He also was overlord over the Welsh kingdom of Strathclyde and ‘ sponsor ’ at the baptism of Cynegils , king of Wessex , whose daughter he married .
Oswald was killed in the 8 th year of his reign by Penda of Mercia at the battle of Maserfeld nr Shrewsbury . His body was dismembered and later given to the monks of Bardney in Lindsey ; some of the bones were taken to St Peter ’ s in Gloucester , his head to St Peter ’ s Church at Banborough castle and later to Lindisfarne , where it was buried in the coffin of St Cuthbert and transferred in 815 to Durham . His arm and leg , taken to Peterborough in 948 , were said to have remained incorrupt , which was interpreted as a sign of sainthood – Strangely , I came across a painting in Graz , Austria , in which Oswald was depicted as a helper in case of fire and patron saint of firemen .
25 August St Ebba , Abbess of Coldingham . She was the sister of Oswald and fled with him to Scotland at the death of their father . She returned to Northumbria when Oswald was king and established a monastery at Ebchester and another at ‘ Urbs Coludi ’= Kirk Hill at St Abb ’ s Head near Eyemouth , which evolved into Coldingham , one of the largest monasteries in the North . It was both for men and women , the monks and nuns were first generation Christians from noble families and said to be undisciplined , so that St Cuthbert visited to instruct them . Aetheldreda , founder of Ely Cathedral , was educated there . Ebba was a skilled politician , negotiating on behalf of the king and the Bishop Wilfrid . Not long after her death the monastery burnt down and the site was abandoned , but Kirk Hill remained a pilgrim site . Ebba was said to be one of the many light in the dark ages , a Northern Saint who converted Northern Britain to Christianity . The Episcopal Church at Eyemouth is dedicated to St Ebba .
SOME THOUGHTS TO RECENT NEWS REPORTS
Forgiving doesn ’ t mean Forgetting
This was the title of an article by Marina Cantacuzino in the Guardian Newspaper on 2 May . She is the founder of the ‘ Forgiveness Project ’. This is a strange name for a politically active group in our times .
The article commented on the public reaction to the Holocaust survivor Eva Kor publicly forgiving the “ bookkeeper of Auschwitz ”, the 93 year old former SS guard Oskar Gröning .
In one simple gesture she managed to incite hope and inspiration . The article goes on to say that forgiveness cuts public opinion in two , some see it as betrayal others as a miracle cure .
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