Saint Cuthbert: The First Environmentalist Saint!
You can take an ancient pilgrimage on the Northern Saints Trails. These six routes cover County Durham and Northumberland (including the island of Lindisfarne).
England used to be a Roman Catholic country until the Reformation when Henry VIII banned it, so he could divorce. Many monks and nuns were killed.
Northumberland’s local boy Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne was regarded as the world’s first religious environmentalist. He guarded sheep, and campaigned for the welfare of eider ducks.
Craving isolation, he lived on the island of Inner Farne, after serving as Bishop of Lindisfarne. After he died, his body was taken back to Lindisfarne, where the many claimed miracles at people who prayed by his grave, led to him being declared a saint.
It’s said that otters would dry his fur, after he’d gone for a swim! And that he became a monk after witnessing angels carrying St Aidan (the monastery’s abbot) to Heaven.
Lindisfarne is a small island off the coast of Northumberland, only around 200 people live there, but 650,000 yearly tourists. Just 3 by 1.5 miles, the mudflats that separate it from the mainland are protected nature reserves.
Keep dogs away from sand dunes (due to birds and seals). Also check the tide times, as stranded people in cars have to be rescued. Read more on tidal causeways and keeping dogs safe by the seaside.
The History of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne
In 635AD, Lindisfarne is where St Aidan came to found his monastery. He was a well-travelled monk who was from Ireland and had already lived as a monk on the Isle of Iona in the Scottish Highlands.
St Aiden learned English (he spoke Gaelic) and died in Bamburgh on the Northumbrian coast. He is now known as the one who converted all the Northumbrian heathens to Christianity!
There is a lovely story about St Aidan, in that he made a stag invisible, so it would not been seen by hunters. Wouldn’t that be lovely if someone could do that today?
Another saint associated with this tiny island is St Eadberht (a bishop who is now buried in Durham cathedral).
