THE P RTAL
February 2012 Page 12
The Anglo-Saxon Missionary Saints of Dorset by Harry Schnitker
Wimborne Abbey in Dorset hides an earlier church that was once of national and international importance . In 705 , the sister of King Ine of Wessex ( 688-726 ) founded a double abbey here , much like the famous abbey at Whitby . The nuns and monks followed the Rule of St Benedict , and were renowned for the strictness of their lives . Indeed , so rigorous was the application of the cloister for the nuns , that even the local bishop was denied access to their quarters .
Wessex
The King was a very pious man , as reflected in his laws . He abdicated the throne in favour of a younger successor and went to live in Rome . Both his sisters , St Cuthburga and St Queenburga , entered the monastic life . It was the former who founded Wimborne Abbey and both were abbesses there . Wessex became the kingdom of Alfred the Great , the man who kept the Vikings at bay and thus secured an Anglo-Saxon future for the southern half of Britain .
mission to the Germans
The abbey initiated one of the greatest missionary activities ever launched from these shores : St Boniface ’ s mission to the Germans . It was here , under the leadership of yet another saintly abbess , St Tetta ( d . 772 ), that some of the most famous Anglo-Saxon women , whose names live on in many locations in the Low Countries and Germany , entered the Benedictine order .
Tradition has it that there were no fewer than 500 nuns in the abbey under St Tetta ’ s rule , which is probably an exaggeration . However , it is clear that vocations were high , as she could afford to send a rather substantial contingent to assist St Boniface in his missionary work . St Boniface ’ s letters show that 30 young nuns left for the missions from here .
high standard of education
Amongst these were some truly great saints , including St Lioba ( d . c . 790 ), who has a whole congregation
named after her |
in the Benedictine |
family . St Lioba |
attests |
to |
the |
high |
standard |
of |
education |
achieved |
at |
Wimborne , |
and , |
incidentally , |
at |
most Anglo-Saxon |
monasteries . She |
could |
read |
and |
write |
elegant |
Latin , |
and |
her |
letters |
to |
her |
kinsman , St Boniface , show a deep understanding |
of the Bible , the Church Fathers , and the canons of |
the Church . Her work took her to central Germany |
, where she was abbess at a number of crucial abbeys |
from where the missionary work was carried out . |
Antwerp
Another great saint , Walburga ( c . 710-779 ), a niece of St Boniface , also became a mainstay of the mission . She worked in Germany , but also in the Low Countries , and probably founded the first church in what became the great port city of Antwerp . She is also the first female author in England , writing a Vita of her brother , St Winibald , and an account of the travels in the Holy Land of her other brother , St Willibald . Both works are in Latin .
Between them , the saints of Wimborne Abbey show the amazing extent of the Catholic culture of Anglo- Saxon England . They were thoroughly immersed in its Latin language , travelled to Rome and the Holy Land , and helped build the Church in Germany . This international aspect of the founding saints of the English Church is most appropriate to recall at the moment when a second Ordinariate for Anglo- Catholics has been erected in the USA .