From: hildegard8@excite.com   
      
   August 1st - St. Aethelwold of Winchester, Bishop   
    (Also known as Ethelwold)   
      
   Born in Winchester, England, c. 908-912; died at Beddington, 984; feast at   
   Abingdon is August 2; feast of his translation is September 10; Ely used to   
   keep   
   a "commemoratio" on October 8 in his honour, while Deeping and Thorney   
   Abbeys   
   observed an "exceptio" on October 23.   
      
   Together with Saint Dunstan (f.d. May 19) and Saint Oswald of York (f.d.   
   February 28), Aehelwold was a leader in the revival of English monasticism   
   in   
   the 10th century following its near eradication by the Danes during their   
   raids.   
   He served at the court of King Athelstan (924-39), but left to seek priestly   
   ordination at the hands of Saint Alphege the Bald (f.d. April 19) on the   
   same   
   day as his friend Saint Dunstan. When Dunstan became abbot of Glastonbury in   
   943   
   and restore Benedictine observance there, the priest Aethelwold joined the   
   community and became one of its deans and prior.   
      
   Not entirely satisfied with the reformation at Glastonbury, he asked to be   
   allowed to go to France to study the reforms initiated at Cluny. Instead, in   
   955, King Edred made him abbot of the derelict Abingdon Abbey in Berkshire   
   and   
   entrusted to Aethelwold its restoration. He added to the community monks   
   from   
   Glastonbury and priests from elsewhere, and built a new church that   
   incorporated   
   elements of the old. He sent his disciple Osgar to study at Fleury in his   
   place.   
      
   When Dunstan was exiled by King Edwy about 956, Aethelwold became the most   
   important figure in the monastic reformation. He also came near secular   
   power in   
   his role as tutor to the future king, Saint Edgar the Peaceful (f.d. July   
   8).   
      
   In 963, he was consecrated bishop of Winchester in Wessex. The following   
   year   
   King Edgar and Aethelwold replaced secular canons with Benedictines from   
   Abingdon. In this way he founded the first monastic cathedral, a   
   specifically   
   English institution that lasted until the Reformation. The next year,   
   Aethelwold   
   replaced the priests with monks at Newminster. From this point the monastic   
   reform became closely associated with the king, whose palace was very near   
   the   
   cathedral. He also founded or restored many abbeys, including those of   
   Newminster and Nunnaminster in Winchester in 965, Milton Abbas (Dorset) in   
   964,   
   Chertsey, Peterborough (966), Thorney (972), and Ely (970).   
      
   Aethelwold sometimes spent the entirety of Lent in seclusion at Thorney   
   Abbey,   
   where he built a church with an apse at both ends. His charter survives for   
   the   
   endowment of Peterborough with land, serfs, cattle, church plate, and 20   
   manuscripts.   
      
   This austere, able, and dynamic priest was given the nickname, "The Father   
   of   
   Monks." The scribe of his "Benedictional" called him a "Boanerges" (son of   
   thunder). When he was prior of Glastonbury, he would urge his brothers to   
   greater effort in their monastic observance; he never slept after Matins   
   (about   
   3:00 a.m.) and would eat meat only once in three months--and then only at   
   Dunstan's express command.   
      
   He was also gifted as an artist, yet was very practical. At Glastonbury he   
   had   
   been cook; at Abingdon he laboured as a builder until he broke his ribs in a   
   fall from a scaffold; at Winchester he set the monks to working with the   
   masons   
   in the cathedral and built the most powerful organ of its time in England.   
   This   
   pipe organ was played by two monks. It had 400 pipes and 36 bellows. The   
   bells   
   and crown of metal for candles in Abingdon's sanctuary are also attributed   
   to   
   his craftsmanship.   
      
   More importantly, Aethelwold introduced the Winchester style of manuscript   
   illumination into his monasteries. The style soon surpassed the products of   
   many   
   scriptoria of the Continent. He is also responsible for the establishment at   
   Winchester of the most important school of vernacular writing of the period,   
   of   
   which Aelfric is the most famous example. Its linguistically significant,   
   accurate translations were designed to meet the needs of bishops and clergy   
   who   
   were not themselves monks. Aethelwold's Winchester is also distinguished for   
   its   
   production of the first English polyphonic music, recorded in the   
   "Winchester   
   Troper." His rebuilt cathedral at Winchester was the setting for a   
   wonderfully   
   rich and varied liturgy.   
      
   The saint also looked after material well-being the laity of his flock, as   
   well   
   as the monks. He built an aqueduct for the town.   
      
   Aethelwold's episcopacy was marked by three important events. First, the   
   congress of about 970, during which the "Regularis Concordia," the   
   characteristic statement about the observance of reformed monasticism, was   
   promulgated as the norm of the 30 reformed abbeys in southern England. Based   
   on   
   the practices of Ghent, Fleury, and Glastonbury, it was probably compiled by   
   Aethelwold himself, who was also responsible for an important vernacular   
   account   
   of the aims of the reformation and an Old English version of the Rule of   
   Saint   
   Benedict translated for the benefit of nun who had no Latin.   
      
   The second event was the translation of the relics of Saint Swithun of   
   Winchester (f.d. July 15) in 971. The final outstanding event of   
   Aethelwold's   
   tenure was the consecration of Winchester Cathedral in 980. Each occasion   
   was   
   marked by a large concourse of clergy and laity and was a sign of the   
   success of   
   the monastic reform movement pioneered by Dunstan and Ethelwold. Their   
   monasteries provided about three-quarters of the bishops of England until   
   the   
   Norman Conquest in 1066, as well as many of the missionaries sent to   
   Scandinavia. Their abbeys were the centres of Old English art and literature   
   for   
   many years to come.   
      
   Aethelwold had tireless energy to implement reforms regardless of the   
   opposition. He was merciless to the slack, full of sympathy for the   
   good-willed   
   and the unfortunate. He is also described by contemporaries as an   
   outstanding   
   counsellor of the king and as the benevolent bishop. These characteristics   
   need   
   to be recalled as well as his ability and intransigence, for any final   
   assessment of his personality. In all events, he work had a lasting effect   
   (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Farmer).   
      
   Service to Our Father among the Saints Aethelwold, Bishop of Winchester   
   http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/servethe.htm   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Many things seem good and yet are not, because they be not done with a good   
   mind   
   and intention; and therefore our Saviour saith in the Gospel, "If thy eye   
   has   
   naught, all thy body shall be dark." For when the intention is wicked, all   
   the   
   work that follows is naught, although it seemed to be never so good.   
   -St. Gregory the Great   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)