Death of St. Swithun, Bishop of Winchester

 

 On this day ~ 2nd July 862 

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 Death of St. Swithun, Bishop of Winchester 

"St. Swithun's day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St. Swithun's day if thou be fair
For forty days 'twill rain nae mare".

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 The name of St. Swithun is best known for a weather proverb.
St Swithun is regarded as one of the saints to whom one should pray to, in the event of drought.

According to tradition, if it rains on St. Swithun's Bridge in Winchester, on his feast day of 15th July - it will continue to rain for forty days.

 The future saint was born to a noble English family in the kingdom of Wessex, in about 800.

Nothing is known of Swithin’s childhood.
Later he served as a deacon and then as a chaplain at the royal court of Wessex under King Egbert.



 St. Swithun was Bishop of Winchester, from his consecration on 30th October 852, until his death on 2nd July 863.

His large diocese stretched from the Isle of Wight to the south bank of the River Thames.

He was noted for his meekness, wisdom, generosity to the poor and kindness to all people.

 On his deathbed, Swithun begged that he should be buried in a simple grave, outside the north wall of his cathedral.

This would be under the feet of the passers-by, and the raindrops from the eaves.

After his death, healing miracles began at his grave site.
Sick people visiting his grave, began to feel well again.

 After all the miracles, King Edgar ordered that St. Swithin’s body be moved inside the church.

According to legend, it was raining very hard on the day his body was moved.

Perhaps it was this event that gave rise to the saying with which St. Swithin is associated with today..

 When Swithun was moved from his grave, it seems his body was also split between a number of smaller shrines.

His head was detached and taken to Canterbury Cathedral, and Peterborough Abbey had an arm.

According to contemporary writers, numerous miracles then followed the move.

 Swithun is scarcely mentioned in any document of his own time.
His historical importance as a bishop, is often overshadowed by his reputation for posthumous miracle-working.

The shrine of Swithun at Winchester was supposedly the site of numerous miracles in the Middle Ages.

On one occasion no fewer than 200 afflicted were healed in ten days!

 In thanks to God for granting them such a wondrous saint, St. Æthelwold ordered that all monks were to stop whatever they were doing, and head to the church to praise God every time that a miracle happened.

The monks at some point, got so fed up with this, as they sometimes had to wake up and go to the church three or four times each night!

In the end, they decided to stop going.

 St. Swithun then appeared in a dream to one of the monks, and warned them that if they stopped going to the church, then miracles would cease.

"Go to Winchester and tell the monks that the
Lord is displeased with their murmuring and
laziness"

The monks relented, and decided to go to the church each time a miracle happened again.

They upheld this custom diligently for many years.....



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The Tudor Intruders (and more)
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 St. Swithun's symbolic shrine at Winchester Cathedral.