei%edwith hono&r by King 'onald Brecc. There he recei%ed the faith of(hrist and was bapti)ed on the holy island of ona.

n 6**, shortly after the death of King $dwin at the hands ofKings (adwallon of +wyneth and enda of Mercia, and the apostasyof alost all the orth&brians fro the (hristian /aith, Oswaldad%anced so&th with a sall force into $nglish territory. e was etby a %astly larger ary &nder King (adwallon at ea%enfield near(hollerford on adrian1s 2all.

On the e%e of the battle, as #t. (ol&ba1s biographer, #t.Adonan, writes3 while King Oswald, after pitching his cap inreadiness for the battle, was sleeping on a pillow in his tent, he saw#t. (ol&ba in a %ision, beaing with angelic brightness, and of afig&re so a5estic that his head seeed to to&ch the clo&ds. Theblessed an, ha%ing anno&nced his nae to the ing, stood in theidst of the cap, and co%ered it all with his brilliant garent,e"cept at one sall distant point7 and at the sae tie he &tteredthose words which the 8ord spae to 9osh&a the son of &n beforethe passage of the 9ordan, after Moses1 death, saying3 1Be strong

and of good co&rage7 behold, shall be with thee.1 Then #t.(ol&ba, ha%ing said these words to the ing in the %ision, added.1March o&t this following night fro yo&r cap to battle, for on thisoccasion the 8ord has granted to e that yo&r foes shall be p&t toflight, hat yo&r eney (atwallon shall be deli%ered into yo&r hands,and that after the battle yo& shall ret&rn in tri&ph.1 The ing,awaing at these words, assebled his co&ncil and related the%ision, at which they were all enco&raged7 and so the whole peopleproised that, after their ret&rn fro the war, they wo&ld belie%eand be bapti)ed, for &p to that tie all that #a"on land had beenwrapped in the darness of paganis and ignorance, with the

e"ception of King Oswald and the twel%e en who had beenbapti)ed with hi d&ring his e"ile aong the #cots.

, Adanan, had this narrati%e fro the lips of y predecessor,the Abbot /ailbe, who solenly declared that he hiself had heardKing Oswald relating this sae %ision to #egine the abbot.

The :enerable Bede contin&es the story3 On approaching thebattle Oswald set &p the sign of the holy cross and on bended neesbeso&ght +od to send hea%enly aid to is worshippers in the ho&r of

their need7 and the place is pointed o&t to this day and held in greatre%erence. ndeed it is said that when the cross had been ;&icly

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ade and a hole ade ready for it to stand in, Oswald hiself, firedby his faith, sei)ed it and placed it in its hole and held it &pright withboth hands, &ntil the soldiers heaped &p the soil and ade it fast inthe gro&nd. There&pon he raised his %oice and cried alo&d to thewhole ary3 18et &s all neel, and together pray the alighty, tr&e

and e%er-li%ing +od to defend &s by is ercy fro a pro&d andcr&el eney7 for e nows that the war we ha%e engaged in for thedeli%erance of o&r people is a 5&st war.1 They all did as he hadordered and, ad%ancing th&s against the eney as dawn appeared,won the %ictory as the reward for their faith. At the place where theyprayed co&ntless iracles of healing are nown to ha%e beenwro&ght, a s&re proof and eorial of the ing1s faith.

Altho&gh the renants of the #t. a&lin&s1 ission toorth&bria still e"isted &nder the leadership of 'eacon 9aes, #t.Oswald preferred to send to ona for issionaries to recon%ert hisnewly-won ingdo. 2hen the rish bishop #t. Aidan arri%ed,contin&es Bede, the ing granted hi the island of 8indisfarne, ashe re;&ested, to be his episcopal see. 2ith the ebb and flow of thetide, this is a place that is twice a day encircled by the wa%es of thesea, lie and island, and twice re5oined to the ainland when itsshore becoes e"posed again. n all atters Oswald listenedh&bly and 5oyf&lly to the bishop1s ad%ice, and showed greatconcern to b&ild &p and e"tend the (h&rch of (hrist within hisingdo. The bishop was not f&lly con%ersant with the $nglishlang&age, and on any occasions it was delightf&l to watch while he

preached the +ospel and the ing hiself, ha%ing ac;&ired a perfectnowledge of rish d&ring his long e"ile, acted as interpreter ofhea%en1s word for his alderen and thanes.

/ro that tie any issionaries fro rish territory began toarri%e in Britain as the days went by, who preached the word of thefaith with great )eal to the $nglish ingdos r&led by Oswald7 andto those who belie%ed, s&ch of the as held the ran of priestadinistered the grace of baptis. (h&rches were b&ilt in %ario&splaces, and the people gladly floced together the hear the 2ord.By the gift of the ing estates and lands were granted for the

establishent of onasteries, and $nglish boys together with theirelders were gi%en systeatic instr&ction by rish teachers andta&ght to obser%e the discipline of a


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he becae godfather of the first (hristian ing (ynigils and arriedhis da&ghter.

#t. Oswald, writes Bede, was always h&ble, ind and genero&stowards the poor and towards strangers. /or e"aple, it is said that

once at ascha, when he was sitting at dinner with the bishop, and asil%er dish was placed before hi on the table f&ll of royal fare, theywere abo&t to raise their hands to as a blessing on the bread whenone of his officers, whose d&ty it was to bring relief to the needy,s&ddenly cae in and told the ing that a large crowd of poorpeople fro e%ery district was sitting in the precincts, asing forals fro the ing. e at once ordered the eal that had beenser%ed to hi to be taen o&t to the poor, and the dish to be broenin pieces and di%ided aong the. 2hen he saw it, the bishop whosat with hi was delighted by the act of ercy, and too his righthand and said3 1May this hand ne%er wither with age.1 And his prayerand blessing were f&lfilled, for when Oswald was illed in battle hishand and ar were se%ered fro his body, and they reain&ndecayed to this day. They are preser%ed in the royal town naedafter Bebba, a forer ;&een, stored in a sil%er caset in the ch&rchof #t. eter, and are %enerated with d&e hono&r by e%eryone.

Bede also records that #t. Oswald was a great )ealot of prayer.Th&s it is said, for e"aple, that he often reained at his prayersfro the tie of the office of Mattins &ntil daybrea, and beca&se ofhis fre;&ent habit of prayer and gi%ing thans to +od, where%er he

sat he &sed to ha%e his hands on his ness with the pals &pward.

#t. Oswald s&bd&ed the ingdo of the Mercians and dro%e thepagan King enda into e"ile in 2ales. owe%er, in 64= endagathered a large heathen ary and, allying hiself with the 2elshr&ler of the id-#e%ern %alley (ynddylan, he &ne"pectedly attacedOswald near Oswestry. B&t the an of +od, writes


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Bede records that when the saint saw that he was s&rro&ndedby eney forces and abo&t to be slain, he prayed for the so&ls of hisary7 and this is the origin of the pro%erb, 1+od ha%e ercy on theirso&ls, said Oswald falling to the gro&nd1.

enda too the saint1s head and hands and fi"ed the on staesfor a whole year, to be an ob5ect of derision and scorn. B&t his headwas later retrie%ed by his brother Oswy, and was placed in #t.(&thbert1s coffin, where it still reains. And his right hand - the one#t. Aidan had blessed - was placed in a sil%er caset at Babro&gh,where it reained copletely incorr&pt &ntil at least the twelfthcent&ry, as both Abbot Aelfric and #ieon of '&rha attest.

At the place where he died - praying, with ars o&tstretched, forthe so&ls of his en - any iracles were wro&ght. eople tood&st fro the place and, i"ing it with water, applied it withwonderf&l effect to sic en and anials. Once a ho&se ca&ght fireand b&rned down, and only the post on which soe of the holy d&sthad been placed reained copletely &nto&ched.

n the year 6>? @&een Ostrythe of Mercia, who was the saint1sniece, and was later &rdered herself, decided with her h&sbandKing $thelred to translate the relics of the saint to the onastery ofBardney in 8indsey 8incolnshire. B&t the ons of that onastery,entertaining a gr&dge against Oswald beca&se he had once beening o%er that region, ref&sed to allow the relics thro&gh the

onastery gates. #o they reained on a waggon co%ered by a tentthro&gho&t the night.

owe%er, d&ring the night a great col&n of light was seenstretching fro the waggon &p to hea%en, which was %isiblethro&gho&t 8indsey. (hastened, the ons bro&ght the holy relicsinside the gates, washed the with re%erence, and placed the in aspecially constr&cted shrine in the ch&rch with a gold and p&rplebanner o%er it. The water &sed in the washing was po&red away in acorner7 b&t the earth which had recei%ed it was fo&nd to ha%e thepower of e"pelling deons.


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weight. The forehead is broad and proinent, the nose of oderateproportions. The length of the face and chees lend the face acertain nobility, clear testiony to his anly glory.

is fae ;&icly spread thro&gho&t the British sles and into

continental $&rope, where relics of his body, incl&ding fragents ofthe wooden cross he erected at ea%enfield and earth taen frohis gra%e, wored any iracles, se%eral of which are recorded bythe :enerable Bede. One of these too place at a onasteryfo&nded by #t. 2ilfrid in #&sse" in the second half of the se%enthcent&ry3 Abo&t the tie that this pro%ince accepted the /aith of(hrist, a dangero&s epideic str&c any pro%inces of Britain.2hen, by +od1s dispensation, it reached the onastery, r&led at thetie by the ost religio&s priest of (hrist, $appa, it swept fro thislife any of the brethren, soe of who had coe with the bishop,while others were #o&th #a"ons recently con%erted to the /aith. Thebrethren therefore decided to obser%e a three-day fast and iplore+od in is ercy to show pity on the, that e wo&ld preser%ethose who were in danger of death by disease, and deli%er the so&lsof those already departed this life fro eternal danation.

n the onastery at this tie there li%ed a little #a"on boy, whohad recently been con%erted to the /aith7 this child had ca&ght thedisease, and for a long tie had been confined to bed. Abo&t thesecond ho&r on the second day of prayer and fasting, he was alonein the place where he lay sic, when, by 'i%ine ro%idence, the ost

blessed rinces of the Apostles Ceter and a&lD deigned to appearto hi7 for he was a boy of innocent and gentle disposition, whosincerely belie%ed the tr&ths of the /aith that had been accepted.The Apostles greeted hi %ery lo%ingly, and said3 1#on, p&t aside thefear of death that is tro&bling yo&7 for today we are going to taeyo& with &s to the Kingdo of hea%en. B&t first of all yo& &st wait&ntil the 8it&rgies ha%e been celebrated, and yo& ha%e recei%ed the:iatic& of the Body and Blood of o&r 8ord. Then yo& will be set freefro sicness and death, and carried &p to the endless 5oys ofhea%en. #o call the priest $appa, and tell hi that o&r 8ord hasheard the prayers of the brethren and regarded their fasting and

de%otion with fa%o&r. oone else in this onastery and itspossessions is to die of this disease, and all who are now s&fferingfro it will reco%er and be restored to their forer health. Eo& aloneare to be set free by death today, and will be taen to hea%en to seethe 8ord (hrist 2ho yo& ha%e ser%ed so faithf&lly. +od in isercy has granted yo& this fa%o&r thro&gh the intercession of thede%o&t King Oswald, so belo%ed by +od, who once r&led the peopleof the orth&brians with o&tstanding de%otion as their early ingand whose (hristian piety has won hi an e%erlasting ingdo. /ortoday is the anni%ersary of the ing1s death in battle at the hands of

the heathen, when he was taen &p to the 5oys of the so&ls inhea%en and enrolled aong the copany of the saints. f the

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martyr king oswald

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