His words, "know and remember," &c., are the more worthy of notice, because they afford the clue to the narrative in the next part of this work, having been scrupulously obeyed when the Danes ravaged Lindisfarne; and because to them we can trace the future magnificence of the episcopal church, when the see was removed from Lindisfarne, and finally settled at Durham. Probably, in giving his order about his body, the holy man had in his mind the last words of Joseph, who, when dying in Egypt, spoke to his brethren, and "made them swear to him, saying, God will visit you carry my bones with you out of this place "1 No doubt he had before his mind, that when the children of Israel went out of Egypt, "Moses took Joseph's bones with him, because he had adjured the children of Israel, saying, God shall visit you carry out my bones from hence with you".2 About the hour of midnight, the holy Bishop passed from this world to a better. Herefrid continues: "These words, and such as these, the man of God delivered to us at intervals; for, as we before said, the violence of his Consilium plane concordia non dat inane, Hoc retinete ratum, quod erit post funera gratum, Rebus in adversis, vobis in tristia mersis, Cum dubiis fatis erit incertum quid agatis, Biog. Misc. p. 112, 2 Exod. xiii. 19. complaint had taken from him the power of speaking much at once. He then spent the rest of the day, until the evening, in the expectation of future happiness, and also spent the night in watchfulness and prayer. When the usual time for matins was come, having received from me the holy sacraments,1 he strengthened himself for his departure, which he knew to be near at hand, by partaking of the body and blood of Christ; and when he had lifted up his eyes to heaven, and extended his hands upwards in prayer, he breathed forth his soul to the joys of the kingdom of heaven." 2 The soul of the holy Bishop had no sooner winged its flight to the mansions of the blessed, than Herefrid made his departure known to the brethren in the hospitium, who were watching and praying. The sad news was then telegraphed, according to a signal agreed on, to the monastery at Lindisfarne. The very spot -the highest point on the island-where now stands a lighthouse, to guide ships on their course along this dangerous part of the coast, and where, about sixty years ago, a cross stood, possibly to commemorate it, was probably the very spot from which a signal told the brethren at Holy Island that their holy Bishop, who had had to encounter adverse winds and waves, had now entered the haven of everlasting salvation. That night would have been spent at Lindisfarne in sorrow and lamentation. The monks, like Rachel, would bewail their loss, because their Bishop was no more; each would make the kind of lamentation over him that David made over Jonathan: "I grieve for thee, my brother, exceeding beautiful and amiable to me"; and all would pray, though little need there was of such prayer, "Eternal rest give to him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him!" But there was 3 1 By the holy sacraments are here meant the sacraments of penance and extreme unction. The sacrament of extreme unction, according to the Anglo-Saxon ritual, was given before the viaticum; after it he received the holy communion, which he received under both kinds, as it was given to the sick when mass was celebrated in their presence. Cuthbert communicated with the priest, and received the holy sacrament sitting "Sacer residens antistes ad altar Pocula degustat vitæ, Christique supinum Sanguine munit iter." See also Lingard, vol. ii. pp. 44-46. 2 Bede's Life, p. 335. Bede's Poetical Life. 3 2 Kings i. 26. joy among the choirs above, for "precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints ".1 “I immediately went out and made known his decease to the brethren, who had passed the night in watchfulness and prayer, and chanced at that moment to be saying in their matins the 59th Psalm, which begins, O God, Thou hast cast us off, and hast destroyed us: Thou hast been angry, and hast had mercy on us'. One of them instantly lighted two torches, and, holding one in each hand, ascended a lofty spot, to make known to the brethren in the monastery at Lindisfarne that his holy soul had departed to the Lord; for they had agreed beforehand that such a signal should be made. When the brother who had kept a look-out on an eminence on the island of Lindisfarne, awaiting the hour of the event, saw the signal, he ran with speed to the church where the brethren were assembled at matins, and happened to be singing the above-mentioned psalm when he entered. This was a Divine dispensation, as the event shewed." 2 Such was the manner and the time of the passage of him who departed this life A.D. 687, fifty-three years after Oswald and Aidan had established the see and monastery at Lindisfarne; who had been a religious at Mailros, Ripon, Mailros again, Lindisfarne, and Farne; who had been monk thirty-seven years, prior twelve years, anchorite nine years, and bishop two years; and who had attained the age of about fifty years. As what he had foretold concerning his own death was literally verified, so was his prophecy regarding Herbert the hermit of Derwentwater. "The event proved the truth of this promise and prophecy; for after their parting at that time, they no more saw one another in the flesh; but their souls quitting their bodies on the very same day-that is, on the 20th of March-they were immediately again united in spirit, and translated to the heavenly kingdom by the ministry of angels. But Herbert was first prepared by a tedious sickness, through the dispensation of the Divine goodness, as may be believed, to the end that if he was anything inferior in merit to the blessed Cuthbert, the same might be made up by the chastening pain of a long sickness, that being thus made 1 Psalm cxv. 15. 2 Bede's Life, p. 337. equal in grace to his intercessor, as he departed out of the body at the very same time with him, so he might be received into the same seat of eternal bliss."1 1 Bede's Eccles. Hist. p. 231. A poem, not wanting in merit, commemorates the fact already recorded concerning St. Cuthbert and St. Herbert, that, like "Saul and Jonathan, lovely and comely in their life, even in death they were not divided". (2 Kings i. 23.) "At Lindisfarne, expecting death, The good St. Cuthbert lay, With wasted frame and feeble breath; "The brotherhood had gathered round, "His eyes grew dim; his voice sunk low; The choral song arose, And ere its sounds had ceased to flow, "At that same hour a holy man, St. Herbert, well renown'd, "St. Cuthbert, in his early years, When the tree falls, the fruit it bears "The monks of Lindisfarne meanwhile At that same hour, in Derwent Isle, CHAPTER VIII. HIS BURIAL, HIS CHARACTER AS THE POPULAR SAINT OF NORTHUMBRIA, AND HIS MIRACLES AFTER HIS DECEASE. IMMEDIATELY upon his decease, his body was conveyed from Farne to the monastery at Lindisfarne. "We took back with us," adds Herefrid, "to the island of Lindisfarne, the venerated body of our father, putting it in a boat; and it was there met by a large concourse, of persons, and the brethren singing." 1 From Bede's account (chap. 41), we learn that the body was prepared at Lindisfarne for interment. The Monk of Lindisfarne describes how the remains were prepared for burial: "A navigantibus ad insulam nostram delatus, toto corpore lavato, capite sudario circumdato, oblatis super sanctum pectus positis, vestimenta sacerdotalia indutus, in obviam Christi calceamentis suis præparatis, in sindone cerata curatus, animam habens cum Christo gaudentem, corpus incorruptibile, requiescens et quasi dormiens in sepulchro lapideo, honorabiliter in basilica deposuerunt ".2 From this we learn, that the brethren washed his body from head to foot, wrapped it in a cere-cloth, enveloped his head with a face-cloth or napkin, placed the sacramental elements upon his breast, clothed him in the robes of a priest, and put sandals upon his feet. Although by the word oblata, i.e. offletes or offleys, was usually meant only the bread used for the sacrifice, yet in this case there is reason to think that both the sacramental elements were put into the coffin. Lingard says: "St. Cuthbert was laid in his coffin clothed in his episcopal vestments, with a paten, chalice, portable altar, offletes, and all that was necessary for the 1 Bede's Life, p. 338. 2 Lindisf. Monk, p. 123. 3 On the usual manner of an Anglo-Saxon burial, see Lingard's Anglo-Saxon Ch. vol. ii. p. 47, &c.; on the "oblata," see vol. i. p. 292. |