The west end of the twelfth-century Priory church on Lindisfarne (‘Holy Island’) in Northumberland. Lindisfarne Castle, not built until the sixteenth century, is visible to the right. A monastery was founded here in the seventh century, which Cuthbert joined in the 670s though he spent most of his time in a hermit’s cell on nearby Inner Farne. The priory church was the centrepiece of the monastery’s re-establishment under Bishop William de St-Calais in 1093 (for a reconstruction, see English Heritage). By 1122 a monk named Edward was living there permanently, and by 1172, in Reginald’s day, Lindisfarne was home to a full community of monks. This may be the very portal by which St Cuthbert and his two acolytes entered on that dark Christmas night.
Part 1 of 2
AFTER St Cuthbert was laid to rest on Lindisfarne, his burial place was held in the utmost reverence, and many miraculous signs were done there by him.* One Christmas Eve, two Durham monks who were staying there to render service to St Cuthbert* began to sing the traditional midnight offices.* During a lull, one of them, a lay brother, left the church for a rest, while the other remained in the quire in prayer. Suddenly, he saw a light shimmering about the entrance to the church. The doors, which had been shut, swung slowly inwards upon their hinges and two clean-shaven men entered bearing radiant candles. They were followed by a man of reverend age in bishop’s vestments, who made his way towards the altar. The Confession was said, and Absolution given, and the Mass of the Nativity of the Lord began.* Joyfully they sang ‘A child is born’, in clearest melody; the candlesticks on either side of the altar blazed, and as the Bishop began ‘Glory be to God on high’ there was the sound of song far above, like a massed choir of angels.
* A cenotaph was erected to mark the place where their patron had lain for a century before the Viking raids struck, and where so many miracles had been performed.
* This account is paraphrased from The Little Book of the Wonderful Virtues of Blessed Cuthbert written in 1160-1170 by Reginald (?-?1190), who had joined the Durham community in about 1153. We know that the events described here had happened in living memory, because one of the two monks told Reginald all about that Christmas night on Lindisfarne. It seems likely to have been after 1122, when a monk named Edward was the first recorded resident and when work on the priory began in earnest, and before 1172, when Lindisfarne was home to a full monastic community. The priory was complete by about 1150.
* Reginald stresses again and again that Cuthbert celebrated the service in a highly traditional manner. He said the liturgy “in the most traditional manner of the universal Church”, observing “every appropriate office” according to the missal. Such repeated statements help to show that the monk was not experiencing a confused dream of impressions but a fully waking vision; and evidently, Anglo-Saxon bishop St Cuthbert doing things the old-fashioned way was balm to Reginald’s soul too.
Précis
One Christmas Eve, sometime in the twelfth century, two monks from Durham were over on Lindisfarne, preparing to celebrate midnight mass. One was away taking a break when the other saw a strange light at the church door. Two men entered carrying candles, followed by an elderly bishop who proceeded to sing the service, assisted by an invisible choir. (59 / 60 words)
Part Two
St Cuthbert as Bishop of Lindisfarne, an 11th-century fresco in the Galilee chapel of Durham Cathedral. Reginald and the monk who saw the vision would have been familiar with this icon and doubtless many more like it in the days before the English Reformation, when the interior of Durham Cathedral was scrubbed clean of supposedly ‘idolatrous’ images. The Protestant reformers were very sure of themselves but they did not know Scripture quite as well as they thought. See The Restoration of the Icons.
THE watching priest-monk kept trying to stand up, but some irresistible weight pressed him down. He was resolved, though, that if he ever moved again from his seat he would follow the Bishop’s every step.* Meanwhile every rite which the mass-book appoints was performed. At the time of the consecration, the saint even bestowed his episcopal benediction on people and clergy alike. When everything was done, he left as he had come, with fitting dignity. All this the priest-monk was able to see and hear, but thanks to the dazzling light he could discern only the outline of their faces. Even so, the Bishop’s likeness to icons of St Cuthbert was unmistakable. When it was all over, he felt light of body, and exhilarated in soul.
At this point the lay brother woke up, eager to resume his duties. But the priest dared not celebrate twice on the same altar,* and explained what he had seen. Both wept tears of joy, the one glad his brother had seen such a thing, and the other consoling him for missing out. Of all this Reginald was thoroughly informed by that brother, and his testimony is sure.*
* That of course explains why the irresistible weight was placed on him; he would only have been in the way. “For in the midst of such sacred mysteries” commented Reginald “he was hardly to be permitted to rise by himself.” Moreover, when it all ended he could not follow the Bishop where he was going, not yet at any rate. See John 13:36.
* It is not usual to celebrate the communion liturgy more than once in the same day on the same altar.
* Reginald is picking up on what John the Evangelist wrote at the end of his Gospel, regarding ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’: “This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.” In other words, this is an eye-witness account. See John 21:24. Reginald told a similar tale about an appearance of St Nicholas to Godric of Finchale one Easter. On that occasion it was Reginald who missed out. See When Godric Sang with Angels.
Précis
The astonished monk, unable to move, watched the bishop perform the entire service and then depart; though the bishop’s face shone too brightly to be seen, he knew him for St Cuthbert. When the other monk came back his brother told him what he had seen, and back in Durham he also told Reginald, who wrote it down for posterity. (60 / 60 words)
