ST. HILDA OF WHITBY (NOV. 17TH)

St. Hilda of Whitby, Patroness of Women, the Arts, Counseling and Poetry

By Bp. Joseph (Ancient Church of the West)

St. Hilda of Whitby was born of royalty in AD 614, St. Hilda was orphaned as as infant and was raised by her uncle, King Edwin. Her uncle then married a beautiful Christian princess, Ethelburgh of Kent, who was accompanied by monks from her home kingdom, especially a famous ascetic, Paulinus of York. When Hilda was 13, King Edwin decided to formally convert, and he and his whole court, including Hilda, received baptism as a part of his household. The site of their baptism became York Minster, and stands today as an ancient cathedral. 

The Venerable Bede tells the tale that, despite much pressure for the beautiful Hilda to marry, she decided to follow St. Aidan of Lindisfarne, and after a time of discipleship in Northumbria, she became a nun and founded a Convent on the River Wear. St. Hilda quickly became a champion of the Celtic Christianity of Iona, up and against the Roman forms which were being imported into the area, and due to her piety and miraculous prayers, she had the ears of many of the Kings of British kingdoms. She sponsored and cared for the famous monk, Caedmon, the first monk-bard of England. It was Hilda who recognized his mystical gift of singing angelic songs he heard in dreams, and wrote them down, providing some of the first Christian poetry in the British Isles besides the works of St. Patrick. 

Because of the great prestige of St. Hilda’s monasticism, the Synod of Whitby was held at her monastery in AD 664, called by King Oswig to deal with the matter of Roman and Celtic Churches celebrating Pascha by different calculations and causing confusion and division among the faithful. The issue was vigorously debated between Bishop Coleman of Northumbria and St. Wilfrid, who had just recently returned from Rome. Losing the support of the King, the Monks of Iona were forced to give up their power over Northumbrian monasteries, and retreat to Ireland, where Celtic Christianity survived for another few centuries. Afterward, those remaining in Northumbria had to accept the Roman dating system, which St. Hilda and all the sisters did, despite their loyalty to the older form of Celtic Christianity. 

The Convent of Whitby, Which Stands Ruined Since Its Destruction in the Reformation 

The Synod of Whitby would prove an axial meeting for the history of Celtic Christianity, because ever after, the Roman Church would claim this victory as a recognition of the Pope’s claim to universal jurisdiction and the infallibility of the Roman Church. While regrettable, the decision to use the Roman Calendar helped the Church in Northumbria to communicate more with surrounding areas, and enabled the Latin education common in the Mediterranean to take a deeper root amongst the Celts. Eventually, as Europe fell to the Dark Ages and Barbarians destroyed Western civilization on the Continent, the Monks of Northumbria, Iona, Scotia, and Ireland, inheritors of St. Hilda’s mixed Celtic-Roman Tradition, would save Christianity from illiteracy and re-evangelize much of Northern Europe. 

St. Hilda died of old age in peace in the midst of her monastic community in AD 680, full of years, good works, and the power of the Holy Spirit. Soon after her death she was venerated as a saint, and many miracles were attributed to her fervent intercession. She is recognized by the Western Orthodox as a patroness of culture and poetry, and is the guardian of St. Hilda’s College, Oxford, England, and of the National School for Girls in Washington, D.C.. 

COLLECT 

ALMIGHTY GOD, by Whose grace the Abbess Hilda wast endowed with gifts of justice, prudence, and strength to lead as a wise mother for the nuns of her monastery: Raise up these gifts in us, that we, following after her example, may build up one another in love to the benefit of Thy Holy Church; and may we ever be held at the prayers of St. Hilda for us before Thy heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who livest and reignest with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.