Summary: St Chad, One of four brothers who were monks and priests, trained in the Celtic tradition by St Aidan of Lindisfarne. Chad ministered in many places to the Anglo-Saxon Church and eventually set up the episcopal see of Lichfield in central England. He is patron of Birmingham archdiocese and cathedral.
Patrick Duffy tells his story.
Training at Lindisfarne and in Ireland
Trained by St Aidan at Lindisfarne, Chad and his older brother Cedd were Anglo-Saxon youths educated at the Celtic monastery of St Aidan at Lindisfarne. They had two other brothers who were also monks and priests, Caelin and Cynibil. After the death of St Aidan, Chad went for some time to Ireland for monastic formation with his friend Egbert (also a saint – 24 April) before he was ordained a priest.
Abbot at Lastingham
Cedd had founded a monastery at Lastingham in Yorkshire and as he was now on mission to the East Saxons, Chad took over from him as abbot. Oswiu, king of Northumbria, chose Chad to be his bishop in Northumbria and placed Wilfrid as bishop in neighbouring Deira with his see at York.
Bishop at York – invalid ordination
While Wilfrid was away for almost three years in Compiègne in the north of France to receive episcopal ordination, Oswiu chose Chad for York. But because of the shortage of bishops in England, Chad had allowed himself to be ordained by dubious British bishops and when the new archbishop of Canterbury, Theodore, arrived Chad’s ordination was deemed invalid.
Re-consecrated for Mercia with his see at Lichfield
Chad’s reply according to the Venerable Bede was:
“If you decide that I have not rightly received the episcopal ordination, I willingly lay down the office; for I have never thought myself worthy of it, but under obedience, I, though unworthy, consented to undertake it.”
He went back to his monastery at Lastingham.
Impressed by Chad’s humility, Theodore quickly re-consecrated him as bishop of Mercia, which covered virtually the whole of central Britain, and he set up his see at Lichfield. He built a monastery near his cathedral where he enjoyed God in solitude with the seven or eight monks he had with him.
Travelling on foot
Chad continued to journey on foot instead of horseback, no matter how great the distance involved. The horse was regarded in Chad’s tradition as a symbol of power and might. St Aidan was celebrated for giving away to the poor a horse he received as a gift from the king of Northumbria. Chad’s insistence on walking was rejected by Theodore. He ordered Chad to use a horse for long journeys. Bede tells us that there was a direct confrontation about the issue and that Theodore actually lifted Chad into the saddle.
Chad worked in Mercia and Lindsey (Lincolnshire) for only two and a half years before he too died during a plague. Yet Bede could write in a letter that Mercia came to the faith and Essex was recovered for it by the two brothers Cedd and Chad. In other words, Bede considered that Chad’s two years as bishop were decisive in christianising Mercia.
Patronage
St Chad died in 672 AD, several cases of healing took place at his tomb and he is the patron saint of the Catholic archdiocese of Birmingham.
