Torch bearer

St Aidan (2)

When Oswald became King of Northumbria, which was a massive area of Northern England, he soon turned his attention to the spiritual well-being of his people. He wanted to bring Christianity to the realm. So he sent for a missionary from Iona, where he had been in exile for many years, and eventually Aidan arrived. 

In 635  Aidan became Bishop of Lindisfarne and he established a church and Christian community there. Lindisfarne was  chosen because of its proximity to Bamburgh, the royal palace, but also because it was sufficiently isolated to allow for quiet prayer and contemplation. And yet it was not totally detached from the world outside, so missionary work could be carried out. 

Visitors to Holy Island today see the familiar ruins of a Benedictine Priory. This had nothing to do with Aidan, he was there 500 years earlier than this! When Aidan arrived there was probably very little there and he and his monks would have had to construct a simple church and some living quarters of timber and wattle. Evidence suggests that the current church and Priory were built on the same site, but obviously nothing remains of the original buildings. 

My blip is the statue of Aidan by the Priory, it will be very familiar to many blippers. Aidan was known as the Torchbearer, hence he holds a torch and this is the same as is depicted in the St Aidan window in the church (see extra). 


I know the weather forecast was good, but we were nevertheless astonished by the number of people who were arriving on Lindisfarne and queuing to get into the Priory. As we left, the car park was full - many, many cars and campervans. We headed back to Alnwick and found ourselves joining others sitting at tables in the market square and having a lovely lunch in the sunshine - just like being in France - well almost!