A whole life given to God with an undivided heart.
January 26
Not verified yet
Virgin
Theoritgitha was a nun at Barking under abbess Ethelberga. Bede (the English monk-historian, d. 735) says she served God humbly and helped keep discipline by teaching and correcting the younger nuns.
She suffered a painful illness for nine years, and saw in a vision a sign of Ethelberga's approaching death. Bede, who tells her story, is the English monk-historian of the 8th century.
Theoritgitha was a holy sister in the convent of Barking on the Thames, under the rule of the abbess Ethelberga. "She had always endeavoured to serve God in all humility and sincerity," says Bede, "and she took care to assist this same mother in keeping up regular discipline, by instructing and reproving the younger ones." She suffered nine years from a cruel distemper, which purified her soul. She saw in a vision a sign of the approaching death of S. Ethelberga.
Choose humility over status. The account singles out humility.
Build up the community you belong to. This life was lived with and for a community.
Learn from the kind of life it was. A whole life given to God with an undivided heart.
Theoritgitha was a holy sister in the convent of Barking on the Thames, under the rule of the abbess Ethelberga. "She had always endeavoured to serve God in all humility and sincerity," says Bede [English monk and historian (d. 735)], "and she took care to assist this same mother in keeping up regular discipline, by instructing and reproving the younger ones." She suffered nine years from a cruel distemper, which purified her soul. She saw in a vision a sign of the approaching death of S. Ethelberga.
FOOTNOTES:
[124] Rev. ii. 9.
[125] Bath-hildr in Norse, meaning the maiden ( hildr ) of the Bath-stofa , the female apartment in a Norse, Saxon or Frankish house. She is sometimes called Bathildes, sometimes Baltidis.
S. Julian , B., of Mans, in France . S. Julian , M., at Atina, in Italy, circ. a.d. 133. S. Devota , M., in Corsica, circ. a.d. 303. S. Peter the Egyptian , H., in Syria, circ. a.d. 400. S. Chrysostom [St. John Chrysostom, archbishop of Constantinople (d. 407)] , B. D., at Constantinople , a.d. 407. S. Domitian [Roman emperor 81–96] , Monk and Deacon in Judea , a.d. 473. S. Marius , Ab. of La-val-benoit, near Sisteron, in France, 6th cent. S. Lupus , B., of Chalons-sur-Saone, in France, beginning of 7th cent. S. Vitalian , Pope of Rome , a.d. 671. S. Emerius , Ab., and his mother , S. Candida , at Banoles, in Spain, end of 8th cent. S. Gamelbert , P., in Bavaria, end of 8th cent. S. Sulpicius , B., of S. Ghislain in Belgium . S. Theodoric II. , B, of Orleans , a.d. 1022. S. Gildwin , Can. of Dol, in Brittany , a.d. 1077. S. John , B. of French Flanders , a.d. 1130.
Feast: January 26
One short email a day for nine days. The day's prayer, a line from St. Theoritgitha at…'s story, and a nudge to keep going.
From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new and revised edition (Edinburgh: John Grant, 1914; first edition 1872). Public domain.
From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new and revised edition (Edinburgh: John Grant, 1914; first edition 1872). Public domain in the United States. Reproduced unedited, except for short bracketed notes in grey that we added to explain names and terms (“S.” is the old abbreviation for Saint). Some history and judgments reflect 19th-century scholarship.
