Introduction
Edith, a nun at Wilton Abbey in Wiltshire, was a daughter of King Edgar (r. 959-975). One of her pretty idiosyncrasies was the way she made the sign of the cross by wiggling her right thumb, on herself and on anyone whom she wished to bless. It captivated St Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, who had come to dedicate a new chapel.
WHEREVER Edith went, the cross of Christ was her companion: upon her brow, upon her breast, in her coming and going, in all her works the cross came first. On one occasion, she was serving food from a bowl into a pauper’s pouch, as was her custom, when a boy suddenly ran up to her side begging alms. She handed him something with her customary sign of the cross; the boy vanished abruptly, and she never saw him again.*
When she founded a church in honour of St Denis,* and invited St Dunstan to its dedication,* the holy bishop saw the holy virgin frequently use her thumb to make the sign of the cross on her forehead. Much affected by this, he took her right hand and said: ‘May this thumb never perish!’*
Freely translated from the Latin
Goscelin evidently wishes us to see this boy as a miraculous manifestation, of an angel or perhaps of Christ himself. See also a story about St Cuthbert, The Man Who Left No Footprints.
St Denis, a third-century Bishop of Paris who is believed to have been martyred during the reign of Roman Emperor Decius (r. 249-251). Edith was much devoted to him, and is said to have designed the frescoes for the interior herself.
St Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury from 960 to 988. Appointed during the reign of Edith’s father King Edgar, Dunstan inspired a wide-ranging reform of both church and state, and deserves much of the credit for Edgar’s soubriquet of ‘the Peaceful’.
It was said afterwards that when Edith’s tomb was opened many years later, her thumb and the parts of the body on which it rested were indeed uncorrupted. Her unassuming idiosyncrasy is reminiscent of St Nicholas Mogilevsky, who was partial to pronouncing little blessings. See The Blessings of Nicholas Mogilevsky.
Archive
Word Games
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Bowl. Honor. Side.
2 Her. Serving. Work.
3 Customary. First. See.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Subject and Object Find in Think and Speak
Use each word below in two sentences, first as the subject of a verb, and then as the object of a verb. It doesn’t have to be the same verb: some verbs can’t be paired with an object (e.g. arrive, happen), so watch out for these.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. Boy. 2. Food. 3. Sign. 4. Breast. 5. Invite. 6. Work. 7. Church. 8. Honour. 9. Bowl.
Variations: 1.use your noun in the plural (e.g. cat → cats), if possible. 2.give one of your sentences a future aspect (e.g. will, going to). 3.write sentences using negatives such as not, neither, nobody and never.
Homonyms Find in Think and Speak
Each of the words below has more than one possible meaning. Compose your own sentences to show what those different meanings are.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. Found. 2. Sign. 3. May. 4. Saw. 5. Serve. 6. See. 7. Right.
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
rtns (6)
orations. rations. retains. retinas. retinues. routines.
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