ST. WILLIBRORD (NOV. 7TH)

St. Willibrord, Founder of the Church of Utrecht

Edited by Bp. Joseph (Ancient Church of the West)

On this day, we commemorate St. Willibrord, the Apostle to the Frisians and Founder of the Apostolic See of Utrecht, whose life reveals the patience, courage, and steadfast love required of those who carry the Gospel into lands where Christ is not yet known.

St. Willibrord was born in Northumbria around A.D. 658. From his youth, he was dedicated to the service of God and was trained in the monastery at Ripon under St. Wilfrid. When he came of age, he journeyed to Ireland to learn the disciplined life of prayer, study, and missionary zeal in the monastery of Rath Melsigi. There, he grew in wisdom, humility, and discernment, and the Lord prepared him for the work that lay ahead.

In A.D. 690, St. Willibrord was sent to preach the Gospel among the Frisians, a people who still walked in the darkness of pagan worship. The mission was difficult, and the land was full of danger and hostility. Yet St. Willibrord did not despair, for he trusted that Christ Himself had gone before him. With patience and gentleness, he taught the Word of God, baptized converts, and built churches in honor of the Holy Trinity.

In A.D. 695, Pope Sergius I consecrated him Archbishop of Utrecht, establishing the Church in that region on the firm foundation of apostolic faith. From his monastery at Echternach, he trained monks, priests, and teachers who would continue the work of conversion long after him, spreading the light of Christ throughout the Low Countries.

St. Willibrord’s missionary life was filled with trials. The pagan king Radbod opposed the Faith fiercely, and more than once the saint was driven from the land. Yet he did not return wrath for wrath, nor fear for fear, but continued to pray for his persecutors and for the salvation of all to whom he was sent.

In his old age, St. Willibrord was known for his serenity, his steadiness of heart, and his unshakable joy in Christ. When he fell asleep in the Lord in A.D. 739, his brethren laid him to rest at Echternach. Many miracles were worked at his tomb, and the faithful rejoiced that God had glorified His servant, who bore the Gospel with courage, tenderness, and peace.

Though his labor was great, St. Willibrord did not see its fullness in his lifetime. Yet he trusted that the Lord would complete the work begun in him. And so He did — for through those he formed and inspired, the lands of Frisia and the surrounding regions were converted to Christ, and the Church of Utrecht became a living witness to the ancient faith in the West.

Let us remember St. Willibrord as a model of patient endurance, missionary hope, and pastoral calm, who labored not for earthly success, but for the eternal salvation of souls, and who found his strength in the gentle and invincible love of Christ.

COLLECT

O Almighty and Everlasting God, who didst send thy servant St. Willibrord to preach the Gospel to the peoples of the North, and to establish thy Church upon the foundation of faith and peace: Grant unto us the same steadfastness of heart, patience in affliction, and joy in the labor of the Gospel, that we, like him, may seek not our own glory but the glory of thy holy Name. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Image: Willibrord’s Tomb, public domain

St. Willibrord's Tomb