Saint Godric

Yet here is a traveling merchant who became a Saint. Godr ic, bo Godric Former merchant who became a hermit in 12th-century England. rn in W alpole, Walpole Birthplace of the saint. in the county of Norfolk, was from a poor and obscure family. In his youth, he traveled through the villages as a peddler, in order to earn his living. The profit he made gradually increased his small fortune. In the end, he found himself in a position to frequent towns and fairs, and he even embarked several times to go and trade in Scotland.

During one of his voyages, he landed at Lindisfarne Lindisfarne Episcopal see and monastery located on an island in Northumbria. . The edifying life of the monks who inhabited this island touched him deeply; he was especially struck by what was told to him of the marvelous deeds of Sai nt Cuthbert. F saint Cuthbert Predecessor of Eadberht on the see of Lindisfarne, whose body was found incorrupt. alling to his knees, he asked God, with many tears, for the grace to imitate the fervor of this great Saint, and resolved from that moment to detach himself entirely from earthly things. He therefore embraced a new way of life, and began it by making a pilgrimage to Jer usalem. R Jérusalem Holy city where the Cross was lost and subsequently recovered. eturning from Palestine, he took his route through Compostela, where devotion also drew a multitude of pilgrims.

Upon returning to his homeland, he became the steward for a very wealthy lord. As the servants of the house abandoned themselves to various disorders and even committed flagrant injustices, he warned his master of everything that was happening. Since his complaints produced no effect, he resolved to leave his position so as not to participate in the faults of others. After two pilgrimages, one to France and the other to Rome, he went to the north of England in order to better execute the plan he had formed to dedicate himself without reserve to the service of God. He joined a holy man named Godwin, who had spent a considerable time in the monastery of Durham an d who Durham Place where the relics of Bede were transferred in 1020. was singularly versed in the knowledge of the interior ways of perfection. They both lived as anchorites in a desert located north of Carlisle. They served one another and praised God together during the days and nights. Two years later, Godwin was called to heaven to receive the reward for his virtues.

Godric, having lost his companion, made a second pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Upon his return, he spent some time in the solitude of Strenshale; he then visited the shrine of Sain t Cuthbert at saint Cuthbert Predecessor of Eadberht on the see of Lindisfarne, whose body was found incorrupt. Dur ham, a Durham Place where the relics of Bede were transferred in 1020. nd retired to the wilderness of F inchal or Finkley. Finchal ou Finkley Site of Godric's final hermitage. He chose Saint John the Baptist and Saint Cuthbert as his patrons and models. He built himself a small hut with tree branches at the foot of an oak tree; for food, he had roots, the fruits of forest trees, and wild honey. Alone in the midst of a vast forest, he often suffered from hunger and thirst; he spent his days and nights in vigils, fasting, and prayers until the end of his life. He was not terrified by wild animals, nor by reptiles and harmful insects, nor by thieves and murderers, nor by the infernal spirits that prowl in the darkness, nor by the wild aspect of this uncultivated solitude, because perfect love stifled fear within him.

After a few years, his retreat was discovered by hunters, and the report of the holiness of his life spread far and wide; then a crowd of people went to be edified by him. Pilgrims brought with them provisions of food, a portion of which they did not fail to offer to the holy hermit. Godric accepted, but not for himself: he distributed a part of it to the poor, and the rest he set aside for the future needs of indigent pilgrims. On Sundays and feast days, as well as three other days a week, he accepted no visitors so as not to be disturbed in his exercises of piety. God testified through miracles how pleasing this way of life was to Him. His hut was located not far from a river which one day overflowed so much that the entire surrounding region was flooded, including the hermitage. The people of the neighborhood having rushed over, and seeing neither Godric nor his hut, mourned him as dead. Now, the waters having receded, and the good villagers having approached the hermit's cell, they found Godric praying quietly: he was not drowned nor even wet. As he was asked with surprise why he had not saved himself from the beginning of the flood, he replied that he did not know what they were talking about. — It is thus that God, while His faithful servant forgot everything for Him, did not forget him, saving him by a prodigy at the moment of danger. Other miracles performed by Godric are also recounted, notably predictions and supernatural healings.

Each saint can be considered a second Adam, regenerated by grace and reinstated in the rights and privileges enjoyed by primitive man before the sin. But in some Saints, these privileges, such as that of commanding wild animals, were more remarkable than in others. One day there was a great hunt in the vicinity of Godric's hermitage. Then, it happened that a magnificent stag was pursued by relatives of Bishop Ramnulf; the poor animal appeared, panting, before Godric's cell, seeming to seek refuge there. Godric, upon leaving his retreat, saw it, all trembling with fear an d seeming to imp l'évêque Ramnulf Bishop whose parents hunted near the hermitage. lore his help. Godric, in fact, took it with him into his cell, and the noble animal lay down at his feet. But soon the hunters arrived, claiming their prey. Godric went out to meet them. They asked him where the stag was. He replied: God knows. The hunters, recognizing under the rags of a poor hermit an angel and a saint, turned back with their dogs, without further disturbing either Godric or the stag which, to recover from its fright, spent the night with the hermit; the next morning, it joyfully resumed its course in the woods, and several times each year it returned to express its gratitude to the good Godric through its caresses. Godric had become like the natural protector of the beasts of the forest pursued by hunters: hares, roe deer, etc., in case of danger, sought an assured refuge with him. During the cold of winter, birds came to warm themselves in his bosom: one would have said they saw in him a son of their merciful Creator!

At the age of sixty-three, Godr ic fel Godric Former merchant who became a hermit in 12th-century England. l ill: he was afflicted with a general swelling of the body, and as the ailment worsened, worms were seen emerging from beneath his flesh. He was cared for by two monks from a neighboring convent. One day, when he appeared to be at death's door, he suddenly began to sing canticles with a face radiant with joy. Some time later, he was asked the cause of this unusual joy. Godric replied: "I saw a heavenly light fill my cell, coming from the East, and my breast was filled with a sweet fragrance: that is why I could not help but sing with joy. It seemed to me that I had just arrived at the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem, and that I already heard the canticles of the angels who, along with the blessed, were singing in chorus: Kyrie eleison! Christe eleison! and I answered them: Kyrie eleison!..." Godric died, just as he had predicted, in the octave of the Ascension of the year 1170, after having spent sixty-three years in his desert. Thus, the former merchant found in the field of this world a treasure, and in the sea of this world a precious pearl, which can never again be taken from him.

His body was buried in the oratory of Saint John the Baptist, and honored by several miracles. Richard, brother of Hugh Pudsey, Bishop of Durham, had a chape l built under Hugues Pidfey Bishop of Durham whose brother had a chapel built for Godric. his invocation.

The pilgrim-hermit, Saint Godric, is often painted surrounded by snakes, because dangerous animals approached him without doing him any harm.

Alban Butler, A. Stola, etc.