Hierarch, Bishop Cuthbert of Lindisfarne

Hierarch Cuthbert was born around 634 in northern England, near the present-day border with Scotland. In his youth, according to tradition, he was a shepherd, and later took monastic vows at the monastery of Melrose, following the Celtic monastic tradition. He was distinguished by strict asceticism and the gifts of clairvoyance and healing, and preached widely among the common people in the remote villages of Northumbria. He was prior of Melrose and later of Lindisfarne monastery. Seeking solitude, he withdrew as a hermit to the Farne Islands, where he lived in fasting and prayer for several years. In 685 he was made, against his will, Bishop of Lindisfarne, but governed the diocese only briefly: sensing his approaching death, he returned to Farne Island, where he reposed on March 20, 687. The relics of St. Cuthbert, found incorrupt, now rest in Durham Cathedral. He is venerated as one of the greatest saints of pre-schism England. His memory is kept on March 20.