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Matthew of Westminster says (De gestis Pontif.

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January 8 · Bishop

St. Wulsin of Sherbourn

St. Wulsin of Sherbourn

Matthew of Westminster says (De gestis Pontif.

Traditional feast

January 8
1914 / pre-1969 calendar, per Baring-Gould (1914)

Current feast

Not verified yet

Represents

Bishop

Early life

The book says little or nothing about early life. This is how the account begins.

Thin entry · the 1914 book gives only 145 words. We have not filled the gap with invented detail.

Matthew of Westminster says (De gestis Pontif. Anglorum, lib. 2):—"Dunstan, the archbishop, when he was Bishop of London, made him (Wulsin), abbot of Westminster, a place where formerly Mellitus had raised a church to S. Peter, and here he formed a monastery of twelve monks. Having discharged his office prudently and with sanctity, he was made Bishop of Sherbourn.

What they represent

How they teach us to live

Drawn from themes in the original account

Build up the community you belong to. This life was lived with and for a community.

Keep their day. Remember them on January 8 with a short prayer, and ask for their help.

Read more

The full original · 145 words

Read Baring-Gould’s full account

Baring-Gould’s sources: Benedictine Martyrology. In English Martyrologies S. Wulsin was commemorated on Sept. 27th. Mentioned by Matthew of Westminster. His life is given by Capgrave.

Matthew of Westminster says (De gestis Pontif. Anglorum, lib. 2):—"Dunstan, the archbishop, when he was Bishop of London, made him (Wulsin), abbot of Westminster, a place where formerly Mellitus had raised a church to S. Peter, and here he formed a monastery of twelve monks. Having discharged his office prudently and with sanctity, he was made Bishop of Sherbourn. Then he at once instituted monks in the episcopal seat, and dismissed the secular clerks, lest he should seem to sleep when so many bishops of the time were patrons of diligence. His sanctity, if manifest in life, was more so in death. For when he was nigh the gates of death, the eyes of his understanding being opened, he exclaimed singing, 'I see the heavens opened, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God!' Which song he uttered without faltering, and singing, he died."

Feast days

Feast: January 8

Nine days · Free

Pray the novena
with us.

One short email a day for nine days. The day's prayer, a line from St. Wulsin of Sherbourn's story, and a nudge to keep going.

Also on January 8
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St. Lucian at Beauvais

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St. Patiens

January 8 · Bishop
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St. Atticus of…

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← All 1726 saints in the library
Sources & notes

Feast-day sources

Sources

Credits

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.