Birinus
Birinus | |
---|---|
Bishop of Dorchester | |
![]() Stained glass window of Birinus atDorchester Abbey | |
Appointed | before 634 |
Term ended | 3 December 649 |
Predecessor | diocese established |
Successor | Agilbertus |
Orders | |
Consecration | byAsterius of Milan |
Personal details | |
Born | c. 600 |
Died | 3 December 649 or 650 Dorchester,Wessex(England) |
Sainthood | |
Feast day | 3 December (Catholic) 4 September (Anglican) |
Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church Anglican Communion |
Attributes | Bishop, sometimes baptising a king |
Patronage | Berkshire;Dorchester |
Shrines | Dorchester Abbey,now destroyed. Small parts survive. Modern replica now in place.(OrWinchester Cathedral,now destroyed.) |
Birinus(alsoBerin,Birin;c. 600– 3 December 649 or 650) was the firstBishop of Dorchester[1]and was known as the "Apostleto theWest Saxons"for hisconversion of the Kingdom of Wessex to Christianity.He is venerated as a saint by theRoman Catholic Church,theEastern Orthodox Church,andAnglicanchurches.
Life and ministry
[edit]AfterAugustine of Canterburyperformed theinitial conversionsin England, Birinus, aFrank,came to the kingdom ofWessexin 634,[2]landing at the port ofHamwic,now in theSt Mary'sarea ofSouthampton.During Birinus's brief time at Hamwic,St Mary's Churchwas founded.[3]
ABenedictinemonk, Birinus had been made bishop by Asterius inGenoa,[4]andPope Honorius Icreated the commission to convert the West Saxons.[5]In 635, he persuaded the West Saxon kingCynegilsto allow him to preach. Cynegils was trying to create an alliance withOswald of Northumbria,with whom he intended to fight theMercians.At the final talks between kings, the sticking point was that Oswald, a Christian, would not ally himself with apagan.Cynegils then converted and wasbaptised.[6][7]He gave BirinusDorchester-on-Thamesfor his episcopal see.[5]Birinus's original commission entailed preaching to parts of Britain where no missionary efforts had reached and may have included instructions to reach the Mercians. But he ultimately remained in Wessex.[8]
Birinus is said to have been active in establishing churches in Wessex:[9]foundations ascribed to him includeSt Mary'sinReading,[10]St Peter and St Paul, Checkendon,near Reading,[11]and the first church atIpsden,built about two miles from the present church.[12]Birinus baptised Cynegils's sonCwichelm(died 636) in 636[13]and grandson Cuthred (died 661) in 639, to whom he stood as godfather.[14]
Birinus died in Dorchester on 3 December in 649 or 650.[15]
Veneration
[edit]Birinus'feast dayis 3 December in theRoman Catholic ChurchandEastern Orthodox Church,[16][17]but some churches celebrate his feast on 5 December.[15]His feast was added to theRoman Martyrologyin the late 16th century.[18]In theChurch of England,hisfeast dayfalls on 4 September and has the status of acommemoration.[19][20]His relics were eventually translated to Winchester after his death.[21]
A small number ofChurch of England parish churchesare dedicated to Birinus, including those atBerinsfieldinOxfordshireandRedlynchinWiltshire.The Catholic church in Dorchester, one of the first built after therestoration of the hierarchy[22]byPope Pius IX,is also dedicated to Birinus.
See also
[edit]- Church of St Birinus, Morgan's Vale
- St Birinus School(Didcot)
- Lantfredwrote avita
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^Powicke & Fryde 1961,p. 219.
- ^Walsh 2007,p. 102.
- ^Coles 1981,p. 6.
- ^Bede 1969,3.7;Thompson 1886.
- ^abKirby 2000,p. 38.
- ^Jones, Terry H."Birinus".Patron Saints Index.Catholic Community Forum.Liturgical Publications of St. Louis. Archived fromthe originalon 13 August 2007.Retrieved1 April2018.
- ^Thompson 1886.
- ^Kirby 2000,p. 51.
- ^Bede 1969,3.7.
- ^"Holy Hierarch Birinus",Orthodox Christianity
- ^"History of St Peter & St Paul, Checkendon".Langtree Team Ministry. Archived fromthe originalon 10 June 2014.Retrieved1 April2018.
- ^"History of St Mary the Virgin, Ipsden".Langtree Team Ministry. Archived fromthe originalon 8 May 2014.Retrieved1 April2018.
- ^Bately 1986,an. 636;Davis 1912,p. 57.
- ^Bately 1986,an. 639;Davis 1912,p. 57.
- ^abLivingstone 2013,p. 68.
- ^"St. Birinus".Catholic Online.Retrieved1 April2018.
- ^Kommodatos 1985.
- ^Farmer 2011,p. 53.
- ^"The Calendar".The Church of England.Retrieved9 April2021.
- ^Church of England Liturgical Commission 2000,p. 13.
- ^Kirby 2000,p. 49.
- ^"Saint Birinus Catholic Church".Dorchester on Thames, England: Saint Birinus Catholic Church.Retrieved1 April2018.
Works cited
[edit]- Bately, Janet M.(1986).The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A Collaborative Edition.Vol. 3. Cambridge, England: D.S. Brewer.ISBN978-0-85991-103-0.
- Bede(1969).Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People.Oxford: Clarendon Press.ISBN978-0-19-822202-6.
- Church of England Liturgical Commission (2000).Common Worship.London: Church House Publishing.ISBN978-0-7151-2000-2.
- Coles, R. J. (1981).Southampton's Historic Buildings.City of Southampton Society.
- Davis, A. C. (1912)."Birinus".InOllard, S. L.(ed.).A Dictionary of English Church History.London: A. R. Mowbray and Co. pp. 56–57.LCCN13001314.Retrieved1 April2018.
- Farmer, David (2011).The Oxford Dictionary of Saints(rev. 5th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/acref/9780199596607.001.0001.ISBN978-0-1995-9660-7.
- Kirby, D. P. (2000).The Earliest English Kings.New York: Routledge.ISBN978-0-415-24211-0.
- Kommodatos, Christophoros (1985).οἱ Ἅγιοι τῶν Βρετανικῶν Νήσων[The Saints of the British Isles] (in Greek). Athens: Semandro.
- Livingstone, E. A., ed. (2013).The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church(3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/acref/9780199659623.001.0001.ISBN978-0-19-965962-3.
- Powicke, F. Maurice;Fryde, E. B. (1961).Handbook of British Chronology(2nd ed.). London: Royal Historical Society.
- Thompson, E. Maunde(1886). .InStephen, Leslie(ed.).Dictionary of National Biography.Vol. 5. New York: Macmillan and Co. p. 80.
- Walsh, Michael (2007).A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West.London: Burns & Oats.ISBN978-0-86012-438-2.
Further reading
[edit]- Ford, David Nash (2001)."St. Birinus (c. 600–649)".Royal Berkshire History.Wokingham, England: Nash Ford Publishing.Retrieved16 June2010.
- Kimball, Charles L. (1907).Herbermann, Charles G.;Pace, Edward A.;Pallen, Condé B.;Shahan, Thomas J.;Wynne, John J. (eds.).Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 2. New York: Encyclopedia Press (published 1913). p. 578. .In
- Love, Rosalind C., ed. (1996).Three Eleventh-Century Anglo-Latin Saints' Lives: Vita S. Birini, Vita Et Miracula S. Kenelmi and Vita S. Rumwoldi.Oxford Medieval Texts. Oxford: Clarendon Press.ISBN978-0-19-820524-1.ISSN0474-974X.