Saint BOISIL
On the night that Aidan died at Bamburgh, a young sixteen-year old boy
called Cuthbert was looking after a flock of sheep on a hillside which
overlooked the Northumbrian coast. When the other shepherds had fallen asleep,
Cuthbert was in the habit of spending time in prayer On this particular night
while he was praying he suddenly saw a light streaming from the sky. It must
have been a similar experience to that of the shepherds at Bethlehem, because he
also heard the songs of the angels praising God. As he looked at these angels,
he saw the soul of 'some holy man’ being taken up into heaven. He was to learn
later that it was the soul of Aidan. So impressed was the young Cuthbert by this
experience that he decided to join the little Christian community at Melrose,
which is near the present-day border of Scotland and England and which was then
in the kingdom of Bernicia. He went to this community because he had heard of Boisil who was the prior and who had become well known for his particularly holy life
and for his scholarliness. By chance Boisil was
standing by the monastery gate when Cuthbert arrived. Cuthbert dismounted and
went into the church to pray. Bede records for us, 'Boisil had an intuition of the high degree of holiness to which the boy he had just
been looking at would rise, and said just this single phrase to the monks with
whom he was standing: "Behold the servant of the Lord".’
Boisil took no persuading to accept this young lad into the community and we are told
that Cuthbert 'watched, prayed, worked and read harder than anyone else’.
Cuthbert loved his time at Melrose, and grew close to Boisil.
However, as was common in those days, there came a time when the monastery was
attacked by the plague which ‘was ravaging the length and breadth of the
country’. Both Cuthbert and Boisil were afflicted,
but whilst Cuthbert was healed, Boisil was given the
knowledge that he would die and that he had only a week to live. Boisil decided to spend the last week of his life with Cuthbert, studying the Bible. Boisil chose St John’s Gospel, and so for seven days the ailing Boisil and the recovered Cuthbert spent time immersed in this much-loved gospel. Bede
tells us that they ‘dealt not with the profound arguments but with the simple
things of "the faith which worketh by love"’. As they read it, so Boisil received prophetic insight into Cuthbert’s life and ‘unfolded all
Cuthbert’s future during that week’, even to the extent of telling Cuthbert
that he would become a bishop, news that Cuthbert was very reluctant to receive.
After a week Boisil died, no doubt with his mind and
heart filled with St John’s account of the resurrection of Jesus.
The Bible was greatly loved by the Celtic church. The historian Leslie
Hardinge writes:By far the most influential book in the development of the Celtic Church
was the Bible. It moulded their theology and guided the worship of the early
Christians. It suggested rules of conduct and transformed the ancient laws of
Irish and Welsh pagans into Christian statutes. It lay at the foundation of the
education of children and youth, and sparked the genius of poets and
songwriters. It provided inspiration for the scribes of history and hagiography
and affected the language of the common people, becoming the dynamic for the
production of the most beautiful hand-written books ever made.’
Feast Day - 7th July.
Patronages -
Emblems - Open Bible with abbot's staff and St. Cuthbert's cross.
Biblical references to Bartholomew:
Matthew 10:1 - 4
Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Acts 1:13, 14
When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
Reference to Nathanael who is possible the same person as Bartholomew:
John 1:45-51
Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
"Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," said Philip.
When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false."
"How do you know me?" Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig-tree before Philip called you."
Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig-tree. You shall see greater things than that." He then added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
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Collect Almighty and everlasting God, who gave to your apostle Bartholomew grace truly to believe and preach yout word: grant that your Church may love that word which he believed and may faithfully preach and receive the same; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. |
Feast Day - 24th August.
Patronages - Tanners.
Emblems - Tanner's knife.